At the recent Woodhaven meeting hosted by the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association, the turnout by the community was impressive. Those community members who arrived and had taken no position to either have a nature walkway or revival of the LIRR certainly decided after the presentations were made. I was one of those.
I live parallel and about 30 feet from the rail line and can only imagine never sleeping again at night if this railroad passes by three or more times an hour. I am quite worried about the structure of our 1920s homes, the debris on the tracks, children and teenagers walking on the accessible tracks and the killing of the majestic trees on the land. These trains will be more powerful than those that were there in the 1960s.
The discussion about economic development in Rego Park, Woodhaven and Ozone Park was just a mask of the negatives that were to come. Although the flyer given about the plans vaguely mentioned the Racino, it was obvious that it was the economic sponsor of this proposed project. Many of us left thinking that this LIRR to come was a done deal!
Mildred Facinelli
Woodhaven
