PORT RICHMOND — Staten Island could get its own High Line park on an abandoned stretch of train tracks above Richmond Terrace. But a local group spearheading the project will have to compete with the city, which is hoping to build a busway on top of the old rails.
The Staten Island Economic Development Corporation (SIEDC) announced a design competition last week to transform a half-mile stretch of tracks, which served the former North Shore rail line, into a park.
"This thing has been a blight in our community for over 50 years," said Steve Grillo, first vice president of the group. "We can really make it a city within a city and it could be a great opportunity to use what is today an abandoned eyesore and convert it to something that is truly beautiful and transformative."
The elevated tracks run above Richmond Terrace from Heberton to Nicholas avenues. They used to serve the North Shore branch of the Staten Island Railway but have been unused since service stopped in the 1950s, Grillo said.
The project, however, might get derailed by city officials, who are eyeing the spot for their proposed North Shore Bus Rapid Transit line.
"Rapid transit on this right of way is a necessity, not an amenity, and that remains my primary focus," Councilwoman Debi Rose wrote on Facebook about the plans. "The MTA has committed $5 million to study and design rapid transit along this corridor, and any adaptive reuses of the elevated line should only be considered if the MTA were to determine this not to be the path for our future rapid transit."
Under the BRT plans, the MTA would pave over the entire former rail line to build a dedicated busway that links the St. George Ferry Terminal to the West Shore Plaza. This could cut the average Staten Islander's commute time in half, according to a 2012 study of the BRT.
The agency included $5 million in its 2015 budget to fund design and environmental work for the estimated $371 million system, according to the study. But the SIEDC estimates that converting the section of train track to a park would cost $30 million.
A spokesman for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which owns the land, said they were working with the MTA on the study.
"As outlined in our recent Transportation Improvement Strategy, the MTA is currently analyzing the North Shore Right of Way for a bus rapid transit system, which could help address transportation concerns in the area," Ryan Birchmeier said in a statement.
"That being said, we are always open to hearing interesting ideas on how to activate public property and would be receptive to discussing with SIEDC."
Grillo isn’t sure it would even be possible to use to use the spot as a busway.
"We lost a lot confidence in city agencies," Grillo said. "We've been waiting 15 years for stuff to happen and nothing's happening."
He said he wanted to have a plan ready to go should the MTA’s study conclude that it can’t use the site. The BRT could be altered to avoid the elevated stretch anyway, Grillo claimed.
The SIEDC's design competition will award $10,000 at its annual Business Conference, April 27, to the plan selected in a public vote, Grillo said.
Designers need to mount their proposal for the park and send it to the group by April 7.
