31 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 22, 2022 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
oped
Making waves: Getting on board with linking LaGuardia and NYC Ferry
letters & comments
KUDOS TO THE GOOD
SAMARITANS OF THE MTA
As Grand Knight of St. Anastasia Knights
of Columbus in Douglaston, I would like to
praise and to applaud the bravery of the MTA
workers who rushed passengers to safety
aft er a gunman had opened fi re on a subway
N train in Brooklyn.
Train operator David Artis did what had
to be done for his passengers on his train.
Additionally, other MTA workers went above
and beyond to help passengers get to safety
during those moments of terror.
Mayor Eric Adams honored the MTA
heroes with proclamations for their bravery,
as they should have been. Th ese men and
women were rightly honored for stepping
up to the plate to help the many that were
hurting and needed to get to safety.
In my book, these MTA workers are truly
good Samaritans who gave no regard for
their own safety, but did so for the safety of
others.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Bellerose
DON’T FORGET ABOUT
FAR ROCKAWAY
“Making NYC’s Transit System More
Equitable” (op-ed by MTA Chairman Janno
Lieber - April 14) forgot NYC Transit express
buses and the Far Rockaway Long Island Rail
Road station.
Th ousands of Rockaway residents have
been left out in the cold as the Far Rockaway
station is not included under the citywide $5
off -peak LIRR fare. Ditto for the NYC Transit
QM 16 and QM 17 Rockaway based along
with all other citywide express bus routes.
Express bus routes provide a far more
comfortable, direct, one-seat ride versus
multiple transfers. Th ere is only one Far
Rockaway LIRR station for new riders to
access.
A majority of express buses go back to the
depot in between the morning and evening
rush hours for layovers. As a result, there is
available equipment to increase service midday
and evenings.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
BY QUEENS BOROUGH PRESIDENT
DONOVAN RICHARDS AND
COUNCIL MEMBER AMANDA
FARIAS
For decades, New York City and state
lawmakers have been debating innovative
new ways, free of hassle and high costs, to
easily and more efficiently connect all New
Yorkers to LaGuardia Airport. But there
is no debate around how untenable transportation
options to and from the airport
currently are for the vast majority of New
Yorkers. Whether you’re traveling by car or
by MTA, you’re almost guaranteed to sit in
a sea of snarled highway traffic, pumping
climate-killing clouds of harmful emissions
in the process.
It is abundantly clear that we must expand
public transit options that benefit workingclass
families and the thousands of New
Yorkers who work at the airport, as well as
the environment we all share. To achieve this
goal, we need an option that is affordable and
accessible to New Yorkers in every borough
— the obvious answer is NYC Ferry.
We are a city surrounded by water, yet
we have never come close to leveraging
our waterways in the manner we should.
Not only can these boats move hundreds
of people at one time, but the NYC Ferry is
environmentally friendly. It takes countless
cars off our bridges and roads, furthers our
mission to combat climate change by lowering
vehicle-generated emissions and creates
direct connections between communities
that otherwise are difficult to access via bus
or subway.
In our respective roles as Queens borough
president and as chair of the Committee on
Economic Development, which oversees
NYC Ferry, we have been advocating for
ferry expansion, outer-borough prioritization,
and increasing transit equity citywide.
So when we both saw a ferry proposal as one
of the more than a dozen possible LaGuardia
transit options released by the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey last month,
we knew this was an area in which we could
partner in our shared push for outer-borough
transit equity.
To create direct connections between the
Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and
LaGuardia Airport, we recommend adding
a permanent stop on the NYC Ferry’s Astoria
line, which will give countless residents of
Long Island City, Astoria, Roosevelt Island,
the Upper East Side, northwest Brooklyn and
those on all ferry lines that connect at 34th
Street an affordable, inclusive and sustainable
method to access LaGuardia, considered
the only major U.S. airport without direct
rail service. The World’s Fair Marina, adjacent
to LaGuardia, has existing infrastructure
to support boating, representing a
logical starting place for any community-led
conversation about such a plan to establish
ferry service to LaGuardia.
Th e NYCEDC, which runs the ferry operations,
released a 2018/2019 Feasibility Study
on NYC Ferry Expansion, exploring the
possibility of having a NYC Ferry stop at La-
Guardia Airport. While the study stated that,
“On average, a direct ferry would take around
the same amount of time as existing transit
options,” we believe the direct and aff ordable
nature of ferry service to LaGuardia would be
a preferable transit option for larger families,
those with disabilities, those who want to
lessen their dependence on cars, lower-income
individuals and airport workers alike.
Anyone who questions the need for new
transit options to connect residents and employees
to LaGuardia should look no further
than the economic impacts the airport has
on not just New York City or New York state,
but the entire region. In just the month of
February, more than 1.5 million passengers
flew in and out of LaGuardia, which employs
nearly 12,000 people and generated more
than $2.3 billion in total wages in 2020.
We have to, as local leaders, explore
more creative solutions for how we can
best meet the needs of our city’s most
in-need families, as our already strained
roadway and public transit networks have
been pushed to the brink. The idea to add
a NYC Ferry stop at LaGuardia onto the
existing Astoria Ferry line should act as
a catalyst for thinking more boldly to
meet New Yorkers where they are. We
need to explore how we can get Bronxites
and Brooklynites alike to LaGuardia and
beyond so that every corner of our city
is accessible to everyone. If we’re serious
about being a leader in recovery, resiliency,
accessibility and modern transportation,
it’s time to think outside the box.
A budget is more than just dollars and
cents. It represents the needs of the neighbors
we serve as elected officials and the values
we hold as human beings. The projects we
prioritize for funding must reflect that. Expanding
ferry service to LaGuardia Airport
brings with it numerous benefits that cannot
be ignored. We urge our colleagues in government
at all levels to join us in this push
for expansion and equity.
WALKING ALONG THE ZEBRA STRIPES ON AUSTIN STREET
// PHOTO SUBMITTED BY JOE ABATE
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