12 JUNE 6, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Time to rebuild the crumbling 7 train
When the city started
constructing the elevated
Flushing Line east of Long
EDITORIAL
Island City in 1917, much of western
Queens was still largely farmland.
Today, 102 years later, this area is
among the most densely populated
places in America, and the Flushing
Line — which carries the 7 train — is
one of the busiest routes in the city
subway system. Most hours of the
day, the train cars are so packed it’s
almost impossible to board.
The elevated Flushing Line, all
these years later, is straining from
old age, overuse and a lack of regular
upkeep in recent years. As a result,
far too often in recent months,
debris has fallen off the tracks in
Woodside, narrowly avoiding people
and injury.
The most recent incident, which
occurred on June 3 near the 52nd
Street station, saw metal fragments
fall off the superstructure. It
prompted MTA New York City
Transit CEO Andy Byford to finally
agree to place netting below the 7
line after months of pleas from local
elected officials. But Byford and the MTA
A 1920 photo of the Flushing Line near the 40th Street station on Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
hierarchy must know that this
cannot be the only remedy to keep
the 7 line from falling apart.
Netting is a bandage designed
to protect people on the ground.
But metal fragments falling off
the superstructure is, in our
view, an alarming sign that the
structure itself — in spite of all
reported frequent inspections
— needs more than just cosmetic
repairs and patch jobs to hold
everything together.
We know that in past incidents of
falling debris on the Flushing Line,
the MTA has dispatched crews to
inspect every bolt and girder and
make any necessary repairs. The
time has come, however, to consider
if this constant maintenance is
more cost efficient than replacing
the entire structure with new,
stronger steel.
It will be costly and inconvenient,
to be sure. After all, the MTA is
undertaking a massive rebuild
of the L line between Brooklyn
and Manhattan that will torment
commuters for years. But in the
end, the work is being done because
it has to be done. The MTA realized
that the temporary bandages put in
place on the L line after Hurricane
Sandy weren’t going to last forever,
or solve the infrastructure
problems for good.
In many ways, this is the point
which the 102-year-old Flushing
Line is approaching. It’s old and
falling apart. It needs to be replaced,
inconveniences and expenses be
damned.
We don’t expect the work to
begin tomorrow, next month, next
year or even two years from now.
But the MTA, city and state need to
set the wheels in motion for a 7 line
rebuild in Queens.
We can’t keep putting off the
inevitable when it comes to our
infrastructure — lest a chunk of
the 7 line comes crashing down on
someone’s head.
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ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ROBERT POZARYCKI
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
EMILY DAVENPORT
MARK HALLUM
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
MAX PARROTT
BILL PARRY
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STORY:
South Ozone Park high school student
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SUMMARY:
Sarah Deonarain, a senior at
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