Incredibly, it may just happen...
Renewed Hopes for an Elevated Park in Queens
A group of civic leaders in Queens is proposing once again to turn an old rail line that runs through Forest Hills into an elevated park. Several community leaders proposed the idea a few years ago, but the project stalled.
Disgusting just like the Stones before the bridge to Manhattan.
ReplyDeleteThey should just remove the whole structure altogether since it is no longer utilized.
Im not sure of zoning in the area but they could do something to improve the whole section depending on the zoning of properties. Keeping old elevated train platforms isn't a smart idea. It is wasted space that could be better utilized.
I think that creating park space would be a very welcome addition to our neighborhood. This in conjunction with the new masterplan for the stadium could bring in foot traffic and $ and help revitalize Forest Hills. Let's be optimistic!
ReplyDeletePark space would be nice, but most likely underutilized. It's sad but true that if you look around FH, the residents are generally leaving for the city or for LI, and the people coming in here (and to Rego Park as well) are generally from Corona, Elmhurst, and other similar area's. If better shopping and dining were offered in FH at a reasonable price, then it's residents wouldn't need to go elsewhere, that's what has to happen before a park that will mostly be used by those who live elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteTo re-create the High Line would be a stretch. The most cost effective and feasible strategy would be Rails to Trails (R2T) as a starting point. R2T has been a successful program with a 35+ year track record (no pun intended). They also have the expertise for dealing with Rights of Way; often the biggest stumbling block for these projects.
ReplyDeleteKevin
I realize that picture was of the High Line not in Forest Hills, but the goal of the project was essentially a low cost method of reusing space rather than reinvesting significant funds to clean up the area. The existing facade of the train structure is still there which isn't being utilized anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe old LIRR tracks I presume are the ones by Rego Park/LIRR which go from Trader Joes back to Austin Street which are not utilized any longer.
I am not in favor of a park here utilizing the old structure at all. This land is very valuable. The property size is very wide and one can do a lot better than to keep the elevated structure in place here. This is prime land which I am presuming was actually owned by the MTA and not spun off. The MTA is always claiming a budget crunch and going after tax payers and fareholders for the money. It should sell off these assets from their books depending on the structure of ownership here.
I am not in favor of any such park being made using the property especially one that is public and made free to everyone. We don't need more occupy protestors pitching tents on an elevated structure.
This is very prime developable land. Even if one commits to keeping these as greenspaces, it could be landscaped beautifully if the elevated structures were knocked down and it would also save on future maintanence costs since the structure will deteriorate and rot over time.
We already saw a new school built on formerly unutilized land. I don't see how an elevated strcuture in Forest Hills makes any sense whatsoever.
The MTA needs to decide if it wants to continue service down these tracks and if not to sell the land off in the free marketplace if it is still the owner of these lands.
ReplyDeleteThe land right now is filthy with lots of debris. Even property owners who live by there are noticing filth and have complained about it on the internet.
ReplyDeleteIf the land was sold off privately, you could do something really beautiful with that land.
Forest Hills has a lot of unutilized land structures whether it be the old Tennis Stadium or the Tracks or even the land that the school was built on.
Rather than having that land as a wastedump now, an elevated park using the aboveground tracks is not the answer.
The location of that land is superb land which could be better utilized to its fullest potential. It amazes me to this day how it has been left to rot for decades since the LIRR abandoned those stations back in 1962 meaning that for roughly 50 years this land has been left unutilized especially with the population in this area increasing and with hugh investment and redevelopment in the Forest Hills area since then.
I don't advocate knocking down the existing baseball fields and I am all for keeping some green spaces there.
But that abandoned track if LIRR does NOT want to reutilize the track definitely needs to be knocked down in its entirety. That area even has ROW with dead end roads which could be extended further to make much better usage of these lands.
You could put a beautiful manmade river in that section with waterfalls or something or even redevelop the land to add more residential or businesses. Lots of usages for that land. But those tracks and debris need to be removed. Its prime location in NYC is hard to beat.
ReplyDeleteWhere will get enough European tourists to support our FoHi Line?
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