As New Yorkers know, one of the great attractions in the
City is the High Line. The High Line is a new public park,
built along a former elevated railroad spur, running on
Manhattan's west side from Gansevoort Street to West
34th Street. The High Line itself was originally built
in 1929 for the New York Central Railroad.
The New York Times is reporting that a group
in Queens, New York, with the support of the Trust for Public
Land, has proposed creating the "Queens Way", a High Line
like project, along the old Rockaway Beach branch of the Long
Island Rail Road. The tracks, running three and a half miles from
Rego Park to Ozone Park, have been abandoned for more than fifty
years. Governor Cuomo has recently awarded the Trust a
$467,000 environmental protection grant to begin the environmental
review process. Much work on this project needs to be done
before construction can begin, including a determination of whether
the railways bridges, trestles and embankments
