Thursday, June 1, 2017
Lefferts bridge businesses endangered
From DNA Info:
About a dozen mom-and-pop businesses lined along the Long Island Rail Road bridge in the heart of Kew Gardens fear they may face demolition as the MTA tries to figure out what to do with the aging structure, local residents and officials said.
The bridge on Lefferts Boulevard, between Austin and Grenfell streets, near the Kew Gardens LIRR station and the Kew Gardens Cinemas, is one of the most distinct spots in the neighborhood.
Built more than nine decades ago, it's been compared by locals to the Ponte Vecchio, a medieval bridge in Florence known for shops built along it.
But over the years the aging structure has become a hazard as falling bricks and pieces of crumbling facades continue to put residents and passing trains at risk, local merchants and officials said.
Now, the MTA is considering not renewing the lease for the property operator when it expires in 2020, instead commissioning a developer to figure out what to do with the run-down structure, prompting concerns that new buildings could replace the 13 businesses currently located along the bridge, according to several people who participated in a meeting with MTA representatives which was held at Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz’s office earlier this month.
8 comments:
Something has to be done to ensure the bridge does not crumble onto the busy railroad that runs directly below it. I doubt the MTA wants to take on any liability so they may just eliminate all of the shops and repair / replace the bridge. It has to be done. The bridge is 100 years old!
I think they are F'ed, the MTA has let this bridge rot since the problem was first discovered in '93. MTA needs dough and will sell out to a developer. And we know what happens then. The developer, will promise "affordable housing" and the rubber stamping begins.
Seems like the pressure should have been kept on the MTA since 93.
A city in decline is never a pretty thing.
What does the worst transit system in the fucking world have against Lefferts anyway?
I for one am tired of seeing run down slumlike communities and infrastructure in Queens. It is stunning if you go on google earth and see the shape of parks in Brooklyn then look at Queens.
Its like 2020 and 1980.
Then we have the fat overblown capital budgets for shoddy work that takes forever, but lines the pockets of the well placed.
Listen to this language - we have all heard it so much we could write the script. Everything good and unique about Queens is being folded into a system that is eating this borough alive so they can make money.
It is actually three separate bridges. The vehicular/pedestrian bridge precedes the two bridges built and owned by the LIRR/MTA supporting the stores.
That old bridge could never support a high - rise. IMPOSSIBLE!
It's just Queens, the city doesn't care and won't do anything until the last minute. And when they do, it'll be to put thriving businesses out of work so some connected developer can make money.
You can take it to the bank. The bridge will be replaced and the businesses will be displaced.
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