FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 23, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 29 oped A LOOK BACK A Look Back This 1927 photo from the Ridgewood Times fi le shows what was once the home of local Judge Jonathan Furman on Dry Harbor Road in Middle Village. The Furman family fi rst settled in Middle Village when it was part of the town of Newtown during the colonial period. The home was located near the present day intersection of Dry Harbor Road and Cowles Court. Furmanville Avenue was named in honor of the Furman family. Send us your historic pictures of Queens by email to editorial@qns.com, or send mailed pictures to A Look Back, c/o The Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned to you. letters & comments Light rail proposal has heavy questions BY LARRY PENNER City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley’s Montauk Long Island Rail Road Branch Light Rail project has many years to a decade or more to go before possibly becoming a reality. Crowley allocated $500,000 in the 2017 municipal budget to fund a feasability study for introduction of a light rail train on portions of the old LIRR Montauk branch (Long Island City to Jamaica). Even with a planning feasibility study, millions more will be needed to pay for environmental documents along with preliminary design and engineering followed by final design and engineering efforts necessary to validate any basic estimates for construction costs. There are also no dollars programmed to support any work for advancement of this project contained with the approved MTA’s $27 billion Five Year 2015-2019 Capital Plan. Ditto for the MTA 2014 - 2034 Twenty Year Capital Needs Assessment Plan. Cost estimates would have to be refined as progress proceeds beyond the planning and environmental phases into real and final design efforts. History has shown that estimated costs for construction usually trend upwards as projects mature toward 100 percent final design. Progression of final design refines the detailed scope of work necessary to support construction. The anticipated final potential cost would never be known until completion. The proposed route will traverse several neighborhoods impacting thousands of people living nearby. There are serious legal and operational issues to be resolved with the Federal Railroad Administration. They have regulatory jurisdiction over significant portions of the proposed route which would run on existing active freight tracks. You have to deal with light rail and freight trains coexisting on the same narrow corridor. The MTA NYC Transit in 1983 conducted the Queens Subway Options feasibility study for potential conversation of this LIRR branch to a subway on the ground. Intense vocal local community opposition killed this project before it progressed beyond a planning study. Rather than spend several hundred million dollars to build a light rail system which could take a decade or more, why not ask the LIRR to resume service on this corridor? They could run a two-car scoot service reconnecting Long Island City, Glendale and Middle Village with other communities including Richmond Hill and other intermediate stops to Jamaica. The LIRR could use existing equipment which would afford far early implementation of service versus light rail. This would provide connections east bound to the J/Z and E subway lines, Kennedy Airport via Train to Plane and Jamaica LIRR Station. Queens residents traveling to jobs and colleges in Nassau and Suffolk counties would have access to all LIRR branches except the Port Washington line. There would also be connections westbound at either Hunters Point or Long Island City LIRR stations to the #7 subway line. Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked 31 years in the transportation field for US DOT Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office. A MARKETBASED SOLUTION TO THE ENVIRONMENT Amid the chaos of Mr. Trump’s fi rst hundred days, an important story slipped under the radar: the formation of the Climate Leadership Council, an impressive group of Republican elder statesmen- James Baker, George Shultz, Henry Paulson and others- who released a report and held a White House press conference last week advocating for a carbon tax with revenue returned to households. Why is this important? Because Republicans are in control, and if we want to do something about extreme weather and pollution, we need a market-based solution that doesn’t grow government. Under this plan, 70 percent of households come out ahead because the dividend checks exceed the gradually rising cost of energy, and thousands of new local jobs would be created in renewables. Now there’s a plan we can all get behind! Tell your members of Congress to work on it with their friends across the aisle. Lynn Meyer, Bayside WHY SHOULD AMERICANS FEEL GUILTY ABOUT TRAVEL BAN? Politics by the lowest common denominator is dangerous and stupid. Trump’s ban on five warring countries is bad because a poor girl that needs an operation cannot come here for that operation. And someone will not be able to see his cousin anymore. The effort to stop Trump is only being done for political purposes and not for the good of America. These two incidents are appealing to the bleeding hearts of lots of Americans when they are pushed by anti-Trump politicians. What is not said is that there are thousands and maybe millions of people in this world with similar or worse conditions then the two mentioned above. It is impossible for our country to save all those misfortunate. We do not have the means, money or hospitals to help the entire world, and we should not be expected to do that. In order to defend ourselves we are right to shut out a few of the thousands of needy people from countries who are at war. And we should do it without a guilt complex. John Procida, Flushing FLUSHING IS ALREADY CONGESTED ENOUGH, READER SAYS Regarding the three 19-story towers planned for Flushing (TRIPLED UP, Feb. 16 Queens Courier): I am appalled that there will be more huge buildings going up in our already congested Flushing. Th e monstrosity on Union Street between Franklin and Sanford avenues has been under construction for what seems like years with attendant street blocking. Already our streets have more than their share of traffi c, especially since Flushing is also a bus hub. Furthermore there are only 3 streets crossing Flushing Meadow Park, which are also up to capacity. I think our representatives should vote against this and I will let them know. Trude Hassberg, Flushing
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