Queens lawmakers, including state Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder, are calling on the public to attend a public hearing in August to push for more public transit options. File Photo
A state Assembly hearing will test the transportation waters for the more immobile parts of Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island next month, borough lawmakers announced this week.
In Queens, state Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park) and state Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Fresh Meadows) teamed up with the legislative body’s committee on corporations, authorities and commissions to host a public oversight hearing on transit-starved communities, scheduled for Aug. 7 at 10 a.m. in Manhattan.
Each of the lawmakers have been steadfast advocates of transportation expansion in their respective districts, with Goldfeder pushing for things like more options for Rockaway residents to get to and from their peninsula, and Rozic calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to address transit inefficiencies in northeast Queens.
“This hearing will allow the public the opportunity to provide feedback directly to state legislators who have oversight over the MTA let their concerns be known,” Goldfeder said. “In today’s difficult economy, our residents and small businesses rely on affordable and accessible transportation to carry out their everyday lives. I have been a strong advocate for better transit options for Queens’ residents and I will continue to fight until all our families are provided the transportation we deserve.”
One of the most pressing transportation issues under Goldfeder’s watch included the revitalization of the Rockaway Beach Line, which the assemblyman has remained an advocate for. Earlier this year, Goldfeder teamed up with the Queens College Urban Studies Department to conduct a comprehensive study of the railroad tracks from Rockaway to Rego Park and mull over the potential benefits to using them to Queens’ advantage.
That study, he said, asked students at the college to distribute surveys about the potential impacts of redevelopment options and should be finished by the end of this summer.
Both Goldfeder and Rozic called on the MTA to funnel funding to more transportation options throughout the borough and called on commuters throughout Queens to testify at the August hearing for better services. The assembly members, along with other transportation advocates, said that better service throughout the borough would lead to a better economic climate.
“This is an opportunity for transit riders to share detailed information about the challenges they face due to limited bus and subway service,” Rozic said. “Queens has been a transit desert for far too long and it is time changes are made so that residents can be better served.”
Rozic championed a $500,000 allocation in the state budget earlier this year for a bus restoration study related to northeast Queens MTA options. By the end of this year, she said that study would help the agency find ways to improve service and fully comprehend the consequences of various service cuts throughout the borough.
The state budget for this year in the Assembly included a $40 million sweep of dedicated transit funds, Goldfeder said, as proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. A total of $10 million was set aside for various MTA transit operations, the lawmaker said.
By Phil Corso
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