TUNNEL TO NOWHERE CB 5 Committees Say Cross Harbor Creates A Rail Headache Panelists panned options in the Port Authority’s Cross Harbor Freight Program that call for a train tunnel or a combined train/truck tube through the harbor between railyards in New Jersey and Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The options include increased activity on the Long Island Rail Road’s Bay Ridge line and the connecting Fresh Pond Railyard in Glendale—the only freight rail terminal linking geographic Long Island and the rest of the country. Though the Port Authority claims the tunnel plans would help reduce tractortrailer traffic on its existing Hudson River and harbor crossings, Board 5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri charged, the proposal wouldn’t remedy congestion, but rather move it elsewhere in the city. According to Arcuri, the tunnel plans included the creation or expansion of intermodal shipping facilities and warehouses near the Fresh Pond Railyard as well as Maspeth and East New York.At these sites, goods would be loaded and offloaded between train cars and small trucks. Citing analysis performed by the Glendale-based Civics United for Railroad and Environmental Solutions (CURES), Arcuri stated, the tunnels would effectively add hundreds of truck trips each day onto local streets. “By taking the largest tractor-trailers off the road and putting their cargo on the trains, they’re adding thousands of smaller trucks to our area,” he said. “We need to come up with a comprehensive argument against this current plan.” John Maier, Public Transit Committee co-chair, echoed those sentiments, noting that much of the tunnel program’s concepts are based in “theory.”Municipal waste and construction and demolition debris from the city and Nassau and Suffolk counties make up the bulk of all local freight rail shipments. Other goods, he noted, are largely shipped by truck. “The tunnel would do more to alleviate traffic outside of New York City than within it,” Maier said. “It’s not creating a lot of jobs because a lot of shipping is automated. It’s not a lot of yard jobs. It’s not a lot of anything, really. It would only reduce 6 percent of traffic on the Hudson River crossings while adding much more than 6 percent of traffic to East New York and Maspeth.” Jean Tanler of the Maspeth Industrial Business Association stated that companies in the neighborhood’s Industrial Business Zone (IBZ) expressed similar concerns about a Cross Harbor Tunnel, but also pressed for easier shipping methods to reduce costs and travel time. “There’s definitely demand,” she said. “It would save companies a lot of money to shave off a day of transit, either by rail or by barge.” Local logistics also make a Cross Harbor tunnel plan unfeasible, according to Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano. The plans indicate a tunnel would bring between 16 and 21 trains through the area each day—and current freight rail facilities are already overwhelmed with traffic. “Right there, it’s physically impossible to pull that off unless the trains just rolled through at all hours of the day.” Arcuri concluded that “the current plan is unacceptable” and that the board needed to present a resolution not only dismissing the Cross Harbor Tunnel, but also advocating for increased barge shipments and container float operations across the harbor. The chairperson said a resolution will be developed and considered at the committees’ next meeting, Tuesday, Mar. 24. Meanwhile, Queens residents will have the opportunity to speak out on the Cross Harbor program during a public hearing this Tuesday, Mar. 3, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Queens Borough Hall, located at 120-55 Queens Blvd. in Kew Gardens. 3 • TIMES, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 by Robert Pozarycki Building a Cross Harbor Tunnel would shift the tri-state area’s traffic problems into Brooklyn and Queens, members of the Community Board 5 Transportation and Public Transit committees declared during a meeting Tuesday night in Glendale. The Cross Harbor Tunnel would bring greater truck traffic and increased freight activity into Brooklyn and Queens, Community Board 5 members suggested during the board’s Transportation and Public Transit Committees meeting Tuesday. Shelves Bare Again, Glendale Pantry Seeks Aid Serving between 130 and 145 families has put a strain on the pantry’s supply of food and they are currently running low. “The winter time is always tough. During the holidays we get a lot,” said Nancy Baer, who helps Sr. Margaret Raibaldi operate the pantry. “It is the time after the holidays where donations start to taper off.” “The parish is very generous. We get a nice donation from the church every week, but it’s not enough,” Baer added. Organizations have pitched in to help their local food pantry, the Knights of Columbus has donated for the Lent season, students from Sacred Heart School have supplied some food, local boy scout troops have organized a donation event, and Coldwell Banker Kueber Realty supplies the pantry with weekly donations. Debbie Kueber of Kueber Realty said the company used to donate twice a year, once during Thanksgiving and once more in the spring. “In the last year, with them being so low, we started doing it straight through the year,” Kueber said. “It’s just about getting the word out. We advertise with the Glendale Kiwanis and people donate all the time,” she added. Kueber uses her office on Myrtle Avenue as a drop off center where members of the community can bring their donations which will be delivered to the food pantry. Even with all of this local support, the pantry is still low on food. Donations of unopened nonperishable foods are accepted. Items such as tuna fish, cereals, canned goods, pasta, soup, sauces and crackers make for the best donations. The bare shelves at the Sacred Heart Food Pantry. “We have a small refrigerator so we can take some perishable foods,” Baer explained. “We have a bigger freezer so we are lucky.” Anyone interested in making a donation can visit the Sacred Heart Parish Ministries Convent building at 77-05 84th St. in Glendale. Call 1-718-821-3285 for more information on donating. story and photo by Anthony Giudice The Sacred Heart food pantry helps feed the underprivileged families in Glendale and the surrounding communities, but the pantry now needs help stocking up for the rest of the winter.
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