By Chris Fuchs
“We are happy to get this money that will enable us to begin working on a lot of stations in Queens,” Padavan told a news conference at the station Monday attended by state Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin (D-Flushing), City Councilman Mike Abel (R-Bayside), Marilyn Bitterman, district manager of Community Board 7, and Mary Anderson, a Flushing civic activist. “This is further testament to what we're doing in Queens.”
The acting president of the railroad, Ken Bauer, presented a broad, itemized list of goals to be accomplished with the funds, saying that it would be about six months before the specific details of the plan are fully fleshed out. Carried to completion, he said, the improvements would take between six and eight months.
The Broadway station lies a few ticks east of where Crocheron Avenue and Northern Boulevard form an apex, hugging both Depot and Station roads. The station is coated in a dulled, lime-colored paint that flakes in sporadic patches. An underpass that allows commuters to cross between the east and westbound platforms is dank and poorly lit, even in the daytime. A weathered embossment can be seen from the Depot Road side of the overpass – “1913.”
“It's long overdue,” Anderson, the Flushing civic activist, said of the refurbishment. “The system has to grow. It's clear that we have to go with the times.”
The Long Island Rail Road has long served to augment city subway service in northeast Queens. In the early 20th century, it was the only means of transportation to Long Island and the city in the borough.
In April, work was begun on a new railroad station in Auburndale, to replace a crumbling one, less than a mile east of the Broadway station. That $5.5 million project is expected to be completed by the summer of 2002, the senator said.
All of the renovations on the Broadway station will revolve around preserving the station's historic appeal, adding modern amenities like a new public address system, improved lighting and an air-conditioned customer waiting room, as well as making the entire station accessible to the handicapped.
“This is one of the issues that addresses quality-of-life issues and basic needs and what working families want,” said McLaughlin.
