Politics & Government

Queens Boro Prez Candidates Vary in Support for QueensWay Park

Only one candidate says he would support park proposal during candidates forum in Flushing.

Only one of the four candidates in the race for Queens borough president has shown support for the proposal to turn a stretch of abandoned railroad into QueensWay park in Forest Hills, the Daily News reported.

Democrat Everly Brown said he supported the project during a Monday night candidates forum at Flushing Town Hall because he felt “it’s important to create parks.”

The other two Democrats in the Queens borough president race – Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., D-Astoria, and Melinda Katz, who once represented Forest Hills in the state Assembly and City Council – and Tony Arcabascio, the race’s sole Republican, have currently not decided whether they would support the QueensWay proposal, the Daily News reported.

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Vallone said he would rather see the rail line used as a form of transportation than recreation. But the cost to do so might be significantly more expensive than creating a park, a plan he would not block.

Both Katz and Arcabascio said they would wait to see the results of an upcoming feasibility study for the site before making a decision.

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Last week, New York’s director for the Trust for Public Land announced that two firms had been picked to carry out the study.

QueensWay would transform 3.5 miles of abandoned railroad into a park that would include space for walking, jogging, biking, public art, food events and other recreational activities.

The cost for the park has yet to be determined.


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