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Weiner Wants to See QueensWay Get on Track

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | August 6, 2013 4:27pm
 Advocates for the QueensWay are getting ready for a feasibility study.
Weiner supports QueensWay
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QUEENS — Embattled mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner came out in support of the QueensWay this week, a project which would transform the abandoned Rockaway Long Island Rail Road line into a park similar to Manhattan's High Line.

“The High Line is a success. But why stop in Manhattan?,” wrote Anthony Weiner as part of  an update to his policy book “Keys to the City.” “In Forest Hills and Woodhaven in Queens, we can transform the long-abandoned tracks of the Long Island Rail Road line into a greenbelt of trails.”

He suggested that other “abandoned train tracks around town” should also be turned into “pedestrian, biking, and sightseeing walkways.”

Meanwhile, the Trust for Public Land, an organization advocating for the QueensWay, chose a company to conduct a feasibility study for the project, officials said Tuesday.

Marc Matsil, the state's director for the Trust for Public Land, said that "we are just working out the contracts.”

Matsil said the name of the company that will do the work will be made public within two weeks.

Last year, the QueensWay received a $467,000 grant for the study from the state.

The Trust for Public Land issued a request for proposals in March, looking for a firm to conduct the study regarding the proposed park along 3.5 miles of the abandoned Rockaway Line.

The line used to connect Forest Hills, Rego Park, Richmond Hill and Ozone Park, before it closed in 1962.

The analysis, which will take less than a year to complete, will estimate the cost of construction, check the structural integrity of the elevated rail line and determine the levels of erosion. The firm will also work with the community on developing a design.

The project faces opposition from various groups and elected officials, including Rep. Gregory Meeks and Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder, who propose to reactivate the train service.

This week, state Sen. Tony Avella, who is running for Queens Borough President, also expressed his support for the idea of reactivating the rail line.