Long Island City 7 Train Cuts: No Train, No Fireworks, No Business
Long Island City businesses complain of revenue loss due to 7 train service cuts between Times Sq. and Queensboro Plaza over the weekends
Every year, when 7 line service is suspended for weekend maintenance work, the business community in Long Island City feels the pinch. This year is no exception, with trains suspended for 10 weekends between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza.
On Monday, business owners from the area gathered to discuss the fallout of the subway cuts and other issues which they believe are keeping customers away.
“When we purchased the business, we didn’t know we would have to suffer because the 7 train doesn’t run, or that the marathon would change it’s direction,” Stephanie Leahy, owner of Kitty ’n’ Dog Lounge on Vernon Boulevard, said at the meeting, which was hosted by the Hunters Point Merchants Association. “It’s a loss of customers for us.”
Leahy said her business has dipped 30 percent due to weekend 7 train changes.
“My friends were going to get apartments in the area because they liked it so much,” Leahy added. “But after they learned about the train cuts, they changed their mind. It’s a gorgeous neighborhood, but no one can get here.”
The MTA is offering shuttle service between Vernon Boulevard and Queensboro Plaza, but business owners say it doesn’t solve their problem.
Dan Weinstein, a dentist with an office just minutes away from the Vernon Boulevard subway stop, said the 7 train disruptions have been a problem for two decades.
“With a dentist, no one wants to come to me in the first place,” Weinstein said. “Now, with no 7 train, it wreaks havoc with my schedule. … If I fixed teeth the way they fix the 7, I would have been out of business a long time ago.”
Restaurant owners in the area also complained that the train cuts have not just resulted in reduced business, but also make it “a nightmare” to get staff in over the weekends.
As each business owner recounted how the cuts affected his or her work, the president of the HPMA, Brian Adams, proposed there be a private shuttle service subsidized by merchants to bring customers and residents into the area.
Adams also urged business owners to “look beyond the 7 train” and push for LIC to become a tourist hub, which he said would attract more cash, which would in turn help develop the area.
“Tourism would help bring thousands of people to the neighborhood,” he said. “They could stay here and shop here.”
He added that neighborhood merchants ought to develop a cohesive plan to market the area better. His ideas included printing booklets about LIC, which could be handed out at tourist hubs, and developing a “rail and sail” pass, which would enable tourists and commuters to use a combination of trains and ferries to get to LIC from Manhattan. Adams already runs a website, LICityGuide.com, promoting the area, and has issued discount cards for shoppers.
Transportation isn’t the only thing keeping people away from LIC.
Merchants expressed regret that the Independence Day fireworks over the East River were moved to the Hudson this year, and called for the display to be brought back in order to attract more people to LIC.
“I was shocked when they stopped the fireworks,” said Joseph Dalby, who has a video production service, adding merchants in the area lost thousands of dollars in revenue when the city decided to move the show last year.
So far, there has been no indication that the fireworks will be reinstated, according to Adams.
The merchants also said Gantry State Park, located on the LIC waterfront, should be more rigorously promoted, explaining that many residentsare unaware of the public green space.
“People can bid on the concession stand in the Park,” said Adams. “They can also have better bands come in and play every weekend. There are so many tools that can be used to make this area better for merchants.”
Those who attended Monday’s meeting agreed that with greater development, the area would be rendered more attractive to potential residents, making it better for the businesses in the long run.
But even as the merchants were urged to look “beyond the 7,” they continued to voice displeasure about the current state of affairs.
“Does anyone know how much we have been hit?” one business owner asked. “We need parachutes to get here.”
The transit woes may have a silver lining though: Just as it’s harder for people to come to LIC, it’s also harder for them to leave, so some merchants are hopeful that area residents will spend more time at local establishments. That may not stop businesses from hemorrhaging cash, but it might help them tide them over through rough weekends.
This piece first appeared in the Queens Chronicle
