Dreams and Schemes for an Abandoned Rail Line
By JOHN FREEMAN GILL
Published: January 2, 2005
For years, debate raged over plans to transform the High Line, the
defunct Chelsea freight railway, into an elevated public park. Now, as
the city and a nonprofit group are moving ahead on those plans, central
Queens has set out on a similar mission for its equivalent of the High Line.
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Far less celebrated than its Manhattan counterpart, the derelict
Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, which once ran south
from Rego Park all the way to the Rockaway peninsula, survives as rusty
trestles and tracks, elevated along much of their route. Inspired by the
planned rejuvenation of the High Line, two community boards in central
Queens hope to turn parts of the abandoned spur into recreational green
space.
On Dec. 14, Community Board 9 adopted a resolution calling for the city
to create a bicycle path on the 1.5-mile stretch of the property running
through Forest Park and south through Woodhaven and Ozone Park. North of
Rockaway Boulevard, the defunct line is now owned partly by the Parks
Department and partly by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
"A bikeway would take this old, abandoned ugly structure and, if you
have tree plantings on it and you could beautify it, it would add to the
community," said Mary Ann Carey, district manager of Board 9. "It's not
something that's going to happen overnight, but we know there is
precedent for it."
cont'd
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/02/nyregion/thecity/02high.html?oref=login
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