NEWS YOU CAN USE
Last chance to buy tix to ‘Queens…A Taste of the World’
Take a gastronomic journey around the world at this year’s “Queens…A Taste of the World.”
The event will take place at the Caesars Club at Citi Field on Tuesday, May 10 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Over forty talented chefs will be there serving the best dishes Queens’ restaurants have to offer.
Go to https://www.discoverqueens.info/taste2011/about/ for more information and to purchase tickets.
New York gas prices approach record high
As the temperature is rising, so are the gas prices.
The average gas price in New York is $4.284, according to AAA’s fuel gauge report.
This is two cents higher than last week and over 30 cents higher than one month ago. Gas prices were at $3.143 one year ago.
The highest recorded gas prices in the city were recorded on July 16, 2008 when the price hit $4.411. The average gas price nationally is $3.96, just 15 cents short of the record high.
Adult education fair
Borough President Helen Marshall, Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilmember Leroy Comrie are holding an adult education fair on Wednesday, May 11.
The fair will take place at the Workplace 1 Queens Career Center, 168-25 Jamaica Avenue.
There will be classes in literacy, GED prep and English language. Pre-GED test screenings will be offered at 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
For more information call 212-788-9221 or email events@council.nyc.gov.
New traffic pattern on the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge
A new traffic pattern began Saturday, May 7, on the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge as work is being done to replace the three southbound lanes.
One southbound lane has already been completed. The three northbound lanes were replaced in 2010.
The work will require one lane to be closed around-the-clock. Despite the lane closure, there will still be three lanes during peak rush hours. From 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. there will be three lanes open to the Bronx and two to Queens. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. three lanes will be open to Queens and two to the Bronx.
This pattern should remain in effect through mid-summer.
The work is part of a four-year, nearly $200 million project to replace all 1,785 feet of original roadway on the bridge’s Bronx approach.
New York awarded over $350 million for high-speed rail project funds New York’s high-speed rail plans received a boost from the federal government.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a total of $354.4 million was awarded to New York from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Cuomo wrote a letter asking Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to direct any federal money for high-speed rails rejected by other states to New York.
The money will be used for three projects:
– Northeast Corridor Congestion Relief: Harold Interlocking- Alleviate major delays for trains coming in and out of Manhattan with new routes that allow Amtrak trains to bypass the busiest passenger rail junction in the nation.
– New York – Empire Corridor Capacity Improvements- Construct upgrades to tracks, stations and signals, improving rail operations along the Empire Corridor.
– Empire Corridor West: Rochester Intermodal Station- A preliminary engineering and environmental analysis for a new Rochester Intermodal Station on the Empire Corridor, connecting passengers with additional transit and pedestrian options.
244,000 jobs added in April
The U.S. economy added 244,000 jobs in April, the Department of Labor reported.
Though more jobs were added, unemployment rose from 8.8 percent in March to 9 percent in April.
The number of jobs added exceeded expectations by 60,000. Most of the new jobs came from the private sector which added 268,000 jobs.
March had previously also gained over 200,000 jobs.
