PHOTO: Assemblyman Goldfeder last week renewed calls for the reactivation of the Rockaway Beach Rail Line during a joint legislative budget hearing. Photo courtesy of NYS Assembly
By Forum Staff
During a joint legislative budget hearing last week in Albany, Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Howard Beach) again called on Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Thomas Prendergast to consider the reactivation of the Rockaway Beach Rail Line. Goldfeder also sought answers to questions surrounding the transit agency’s role in the administration’s proposed citywide ferry service slated for 2017.
“The question here is, are we looking at big ideas to improve transportation in the city?” asked Goldfeder. “The single most valuable asset we have is a right-of-way and this makes the Rockaway Beach Rail Line a cost-effective means of improving transportation for families not just in southern Queens and Rockaway, but also the city. Reactivation would increase intra-borough connectivity and create a direct link to JFK Airport.”
During their exchange, Goldfeder asked Prendergast if the MTA had actively reviewed existing rail rights-of-way in City and State hands as a means of expanding existing subway service. The assemblyman noted the recommendations of a 2014 report by the MTA’s Transportation Reinvention Commission, which recognized the value of ROWs—such as the Rockaway Beach Rail Line—in achieving this goal. Prendergast responded by saying that the agency has been reviewing additional resiliency and expansion opportunities, including the Rockaway line, adding that while the MTA has yet to take any concrete steps, the proposal could be a good way to expand transit.
Goldfeder also touched on the MTA’s role in the citywide ferry slated to begin next year with a line connecting the Rockaway Peninsula to Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. He asked the MTA chairman if the agency is considering honoring ferry tickets or covering transfer costs. As city officials have stated, ferry tickets would be priced at $2.75 to match current subway fares; however the City and State have yet to reach any agreement on allowing free transfers to MTA trains and buses.
Prendergast responded that the ferry service is not the agency’s main competency, suggesting that the MTA would need to work closely with city officials to consider possible parking facilities and other rider amenities at the city’s proposed ferry terminals. Prendergast added that the many communities along the Queens and Brooklyn waterfronts have traditionally been lower-density industrial zones and that recent growth requires a reevaluation of existing transit services.
“Our neighborhoods in southern Queens and Rockaway have seen tremendous growth in recent years and sadly, our transit infrastructure has not kept pace,” Goldfeder said. “By improving transit options and eliminating the transit deserts that plague our communities, we can create new connections to growing neighborhoods throughout the city. This will boost our local economy and help our families thrive in the years to come.”
