FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 1, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Many concerns raised at fi rst Sunnyside Yard meet
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
adomenech@qns.com
@AODNewz
A line of Queens residents and business
owners nearly stretched out of the front
doors of La Guardia Community College
on Oct. 24 for the fi rst of four Economic
Development Corporation (EDC) public
meetings about the master planning process
for Sunnyside Yard.
“Th is is one of the most complex
rail operations in the country,” said
Vishaan Chakrabarti, head architect for
the future development on Sunnyside
Yard. Chakrabarti recognized the need
for open space and transportation infrastructure.
“Th is will cause this to take some time
and be deliberate, and that is what we are
trying to do,” said Chakrabarti about the
public meetings.
Th e crowd was eventually corralled
into a sectioned off area of the Building
E atrium where they could visit six stations
— each equipped with pens, colorful
posted notes and large corrugated
boards — and write suggestions and
worries about a possible deck over the
rail yard.
Attendees suggested that the space be
used for aff ordable housing, open space
or a park. But there were also concerns
raised about transportation and development
as both of those things mean new
Hundreds of Queens residents and business owners fl ooded into the atrium of La Guardia College’s E building to write their concerns in regards to a
platform project at Sunnyside Yards.
people arriving to an area already grappling
with speedy population growth.
Sections included a “what’s happening
in the neighborhood” area, planning process
concerns, transportation and infrastructure
concerns, community engagement
concerns and a children’s section
— where kids could write about how they
wanted Sunnyside Yard to look when they
grow up.
According to the EDC website, over
the next 20 years the city’s population
will increase by more than half a million
people. Queens will be home to at least
80,000 of those people.
Sunnyside Yard is one of the busiest
rail yards in the country and a
key train storage yard and maintenance
hub for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. It
also serves New Jersey Transit and Long
Island Rail Road, which is developing
storage tracks and maintenance facilities
there as part of its East Side Access
Project — and that means Sunnyside
Yard will only get busier.
Director of Sunnyside Yard Cali
William was adamant that the purpose of
the public meetings will be to listen. But
many of the Queens residents in attendance
were suspicious.
“All of the stakeholders are here but
who is going to have a fi nal say in the
use?” said Jeff Sisson, a programer who
lives in Sunnyside. Sisson felt that responsibility
was being too diff used for comfort.
“It’s hard for me to believe they don’t
know what they are going to put on top
of the arches,” said Lelanie Oei, a therapist
and Sunnyside resident.
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