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Full Speed Ahead For AirTrain Despite Arson & Protests

construction of the controversial billion dollar AirTrain project is speeding along at remarkable speed, but in the past week it hit some bumps that some hope will derail the train.
The seemingly phenomenal rise of huge elevated concrete pillars and pathways for the monorail-like train that the Port Authority is building to connect JFK Airport to downtown Jamaica and Howard Beachs subway station has local residents and other observers amazed. But an apparent arson attack last Friday destroyed a huge 120-foot high crane. The predawn torching ignited by gasoline caused the towering $1.8 million crane to topple over. The flames had caused the cranes hydraulic lines to fall. The crane was being used to assemble the concrete stanchions lining South Conduit Avenue near the Van Wyck Expressway. Although only one firefighter suffered a sprained ankle, Fire Department spokesman Chief Brian Dixon said that "Fortunately, all the firefighters were on the other side of the crane when it collapsed but for whatever reason this was done, a prank or vandalism or to make some statement, it put firefighters at great risk."
The rail link project has generated strong emotions in the local neighborhoods that are in the sidelines of the path of the train. Protests have been held over the past few weeks opposing the rail link but an early investigation showed no direct link between the arson and the recent protests and officials said there was no apparent labor dispute. A full investigation is currently underway.
Last week a three-hour protest was held against the AirTrain along the Rockaway Boulevard overpass on the Van Wyck. The demonstration was staged by an organization called the Southeast Queens Concerned Neighborhoods Inc. The group distributed flyers to the passing motorists and pedestrians asking them to tell state and local legislators to halt construction of the AirTrain.
The residents along the train route say that the construction is ruining their homes and will put more traffic onto the local streets causing tremendous noise and pollution. Some complained of cracks in their walls and heavy vibrations shaking their houses like an earthquake.
The angry residents have been joined in their opposition by the Long Island City-based Committee for Better Transit. The group opposes the very concept of the project on the grounds that the AirTrain is useless because it only takes passengers from the airport to downtown Jamaica and Howard Beach and it does not offer a one-seat ride into Manhattan. The opposition groups have filed suit in the United States Court of Appeals for the second circuit demanding a cessation of the project on the grounds that the projects sponsor, the Port Authority, failed to disclose information about the potential negative impacts on the surrounding community. The written arguments have already been submitted and the oral arguments will begin on June 19th.
Meanwhile, observers working near the airport told The Queen Courier that the speed in which the project is being constructed may be to avoid any legal action that could put a halt to the AirTrain. "At the rate its going I think this thing will be finished way before it was supposed to be in 2003. It wouldnt surprise me to see the train moving along the track next week."
Another airport worker remarked that "when I go to work in the morning theres nothing there, and when I go home at the end of the day, there is a whole new concrete roadway in place. Its really amazing."