Event News
On November 13, 19, and 20, three public workshops were held in Woodhaven, Forest Hills and Ozone Park. The workshops were led by the QueensWay Planning Consultants to gather community input for the ongoing feasibility study of the abandoned Right-of-Way.
More than 300 residents attended (by some counts, close to 350) nearly doubling the expected turnout. After viewing a presentation outlining the feasibility study, participants broke out into discussion groups, each sharing their own personal connection to the project site, identifying points of interest, and sharing ideas, concerns and hopes relating to the QueensWay vision.
A second round of workshops will be held in early 2014, where Planning Consultants will present their first set of visions for the QueensWay, based on a physical survey of the site, analysis of surrounding neighborhoods and land uses, and community input gathered at November workshops and from the ongoing online forum.
The Friends of the QueensWay Steering Committee is deeply grateful and for all those who participated, and for the tireless outreach efforts of the Trust for Public Land, WXY Architecture & Urban Design, dland studio, Hester St Collaborative, and numerous FQW volunteers, who reached out to dozens of local community groups, placed hundreds of phone calls and distributed over 3,000 workshop invitations to homes and businesses near the project site. We are grateful for the participation of local public figures, a number of whom attended in person, sent delegates, and encouraged constituents to participate.
Photo credits to WXY, TPL
On Tuesday August 20th, over thirty QW supporters and twenty news outlets gathered in Forest Hills to welcome on board team leaders from WXY and dlandstudio, selected by FQW and the Trust for Public Land as QW consultants to begin a 10 month-long feasibility study and planning phase.
By the Trust for Public Land – New York – 08/20/2013
Two New York firms have been chosen to lead a design and feasibility plan to turn 3.5 miles of an abandoned railroad in Queens into the new QueensWay park, The Trust for Public Land and the Friends of the QueensWay announced today.
The firms are WXY architecture + urban design and dlandstudio. They were selected by a panel which looked at 29 proposals from as far away as China.
When it is finished, the QueensWay will create a 3.5 mile linear park along an old Long Island Railroad track path, stretching through central and southern Queens. It will connect multiple communities and provide green space for 250,000 people in the borough. The park will also celebrate the borough’s diversity, with art, sculpture and food from around the world.
Read more about the press conference in the NY Daily News and the Wall St Journal
Representatives of FQW and TPL announcing the QW feasability team at a press conference in Forest Hills, 8/20/13
On Monday, June 24th, friends and supporters of the QueensWay gathered at Austin’s Ale House in Kew Gardens to discuss recent developments and ideas regarding the QW. Attendees included supporters who’ve been following the project for years, as well as many who had just learned about the QW from recent tabling in Forest Hills and Richmond Hill. Following a presentation and a spirited Q&A discussion, letters of support were written to elected officials, connections were made, and plans for future grassroots outreach took root.
The QueensWay aims to reclaim public land for much needed public green space, and create a once-in-lifetime opportunity for economic growth in Queens. On June 16th, a group of 25 NYC residents were given the opportunity to learn about the project and visualize its potential outcome as they walked below, on, and alongside the abandoned railway. While the site is largely inaccessible, parts of the future greenway can be explored on grade and below.
Led by Frank Lupo (Friends of the QW), and Andy Stone (Trust for Public Land), the tour was organized by the Municipal Arts Society of NY as part of their ongoing series of walking tours exploring the City’s infrastructure and architecture. Participants from Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, and New Jersey, explored key access points to the QueensWay site, learning about the project’s potential to improve the quality of life for the 250,000 people living within a mile of the proposed greenway, and the many visitors who would inevitably be drawn to this landmark.
For information regarding upcoming tours, email: info@thequeensway.org
On Saturday, May 18th, the abandoned rails of the Rockaway Beach line running through Forest Park were hosts to an unusual sight. More than thirty local residents wielding trash bags, rakes, shovels, and pruners gathered to clean up the site. The group, organized by Friends of the QueensWay, included volunteers from Central and Southern Queens, City Parks officials, and students from the nearby MELS academy. Inspired by a common goal of building the QueensWay from the ground up, they began the process of reclaiming the area’s largest parcel of unused open space for public use.
The Friends of the Queensway, partnering with The Trust for Public Land, are in the process of interviewing potential consultant firms to conduct a feasibility study of the project area. While the RFP has attracted nearly 30 proposals from top design firms, both domestic and international, FQW volunteers continue to focus on bringing the project to the communities of QueensWay project area. The May 18th cleanup is the first in a series of events to engage the public in planning and promoting the project.
“This was a wonderful opportunity for the community to gain access to the Queensway and share in the vision of its potential,” said Andrea Crawford, member and former president of Community Board 9 and member of the Friends of the Queensway Steering Committee.
After just a few hours and 22 bags of trash removed, the transformation at the Forest Park rails was clearly visible. Tyler Gumpright, FQW volunteer from Elmhurst, saw this work as more than just symbolic. “We actually made a dent in restoring the QueensWay” he said. We may be years away from a greenway connecting Rego Park to Ozone Park, yet for those who participated on Saturday, it felt real and in reach, one trestle at a time.
To read more from NY Daily News click here
Special thanks, for all of their help, to NYC Parks staff, especially Forest Park Administrator Debby Kuha and Park Manager Helaine Basher-Soressi.
Special thanks to Ahron Foster for the beautiful photos.
The Queens Civic Congress held a Public Forum on the Future of the Rockaway Beach Branch Right of Way. Friends of the QueensWay Steering Committee Members Frank Lupo, Travis Terry & Andrea Crawford were joined by the Trust for Public Land NYC Director Andy Stone to give a presentation on the QueensWay.
