LIRR Proposing to End Essential Link from Kew Gardens to Forest Hills

Over this past summer, the Long Island Railroad & the Metropolitan Transit Authority, announced that the LIRR East Coast Corridor, with service to the new Madison Station Platform at Grand Central Terminal, will commence by the end of this year - winter 2022.

Initially this was great news and that which LIRR commuters have been awaiting to hear for two decades. Unfortunately for us, with the release of the LIRR's proposed new train schedules for service, we now see that the LIRR-MTA is actually taking away vital service between Kew Gardens and Forest Hills.

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to view the draft LIRR schedule for Kew Gardens and Forest Hills, which eliminates all train stops between the two, in either direction! Thus one would no longer be able to take the train at Kew Gardens and get off at Forest Hills, and vice versa. However, this two-minute ride provides a CRITICAL LINK between our two communities which MUST BE MAINTAINED.

The MTA & LIRR want to hear from communities how they feel about the new schedule. This is our chance to tell them!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO COMMENT AND LET THE LIRR-MTA KNOW THAT SERVICE BETWEEN KEW GARDENS & FOREST HILLS IS ESSENTIAL TO US AND MUST BE RETURNED TO THE SCHEDULE.

IN DETAIL HERE'S WHY:

1. This link between the two stations enables Kew Gardens residents, especially the elderly, young families and the differently abled, to reach quickly and easily healthcare facilities and businesses unavailable in Kew Gardens.

Forest Hills is the hub for many medical facilities, especially ones that are UNAVAILABLE in Kew Gardens, e.g, specialized medical offices, medical labs, radiology services, hospital, clinics etc. In addition, the Kew Gardens community both needs and supports the many Forest Hills small businesses which have no counterpart in Kew Gardens. 

                                                                                               

2.  Given the new alternate Manhattan destinations, i.e., Penn Station and Grand Central, the destination link between Kew Gardens & Forest Hills helps to move traffic. For example, if you miss the KG train to the Eastside, you may be able to switch at Forest Hills for their next train to the East side, etc. and arrive in good time.      

 

3.  Such links between stations/communities continue to exist on many, if not all other LIRR lines - just not for Kew Gardens. Moreover, those using LIRR to access those local stations even have a special reduced fare, while Kew Gardens riders pay the full fare (as much as $6.50) to just Forest Hills, the same as if they were going to Manhattan or the Hamptons.  In just one example, the two-minute ride between Manhasset and Plandome LIRR stations, remains on the new schedule, costs seniors and the disabled $1.50, regular-fare payers also pay just a small percent of the final destination fare to and from Manhattan.

 

The link between Kew Gardens and Forest Hills is critical to our community, and now especially with the stifling of Queens Blvd for local motorist and public buses with under utilized bike lanes, the underground Subway stations in constant disarray - the massive jail structure and all the chaotic traffic it will bring, looming heavy - it is essential that the LIRR link between our two, interdependent neighborhood eco-systems, must be maintained.

Thank you.

Sylvia Hack