FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com OCTOBER 10, 2013 • THE QUEENS COURIER 25 A TRAIN WILL RUN THRU IT MTA plan includes restoring Rockaway Beach Rail Line BY MAGGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com The Rockaway rail line will soon be back on track. The MTA released its 20-Year Capital Needs Assessment, which includes the restoration of the Rockaway Beach Rail Line. “This report is a huge step forward,” said Assemblymember Phillip Goldfeder. Goldfeder petitioned Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Port Authority and MTA last year in hopes of bringing back the rail line. Rockaway residents frequently advocate for the rail line’s restoration, holding rallies and forums within the community. Philip McManus, founder of Queens Public Transit Committee, said bringing back the line, which hasn’t U.S. News & World Report named Winthrop-University Hospital one of the Best Hospitals in the N.Y. Metro Region, with 12 High-Performing Specialties. They’ve also honored our Children’s Medical Center again this year as one of the Best Children’s Hospitals in the entire nation, and recognized our leadership in three pediatric specialties: Pulmonology, Urology and Diabetes & Endocrinology. Winthrop achieves this award-winning care across so many specialties – and through every stage of life – by keeping one powerful idea in mind: Your Health Means Everything®. 259 F irst S t reet, M ineola, N ew York 1 1501 • 1 .866.WINTHROP • w inthrop.org $1M from Red Cross will extend Hotel Program BY MAGGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com An anonymous donor has funded the almost-terminated Hotel Program, thereby allowing families displaced by Sandy to be housed past the original end date. The donor, later revealed as the Red Cross, donated $1 million to the city program, which was previously funded by FEMA. That federal aid was set to stop on September 30. “Hundreds of Sandy victims remain in hotels as they repair their homes or transition into new ones,” said Councilmember Donovan Richards, who fought against the termination of the program. He said the end of the FEMA funding was “pushing these families into the homeless system.” The Department of Homeless Services created the Hotel Program shortly after the storm left hundreds of residents on the streets. City homeless shelters were without any additional room, and so various hotels took in the storm victims. Originally, the program was set to stop by May 31. The decision was taken to court, and federal funding was extended through September. The Red Cross stepped in on October 3 with its own donation. “Today was almost the day hundreds of Sandy victims ended up on the street, or back in their mold-filled homes,” Richards said after receiving the donation. “This money gives our friends and neighbors the grace period they need to avoid homelessness.” Over 1,000 households participated in the Hotel Program since Sandy, which cost more than $70.5 million, according to court documents. As of mid-September, 179 households remain in the program. Since FEMA could no longer provide aid, the cost would have been transferred onto the city, which does not have a place in its budget for the program, according to court documents. “Although this money will not extend the program forever, this will aid every day New Yorkers who are in the process of transitioning into new homes,” Richards said. been active since the 1960s, is the “big idea” that will greatly benefit the peninsula and beyond. “A train doesn’t go one way, it goes both ways,” he said. “It’ll open up access to more jobs, better jobs, more schools, better schools.” The MTA’s Capital Needs Assessment is a blueprint that details the transit group’s vision to improve the city’s transportation infrastructure for 2015 to 2034. It noted the current lack of available “travel corridors” in the area. The report says there is a need for “major reconstruction and/or full replacement” of the line and falls into its “Major System Improvement” category. Alternative alignments and technologies may also be considered to “better meet the needs of Rockaway customers and their communities.” The Rockaway line carries A train service, which will run through the borough from Rockaway Park to Manhattan’s Penn Station. Previously, it provided roughly a 40-minute commute to Midtown. McManus said it will also open up Howard Beach to Woodhaven and is long overdue for the isolated community. “You look at before the train was taken — Rockaway was a thriving summer community. There was a lot of business down here,” he said. The rail line segment that runs over Jamaica Bay will be addressed in the 2025 to 2029 period and the over-land segment in 2030 to 2034, said the MTA report. McManus is glad to hear any timeline. “Before there was no timeline, it could have been 50 years. I’m glad we finally got a 20-year life sentence,” he said. “But I’m hoping this life sentence gets reprieved and we can get it done in five years.”
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