One Step Closer?

The QueensWay, a proposed park along the former Rockaway Line, may have just gotten a step closer to reality, Lisa Colangelo wrote in the New York Daily News this week:

A new study, expected to be launched within months, will examine the challenges of transforming an abandoned stretch of Queens railroad into a lush biking and walking path.

 

Supporters of the proposed QueensWay say they are energized by the recent award of a $467,000 state grant for a feasibility study.

In the past, residents have been ambivalent about the idea of a park cutting through Forest Hills, though it would be less intrusive than reactivating the line to serve as a shuttle to the Resorts World Casino, as I reported last year: 

Koslowitz said the plan to revive the line would be too disruptive to residents who’ve made their homes just feet away from the former railroad.

“It will affect this neighborhood in a very, very bad way,” Koslowitz said. “People’s homes are there, we do not want the value of our houses to go down the drain.”

I, for one, would love a place to ride my bike in the area that cars don't have access to, though I get the feeling I'm in the minority on that.