I came across a tweet the other day from @SecondAveSagas:
From Queens, ideas for an expanded subway system 2avesag.as/11IG4yB
— Second Ave. Sagas (@SecondAveSagas) June 7, 2013
I may live in Manhattan now, but the Queens girl inside of me could not click fast enough.
The recycled idea for subway expansion comes from Councilman Leroy Comrie, who has recently announced his run for Queens Borough President. According to a Daily News article, its incredible cost alone makes Comrie’s proposal about as likely as the Mets winning the World Series this year, which as a fan of the Mets and New York City transit, I am both insulted and disappointed. The truth is, the chances of Comrie winning this election are probably equally as good, but I am glad that he brought it up. Promises of the Second Avenue Subway were made ages ago, and who ever thought the No. 7 would ever leave Times Square? The conversation has to start somewhere.
As far as the details that will never come to fruition go, Comrie cites the congestion on the E and F lines as reasons for subway expansion in the borough. Sure, those lines are crowded, but mostly because those riders are trying to reach the closest buses that will get them home. Queens has always been about the bus, but that’s only because for most of its residents, that has been the only option! The Long Island Railroad’s network is a bit more extensive in the borough, but its high ticket prices leave out a solid chunk of the population.
Residents of Staten Island may consider themselves members of the forgotten borough, but did you know that if each NYC borough were an independent city, Queens would rank as America’s fourth most populous city? Don’t you think those residents in Fresh Meadows and Bayside deserve some subway love? I certainly do. Perhaps the hundreds of workers employed in Maspeth factories churning out Made In New York products would like a little help too. And what about our airports? JFK got the AirTrain, but it looks like we forgot about its little cousin La Guardia. There are serious opportunities here that need to be given serious attention.
Maybe it’s the ludicrously hopeful Mets fan in me, but maybe there is hope for such a plan. Maybe one day in the future, Queens residents will look back and wonder how a borough with such an incredible baseball team once had such bad subway service.
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