24 The Queens Courier • november 13, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com PUSH TO REVIVE ROCKAWAY TRAIN AFTER STUDY PREDICTS HALF A MILLION RIDERS A DAY BY SALVATORE LICATA slicata@queenscourier.com/@sal_licata1 A controversial new study has ignited community debate over whether to scrap plans for the QueensWay park project and instead restore the Rockaway Beach Rail Line. The study released this week found that the rail line would serve as many as half a million riders a day, strengthening elected officials’ argument to restore it. “Unlike the QueensWay, which cares about one small area, increased transit is all about Queens and the city,” Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder wrote on Twitter in a heated debate with the senior vice president for city park development at The Trust for Public Land, Adrian Benepe. The cost to reactivate the rail line, which has been out of commission since the 1960s, was estimated to cost about $700 million. The MTA’s proposed capital budget from 2015 to 2019 is roughly $32 billion, which would mean that the reactivation of this line would use 2 percent of the total budget. But the QueensWay would only cost about $120 million to fully build out. Advocates for the QueensWay say the land would better be used as parkland, rather than for transportation. “MTA has neither plans nor funds to reactivate service on the long-abandoned line,” Benepe said. “QueensWay is THE way!” Goldfeder thinks otherwise. “The rail line would connect north and south Queens like no other form of transportation,” said Goldfeder at a press conference in Queens College. “The results of this study clearly show that reactivating the Rockaway Beach Rail Line is the best, most cost-efficient way to decrease commute times, improve access to existing parkland and grow our small businesses in Queens.” The study, “A community impact study of proposed uses of the Rockaway Beach Branch right of way,” surveyed thousands of residents and assessed transportation and park needs in the surrounding communities of the rail line. If reactivated, the study says, the rail line will ease congestion and commute times, and connect north and south Queens in a way that is currently not available with existing subway lines. The project was student-led under the watch of Dr. Scott Larson, director of the office of community studies at Queens College. “We did not come to the conclusion of what the best Proponents of the QueensWay say that’s the best use of the abandoned rail line. use for the land would be. That wasn’t the point of it,” Larson said. “We did it to add to the debate and provide objective information.” A summary of the study reads: “The Rockaway Beach Branch line presents a unique opportunity as a potential transportation improvement. The effect would be faster travel between southern Queens, including the Rockaways, and northern/western Queens, Midtown Manhattan and points north.” It goes on to mention that while ridership in south Queens is low compared to other parts of the city, commute times are long and the restoration of the line could lead to positive savings in travel times for the riders. Currently, there is a debate on whether the land should be used to restore the transit line, make access for the QueensWay, or use the land for both transportation and park features. “The QueensWay would be free to everyone,” said Mark Matsil, a representative from The Trust for Public Land. “We have support from many elected officials. The QueensWay is economically feasible.” Matsil said they are in the process of raising funds for the design phase of the QueensWay. But Goldfeder believes that more and improved transit in Queens is a top priority for the borough, and not using this existing infrastructure would be a waste. “Complete restoration of the rail line will increase transit options for every resident in Queens and NYC, create quality jobs, boost our economic development, ease commutes and congestion and clean our environment by taking thousands of cars off the road,” said Goldfeder. “I urge the MTA to include restoration of the Rockaway Beach Rail Line in their next capital plan.” Photo courtesy of thequeensway.org City’s pot policy change divides Queens residents, pleases pols BY ASHA MAHADEVAN editorial@queenscourier.com/@QueensCourier Borough residents are on both sides of the debate over the city’s recent change in policy over marijuana possession arrests, while several local politicians see it as a progressive move. “Historically, these types of arrests have disproportionately targeted poorer, young men of color,” Councilman Donovan Richards Jr. said. “Rethinking the administration’s approach to marijuana possession is a key to ending the misguided reliance on ‘stop and frisk’ and rebuilding the relationships between law enforcement and the communities they police.” According to the new policy, if police find someone in possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana, officers will issue a summons instead of arresting the individual. The new policy, which comes into effect on Nov. 19, is not a blanket rule. The change is valid only if the person has identification and if no arrest warrant has been issued for him or her. Individuals carrying marijuana will still be subject to arrest if the type of possession indicates intent to sell, if the individual has an outstanding warrant, or if the individual is in certain locations such as a school. Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras is also in favor of the change, calling it a move in the right direction. “This policy change is one of many steps towards rebuilding those communities of color, like my own, that have been disproportionately jailed and suffered in the long term; it reflects the progressive, forward-thinking direction in which our city and this Council are moving,” she said. Councilman Rory Lancman, who chairs the Committee on Courts and Legal Services, focused on the effect of the policy change on the overburdened legal system, saying that this change will allow prosecutors, judges and defense attorneys to concentrate on violent crimes. He added that he looks forward to “further reducing the over-policing in communities of color, and addressing the collateral consequences of even mere violations for undocumented immigrants caught in the criminal justice system.” Queens residents were not as supportive, and even saw the change as potentially dangerous. “It is not a good idea. There should be more rules covering this. What if someone is on a high and drives a car? This will add more dangerous people on the road,” Bayside resident Robert Posner said. But others agreed with the looser punishment. “It’s not right but I am OK with it,” Bayside resident Alda Gomez said. “So long as they don’t sell it or it is not a big amount or they are next to a school, if it is only for themselves, it’s OK.” Douglaston resident Jose Valencia believes it was a good start. “Eventually law has to change toward legalization,” he said. Photo courtesy of the Mayor’s Office Flickr account Mayor Bill de Blasio announces the policy change while NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and other officials look on.
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