New York State Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder, D-Queens, asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo to direct a portion of the $5 billion from the budget surplus created by settlements and fines from major financial firms to restore the abandoned Rockaway Beach rail line in New York City's Queens borough.
Goldfeder's move came one week the Queens College Department of Urban Studies released a
In his letter to Cuomo, Goldfeder referenced the survey, which concluded that reactivating the line could generate a half a million subway rides daily. Transit advocates in the borough point out that New York City subway lines run east-west within the borough, thus creating a north-south void.
The study, citing recent studies and information from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York University, said complete restoration would cost between $600 million and $900 million.
