(BPT) - Summer is a time to switch out our wardrobes, exchange coats for swimsuits and boots for flip-flops. But if the winter months took a toll on your waistline you may not want to shed those extra layers. Lighten up for warmer summer days by making simple swaps and conscious diet decisions. 

Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) is seeking $17 million in state funds to modernize ancient diesel locomotives that operate in Queens and throughout geographic Long Island.

The trains in question largely haul trash, and operate largely to or from the Fresh Pond rail terminal in Ridgewood, where trains at times are less than 50 feet from homes and restaurants as they haul loads of garbage.

If you’ve been procrastinating about what to get the special people in your life or simply want to reward yourself, here are some last-minute ideas.

Electronics have long been the consumer goods holiday marquee item. The good news is that the combination of competition and advances in technology have reduced the prices of some once very pricy gizmos.

When it comes to shipping cargo to any destination most people will undoubtedly say they look for a carrier that is safe, fast and reliable. Econcaribe meets all those standards and more. The company has been serving customers since 1968 and has a proven track record of excellent service.

With the city Department of Transportation days away from starting work on a project designed to ease traffic on several intersections on Liberty Avenue and make them more pedestrian friendly, many area businesses and residents are taking a wait-and-see approach as to how effective the changes will be.

Helen Lee of Long Island City has been dubbed the “coupon Queen” at her church and for good reason. She is one of several Queens Chronicle readers who told us their savings tips.

Like a lot of card-carrying baby boomers, my first knowledge of Miami came from watching the mid-1960s NBC television show “Flipper,” filmed on location at the Miami Seaquarium. The Seaquarium is a boomer itself, in that it opened in 1956 and is still going strong. A recent addition to the park, however, is the Dolphin Odyssey program, which gives the public a chance to get close up with Flipper’s friends and even hitch a ride across a pool on their dorsal fins.

Throw him out!

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is counting on a redeveloped Willets Point to be the next great neighborhood in Queens, but the city’s plan has major obstacles, including removing 250 businesses that don’t want to leave and then cleaning the polluted land.

The Department of Sanitation continued its campaign for a new marine waste transfer station in Queens at a public meeting Tuesday in Flushing, but most residents were more concerned about potential traffic.

Realities Of War

Crime Statistics

Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement last week regarding the city’s future plans for solid waste management will involve reusing the old College Point marine transfer station.

There are some things they just don’t teach you in high school.

When Mayor Michael Bloomberg eliminated glass and plastics from the city’s recycling program last June, it was the first significant rollback by a major city in the United States.

A 3,000-gallon oil spill in the East River area of Queens last week has left local politicians wondering why they weren’t notified and environmentalists questioning the long-term effects.

Dst. 29 Under Siege

Dst. 29 Under Siege

The cleanup of a radioactive spill that occurred more than a generation ago is finally under way in St. Albans.