Rockaway Beach Line - Update

Assemblyman Goldfeder and Queens College Urban Studies Department to Launch Comprehensive Study of Abandoned Rockaway Beach Rail Line

Faculty, students, and staff from the college Urban Studies Department will perform a comprehensive community impact study to help assess the best use for abandoned tracks

            Flushing, Queens—Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway), joined by Professor Leonard Rodberg, Chair of the Queens College Department of Urban Studies, announced plans for a comprehensive study to assess the community impact of the proposed options for the abandoned tracks of the old Rockaway Beach Rail Line.

            “The Queens College Department of Urban Studies’ Office of Community Studies is renowned for its community-based research. It is the perfect partner to help determine what is in the best interest of Queens and city residents,” said Assemblyman Goldfeder. “Now that the MTA has signaled an interest in reactivating the Rockaway Beach Rail Line as an efficient and cost-effective way to significantly increase public

transit for Queens residents, it’s important we do appropriate studies to determine the next steps. While other groups are using tax dollars to hire expensive consultants and do one-sided studies, we’re utilizing local expert resources and educating our students while supporting an objective study that will enormously benefit all our hardworking Queens families.”

            The project will be led by Professor Rodberg together with Dr. Scott Larson and other faculty and students from the college’s Department of Urban Studies. The collaborative effort will include assessments of community transportation patterns and needs as well as community attitudes about the impacts, costs, need for and feasibility of a range of proposed uses of the abandoned rail line. The study will take approximately nine months to prepare and is expected to be completed by the end of next summer.

            “Our Department is pleased to be cooperating with Assemblyman Goldfeder in assessing the options for this valuable, unused area of Queens. We believe our study will help everyone evaluate what is best for the people and communities of Queens,” said Professor Rodberg.”

Queens College of the City University of New York enjoys a national reputation for its liberal arts and sciences and pre-professional programs. With its graduate and undergraduate degrees, honors programs, and research and internship opportunities, the college helps its over 20,000 students realize their potential in countless ways, assisted by an accessible, award-winning faculty. Located on a beautiful, 80-acre campus in Flushing, the college is cited each year in the Princeton Review as one of the nation’s 100 “Best Value” colleges, thanks to its outstanding academics, generous financial aid packages, and relatively low costs. In 2013, Washington Monthly ranked QC #1 among “Master’s Universities” as a Best-Bang-for-the-Buck college and #2 nationwide among colleges that do the best job of helping non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices.

            The Rockaway Beach Line, also known as the White Pot Junction Line, was created around the turn of the century and was owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road. It provided residents with safe, affordable and expedient access to other parts of the city and 40 minute commutes to midtown Manhattan from Rockaway. In the early 60s, parts of the railroad service were condensed, sectioned off and eventually closed. In the following years, the property was vandalized, encroached upon and has become a source of embarrassment for the families that reside in the area.

            Assemblyman Goldfeder has made transportation and the restoration of the Rockaway Beach Rail Line a top priority. In February of 2012, he called on Governor Cuomo to immediately restore the line to ease commutes for Queens residents. In May that year, Goldfeder launched a petition that garnered nearly 3,000 signatures that were later delivered to Governor Cuomo, the Port Authority, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in support of bringing the line back to life. Additionally, Assemblyman Goldfeder continues to work with Congressmen Gregory Meeks (NY-5) and Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) to facilitate a portion of approved federal Sandy disaster aid be allocated to fund the restoration of the rail line and assist in recovery for residents.

"I believe that increasing public transportation is the right choice and I look forward to the results of the study and working with my colleges and the community to fund and implement next steps," concluded Goldfeder