Woodside CSX tracks are a mess

From CBS 2:

“Here, where it’s a private company and private property, it’s impossible for the city to even get in there,” City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer told Duddridge.

Neighbors are now adding rodents to their list of complaints, saying the animals are running rampant.

“We don’t now want the rats and mice and whatever seeping into our homes and apartments,” said Corrao.

The New York City Department of Sanitation says its cleaning unit inspected the area last month. It says CSX has been notified and has seven to 10 days to either clean up or sanitation crews will at the company’s expense.

There’s still one more hurdle – the sanitation department can’t clean up the property until a judge grants crews a warrant to enter the grounds.

Nolan comes out against EDC development plan over LIC tracks

From DNA Info:

Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan said the Economic Development Corporation's call for a developer to build apartments and retail on top of the Long Island Rail Road storage yard at 11-24 Jackson Ave. is "poorly planned" and that it has the potential to be "outsized and not right" for the neighborhood.

The EDC and the MTA issued a Request for Proposals Monday for a company to develop the site, which would require building over the 58,000-square-foot rail yard located between 21st Street, Jackson and 49th avenues.

"Considering the size of the site and its proximity to other large scale development in Long Island City there must be a better plan to increase basic services before such large scale development is considered,” Nolan said in a statement Tuesday.

The area's existing infrastructure is already strained, including crowded schools, subways and a sewage system that leaks waste into Newtown Creek when it rains, she said.

"I feel that we are now playing catch-up," Nolan said. "Our schools remain the most overcrowded in the city and every subway rider knows the daily overcrowded conditions on the 7, E, F, M, N, Q and R."

City wants development over LIC train tracks

From DNA Info:

The city is looking for a developer to construct housing, retail and open space above a rail yard in Long Island City, according to a Request for Proposals published Monday.

The city's Economic Development Corporation, along with the MTA, is seeking a third party to develop the 58,000-square-foot parcel at 11-24 Jackson Ave. bordered by 21st Street, Jackson and 49th avenues.

The city owns the air rights to the site, which is currently used by the LIRR for storage. Any development would need to be built over the existing rail yard, similar to the Hudson Yards development in Manhattan which is being built above the West Side Yard.

Police seek ID of remains

From WPIX:

The NYPD is asking the public’s help in identifying the victim of a homicide, based on composite sketches of the man nearly seven months after his remains were found in various bags in Queens.

On April 12, NYPD detectives responded to a 911 call reporting that human remains had been found by the CSX railroad tracks across from 72-36 43rd Ave. in Woodside. A man who was collecting cans in the area had come across a torn bag that had a skull inside.

Detectives then found more body parts in bags that had been strewn around the area. The remains were taken to the Medical Examiner’s office, where it was determined that the remains were that of a 30-year-old white male.

The NYPD has released composite sketches of the victim.

Crowley-Caruana debate a real doozy

"There was a debate last night in Middle Village for the 30th Council District. The incumbent, Elizabeth Crowley, and challenger, Craig Caruana, had a lengthy discussion of the issues. The panelists were Liam Laguerre, reporter for the Queens Courier, Rob Pozarycki, Assistant Editor of the Times Newsweekly, and Paul Graziano, urban planner and civic activist from northeast Queens.

The first segment is here, and includes candidate introductions, questions about the Knockdown Center in Maspeth (5:30), proposed Glendale homeless shelter (11:15) and problems with garbage freight railroads (15:45). According to Crowley, the Knockdown Center will provide jobs, and despite all the stuff that has been revealed to have gone on at the site, it's no match for the campaign contributions that she has received from the investors. She claims the site has the potential to create 1,500 jobs, even though the owner himself has only estimated about 30. The proposed Glendale homeless shelter is not a threat at all, because Crowley says so. (Tell that to the hundreds of people expected to rally this Saturday against it.) And finally, a former Republican council member moved freight rail operations into people's backyards before Crowley took office. Which isn't at all true." - Christina Wilkinson

Electeds want rail line restored

From DNA Info:

Two Queens congressmen said they are backing a plan to restore an abandoned Queens rail line, instead of turning the tracks into a High Line-style public park called the QueensWay — and want to to use Hurricane Sandy funds to make it happen.

The move by Reps. Gregory Meeks and Hakeem Jeffries, who represent Brooklyn as well as parts of Howard Beach and Ozone Park, could be a setback to the QueensWay project, which has been gaining supporters during the past several months and received a $467,000 grant for a feasibility study from the state last year.

The derelict Rockaway Beach Rail Line, which closed in 1962, used to connect Forest Hills, Rego Park, Richmond Hill and Ozone Park, but it has since become home to mostly trush and graffiti.

The elected officials argue that restoring the line would revitalize local economy and offer faster commute options to the area devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

“Restoring the rail line would speed up the pace of recovery for residents and local businesses and create hundreds of jobs while laying the foundation for a transportation network that accommodates our future growth,” said Meeks, who represents Far Rockaway and Jamaica, at a press conference held on Sunday in Ozone Park.

$500K state money to study Queensway

From the Wall Street Journal:

The effort to remake a 3½-mile stretch of abandoned railway tracks into the Queens answer to the High Line took a step forward this week as the state put up about a half-million dollars to study the project.

But the Queensway plan favored by park advocates and local groups faces significant hurdles: Is the site contaminated? Can elevated tracks abandoned for 50 years still support walkers and cyclists? Will a project stretching from Rego Park to Ozone Park attract the Chelsea-size checks that helped bring the High Line to life?

The proposal for an elevated park paired with bike trails, fitness zones and ethnic-food stalls got its first nod from the state when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday gave the Trust for Public Land a $467,000 grant to study the project.

"That is the first step toward making the Queensway a reality," said Christopher Kay, chief operating officer of the Trust, the nonprofit group helping spearhead the new park.

But even if the elevated tracks turn out to be free from environmental or structural issues, huge challenges would remain as nonprofit backers work to clean and revitalize a site that has suffered from a half-century of neglect.

In its current incarnation, the Queensway features "a great representation of cultural diversity from the beer cans that you find," said Marc Matsil, a local official with the Trust.

I thought the state was broke. The governor all of a sudden has money to piss away on a feasibility study for something we all know isn't feasible? With this money, the acquisition of the Brinckerhoff Cemetery could have been funded 4 times over.

Beer cans as a reflection of Queens diversity...gotta love it.

MLS' grand parkland replacement scheme

Rendering of proposed soccer stadium from Queens Courier
"Crapper, I found this article on Capital NY regarding MLS's drive to build a soccer stadium on public parkland. While they enlisted SHoP architects to come up with the design for the stadium (which note, is the same one who came up with Barclays Arena), the main piece of crap of this article is how MLS plans to replace the lost parkland...

the July presentation (entitled "The World's Sport in the World's Park) indicates the league has also looked at a bunch of tiny little plots scattered around the neighborhood, including the .04-acre site at Roosevelt Avenue and 90th Street, the .02-acre site at 108th Street and Van Cleef, and a .03-acre site at Xenia Street, Westside Avenue and the Long Island Expressway.

Is that enough to replace a park that is used heavily, with a bunch of small plots? I don't think so!" - Brian

Thanks for bringing this article to my attention. No, it's not enough, which is why MLS and NYC are also proposing buying the MTA's Willets Point yard.

In addition to land bordering Flushing Creek, some of it M.T.A.-owned, and a city-owned plot near the Rego Park Crescent...

The "land bordering Flushing Creek" is located on the same peninsula that the soon-to-be-condemned land sits on that the City claims is heavily toxic and flood-prone. Part of it is also officially mapped DEC wetlands.

So who's paying for the decontamination and raising of the flood plain?

The Rego Park land under consideration is somewhere in here:
and in an area that some want to have reactivated as a rail line.

Skunked in Midville

From the Queens Courier:

Residents who live along the train tracks in Middle Village have long complained of noise and odors emanating from the rails, though now locals say they’ve been infested with a new disturbance.

Over the past year, those who reside near the railroad tracks say they have experienced an increase in wildlife roaming city streets.

“Come 3 o’clock, 4 o’clock in the morning, you see what’s running around the neighborhood,” said Maspeth resident Tony Nunziato of the mostly nocturnal animals. “You’ll have every kind of animal down there. A lot of possum, skunks, rodents; it’s just a breeding ground.”

The influx of vermin have congregated near the tracks because of a lack of oversight by CSX, the company that runs the rails, residents said, leading to overgrown brush and litter from rail cars carrying construction debris, which they say is not securely sealed.

As of press time, CSX did not respond for comment.

Lancman's working on the railroad

From the Times Ledger:

State Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) is ratcheting up his charge for Congress — and he’s starting at the local level.

The candidate for the 6th Congressional District stood with residents of Glendale and Middle Village on an overpass overlooking the Fresh Pond freight rail lines, along with the backyards of adjacent homes.

If elected, Lancman intends to enact legislation aimed at protecting the community affected by the environmental problems created by railroad companies that let their trains idle on the tracks outside the rail station.

“For far too long, residents of this area have had to put up with the noise, the smell and the lack of security resulting from rail companies ignoring the community’s concerns and performing railroad yard activities outside the railroad yard,” said Lancman at the gathering Monday. “This legislation would not only put an end to these disturbances by ensuring railroad yard activities actually take place in the railroad yard, but would also give the residents of this community input into the yard’s operation.”

The Neighborhood Rail Improvement Act would specifically prohibit rail companies from performing yard activities on tracks located in residential neighborhoods. These activities include repairs, maintenance, collection, storage and transfer of materials. The legislation would also create a nine-member Regional Community Advisory Board for railroad yards, comprised of residents appointed by the elected officials representing the area.

Padavan ok with trash fumes next to homes

Mayor Bloomberg has actively intervened to thwart a modest, palliative "greening" of solid-waste-by-rail operations. The Mayor opposed tweaks to existing state environmental law that would close current loopholes that benefit railroad and waste management corporations. These loopholes allow freight trains to haul and park open and unsealed cars of solid waste in our communities. The resulting stench, air and water-borne pollution, habitat for disease vectors, and unsightly rail corridor are draining health and value from communities. People are suffering with these problems that are exacerbated by the summer heat. In a late session debate, the Mayor's colleagues invoked his opposition and also took up the arguments of railroad lobbyists (Railroads of New York) and the interests of rail and solid waste management corporations in a debate with Senator Addabbo, who spoke on behalf of citizens. The debate can be accessed starting at 2h 53 min.:



Following are CURES responses to the arguments made by the Senators (major points are in bold and underlined), including those the Senators expressed on behalf of the Mayor, and an email from CURES Co-Chair Laura Zimmer. Laura wrote to Senators Padavan, Farley, and Libous, "I pray daily that legislators will find it in themselves to represent ordinary folks in the same manner that they would represent the wealthy." Amen.

CURES answers to the Bloomberg/Senators' arguments made on the floor of the Senate:
- the city has demonstrated that it has the power to mandate the use of freight rail for transport of city garbage. It already has done so in at least one contract with WM (Varick St.). (PADAVAN)
- the idea that tarps would be a big safety problem is not borne out by the national experience of tarped trucks on interstate highways in the company of passenger vehicles. (PADAVAN)
- the notion that the only alternative to open and unsealed rail cars of garbage is bringing back tractor trailers is a false choice that asks the people to "pick their poison" instead of making corporations clean up the way they do business. (PADAVAN)
- the Senator needs to drive down to communities in Queens, Brooklyn, and Suffolk Co. and see how scenic the view is from backyards, parks, and other properties that open onto stinking loads of garbage. (LIBOUS)
- Assemblymen from Suffolk Co. co-sponsored the assembly version of the bills, proving that it is not just the city's problem. (LIBOUS)

Other answers to Padavan's arguments:
- the city doesn't have to wait to see what its vendors and their vendors dish out. It has a lot of power in this matter. This is an essential city service and a sure source of revenue for companies that make money off it -- WM, the railroads. The city has the power to make sure railroads really are a green mode of transportation for the communities of NYC. Unfortunately, instead in this case the Mayor has used his clout to thwart a modest greening of solid-waste-by-rail operations by actively opposing a tweak to existing state environmental law that would close current loopholes that benefit railroad and waste management corporations.
- the idea that railroads would refuse to carry solid waste if the loads had to be tarped because of liability is all speculative threat. This seems extremely unlikely in light of the substantial percentage of their current business that the solid waste business comprises in the NYC area.
- the waste management companies own the rail cars. Any investments they would have to make in equipment, operations, labor would be offset by depreciation and other tax write offs.

Answers to Farley's arguments:
- his focus is all on the idea that this legislation will place burdens on railroads. This came without even a mention of the role of waste management companies in this business or any regard for the daily problems our communities experience, which were eloquently expressed by our Senator Addabbo.
- is he really making the argument that the solid waste business isn't lucrative unless these primitive practices and equipment are used? Is he really saying that the waste management industry and the portion of railroad business that serves it require subsidies from communities in the form of diminished health, quality of life, and property values or it isn't worth it? That rail doesn't have enough inherent competitive advantages over individual trucks?

Other answers to Libous:
- if trucks still haul open loads of waste through NY State (this is NOT the case in other states) over highways, absolutely they should be tarped.
- economic development would be well served by making these corporations clean up their acts. Manufacturing would benefit -- new equipment and maybe machines. Maybe a few more people would be employed. When did it become fashionable to allow corporations to avoid investing in safety and environmental protection, in newer equipment, operations, and personnel in order to plump up short-term profits? And what about the economic value that is being taken out of communities along the rail line?

Woodside tree cutting comes to a halt

From the Times Ledger:

Amtrak recently chopped down hundreds of trees along its tracks in western Queens, but halted the clearing after livid Woodside and Astoria residents complained to the railroad corporation.

State Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) and residents of Boulevard Gardens, an apartment complex at 51st Street at 32nd Avenue near the border of Astoria and Woodside, told an Amtrak representative at a May 18 meeting they were furious that hundreds of trees had been removed along borough tracks. The trees had been cut down in Astoria, Woodside, Forest Hills and other borough neighborhoods.

“These trees were nowhere near the tracks and residents said they posed no obstruction,” Gianaris said. “This does incredible damage to air quality, especially in an area where the air is already bad due to power plants. It was an aggressive effort by Amtrak.”

Gianaris said the community was given no notice that the trees would be taken down.

In addition, the railroad company has been removing trees all the way from Washington, D.C., to Boston, the assemblyman said.

Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said the company had removed trees to prevent the danger of falling leaves and limbs onto its tracks.

“We listened to residents’ complaints, so we are going to be looking to add some shrubs or lower trees,” he said.

The railroad is no longer removing the trees in the borough, he said.

At last week’s meeting, the corporation vowed to plant new fir trees along its tracks.

Amtrak chops down hundreds of trees

From the Daily News:

The federal stimulus may be pumping greenbacks into the economy but it's also making a part of Woodside distinctly less green.

Locals are steamed over Amtrak's brush-clearing effort that recently chopped down more than a hundred mature trees along rails running parallel to Northern Blvd.

Homeowner George Olt, 69, whose property on 56th Place abuts the land owned by Amtrak, said he began hearing buzzsaws near his lush backyard on April 30.

By the next day, some 200 trees - more than a hundred of them exceeding about 2 feet in diameter - had been felled, Olt said.

"It's not like the trees were dead," said Olt, a retired transit worker who has lived in the same home for 26 years. "They were in full bloom."

The leafy trees also acted as a noise buffer from passing trains, he and neighbors said.

Most of the felled trees - along a 200-foot section of the railway - were rooted more than 50 feet from the tracks, said Olt, who was skeptical of the railroad's claim that the clearing project would improve safety.

The project was funded by federal stimulus money and is part of a nationwide initiative to upgrade infrastructure, said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Coles.

Coles conceded the trees "may not be located directly on our right of way" but was a precautionary step.

The timing of the project has also stung local environmental groups. The tree-clearing comes as hundreds of others were planted in Woodside as part of the Mayor Bloomberg's MillionTreesNYC initiative.

"We didn't gain anything," said Anthony Gigantello, president of Coalition Helping Organize a Kleaner Environment, or CHOKE, based in Long Island City.

Coles said residents can call Amtrak's hotline to voice concerns about the project's impact.

But that's too little, too late, locals said.

City cleanup leaves a lot to be desired

From LTV Squad:

The press has been giving the city government glowing reviews for cleaning up what they call ‘The Bronx Swamp’ (which of course is NOT a swamp). Since it seems over the last decade we’ve been the only exploring team with the boots and boldness to bother actually walking this abandoned rail line from end to end, we figured it might be nice to go back and see it cleaned up. Unfortunately though, what we found was that the city has done the minimal amount of work and has left the tunnel under St. Mary’s park completely fetid and flooded to boot. This tunnel was once dry enough to serve as a safe haven to migratory cave dwelling birds. Today though it’s the same old health hazard that the city promised it would eliminate. I guess they only cleaned the parts of this former railroad right of way that are visible to public and left a toxic soup directly under a park where children play.