Quote:
Originally Posted by mrnyc
vastly substantially easier to just make it a park. the transit option would require the whole thing to be rebuilt at hella expense. stepping back not sure where that investment would fall on the list of transit capital improvement priorities, but not at the top.  |
Well, the 3rd option is "do nothing". If you know that a subway line is the right choice, you can continue to landbank the Rockaway Branch until such time that you have funding for the subway.
Building a park puts a nail in the coffin of doing rail in the future, because our entire system in this country basically prohibits governments from ever messing with parks once they are established. Even in the best case scenario, MTA would have to find replacement parkland somewhere in NYC at a 1:1 ratio or higher to offset any removal of park space. Good luck with that.
Plus, I don't think Mamdani even sees a political benefit from greenlighting the Queensway park. The Queensway backers are outer-borough white ethnics/Cuomo voters who hate his guts. Half of them only support the park as a way to keep the subway line (and brown people) out of their neighborhoods.
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