22 NOVEMBER 21, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
The ‘Montauk Options,’ and a subway
dream for Queens that was cut short
A view of the abandoned Richmond Hill station on the Long Island Rail Road’s Lower Montauk Branch earlier this year. At one point, the MTA sought
to potentially run subway service along the Lower Montauk Branch. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
BY THE OLD TIMER
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
For many residents of Our Neighborhood
in Queens, there just
aren’t enough ways to get around
without a car.
The Greater Ridgewood area is
predominantly served by two subway
lines: the M train, which runs through
the heart of Ridgewood and ends in
Middle Village, and the L train, which
straddles the Brooklyn/Queens border
with a couple of stops in Ridgewood
along the way.
Glendale and Middle Village residents
have a long walk (or a bus ride)
to take to get to the Middle Village-
Metropolitan Avenue stop on the M
line — the nearest subway stop to most
residents in the communities. Maspeth
residents have it the worst: They don’t
have access to a subway line without a
bus ride to Ridgewood, Middle Village,
Elmhurst or Woodside.
In recent years, elected offi cials in
our community have advocated for
the creation of additional public transit
options to serve the area. Former
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley proposed
a light-rail line along the Long
Island Rail Road’s Lower Montauk
branch, which is currently used for
carrying waste and industrial freight.
Current Councilman Robert Holden,
meanwhile, supports the creation
of the Triboro RX, a Regional Plan
Association brainchild which would
use commuter and freight lines to create
a new rail line serving Brooklyn,
Queens and the Bronx.
But way before these ideas came
to be, the city had proposed creating
a new subway line that would
cut through the heart of Ridgewood,
Glendale and Middle Village — but
was soundly rejected by residents at
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