Op-Ed: Keeping Communities Poor is Getting Expensive
By Rick Horan
This past week the feds gave NYC $117 million to fund Mayor Adam’s transit-blocking park on the Rockaway Beach Branch right-of-way. If built, this project will effectively kill any hopes of building the long-awaited QueensLink subway connection. This funding is in addition to the $35 million from City coffers the mayor committed when he announced his skinny park in Sept. 2022. His decision was made despite a total lack of community input or any acknowledgement that Queens only north-south rail corridor and that it was currently being considered for reactivation by the MTA. Who does that?
Ironically, these new taxpayer funds are coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation, but for a park that includes NO transportation besides biking and walking. President Biden proudly announced that he was “delivering environmental justice by reconnecting disadvantaged communities and neighborhoods to new opportunities for the future.”
No, he’s not. This park-only project, if we let it happen, will do exactly the opposite. It will ensure that the 3.5-mile rail connection from Ozone Park to Rego Park that was severed by the City over 60 years ago will remain severed. Additionally, the disadvantaged communities that were harmed then will continue to be denied access to City resources such as better jobs, education, health care and recreation.
The mayor was elected to serve its people and be a responsible custodian for its many assets and resources. He is failing on both counts. he park may serve hundreds of daily users, while the subway tens of thousands. It is simply irresponsible to build a park on a viable transit right-of-way in the biggest city in America. Whatever special interests he’s catering to must be very special. NYC and now U.S. taxpayers will be on the hook for his boondoggle that can never provide the economic or environmental benefits that typically flow from new urban rail connections.
Politicians and the MTA say congestion pricing will improve outer-borough transit so motorists can ditch their cars. This test case seems to prove otherwise. The problem is that politicians are making transit decisions, not the New Yorkers who actually use it. So rather than reactivate an existing line, they build a park and say, “Let them take buses!” How can we ever hope to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution if we ignore a publicly owned right of way located between the infamously congested Woodhaven Blvd. and Van Wyck Expressway?
Thankfully, there are some elected officials who actually do care about their constituents and are fighting to improve our quality of life. For example, in the State Senate, James Sanders, Jr. and Joe Addabbo have successfully included a $10 million QueensLink Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) into the budget. In the Assembly, Stacey Pheffer Amato is working with her colleagues on a similar budget request. Meanwhile in the City Council, Selvina Brooks-Powers, Joann Ariola and Bob Holden are working on a $300,000 QueensLink Economic Impact study to quantify the return on investment for this rails and trails project. This fight is far from over.
If you are interested in supporting QueensLink’s all-volunteer, non-profit, outreach campaign, you will find multiple options on www.TheQueensLink.org. Thank you!
