12 Western Queens Electeds Ask Port Authority to Provide Community With Expert to Make Its Arguments about Cross Harbor Threat
“We need to ensure that the community’s views and concerns about danger of
additional truck and rail traffic are presented in the most professional manner.”
Assemblywoman Marge Markey and eleven other elected officials have formally asked the Port Authority of NY-NJ (PA) to provide the Western Queens community with professional support to respond to the agency’s new Cross Harbor Freight Movement Program.
The Port Authority began a series of briefings this fall as it began an environmental impact statement for its initiative to control the movement of freight into and through New York metropolitan region.
At a forum sponsored by Citizens of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together (COMET) on November 16, Assemblywoman Markey said that the community deserved expert assistance in framing its arguments about the current and future impact of rail and truck traffic that will potentially result from implementation of the Cross Harbor Program. “We need a consultant who will work directly with local public officials and Community Board Five to ensure that community views and concerns are properly documented and presented in the most professional manner,” she said.
In a letter to Port Authority Executive Director Christopher Ward, Markey and the other Queens public officials said: “We are in accord with your regional goals for coping with the movement of freight in the future, but we are determined to ensure that they are not achieved at the expense of our communities. Providing us with a consultant to work with us through this EIS process will help ensure the community’s views are incorporated into your final report.”
In addition to Assemblywoman Markey, the letter was also signed by Congressman Joseph Crowley, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Congressman Anthony Weiner, State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, Assemblyman Michael Miller, City Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley, City Councilmember Diana Reyna and City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer.
This is the second time in eight years that the communities of Maspeth, Ridgewood, Glendale and Middle Village have been put into the center of a plan to solve the region’s freight traffic problems to relieve the burden of truck traffic into New York. A 2003 proposal for a rail freight tunnel into the city from New Jersey would have made the local Fresh Pond Rail Yard a principal destination for the traffic from that route, burdening the surrounding communities with the adverse impact of an enormous increase in truck and rail traffic.
The letter from Markey and the other officials to the Executive Director Ward said: “The communities of Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale and Ridgewood have been energized over recent years to find solutions to what are already intolerable conditions for many of our residents as a result of current rail and truck traffic,” adding, “We have been aggressively working with shippers, transportation companies and community organizations to address the adverse impact of current and near-term projected increases in truck and rail traffic on our neighborhoods. We need your help to ensure that community voices are heard in a meaningful way as your agency proceeds.”
The full text of Assemblywoman Markey’s letter and names of those other elected officials who have signed with her follows:
December 7, 2010
Christopher Ward, Executive Director
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
One Madison Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010
One Madison Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010
Re: Cross Harbor Freight Movement Program
Dear Executive Director Ward:
My colleagues and I represent the Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale and Ridgewood communities that will be greatly impacted by the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Program. As your agency undertakes the scoping phase of your Tier I Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process, we want to bring our concerns to your attention and seek your agency’s assistance.
While the Port Authority is properly motivated by the need to reduce highway congestion and eliminate travel delays in the metropolitan region, we believe that it is critical that the EIS process underway also address the potential impact that each of the various alternatives would have on our communities. Your proposed solutions to reduce highway congestion should not further erode the quality of life of the thousands of families living in our communities who are already overwhelmed by truck traffic on commercial and residential streets and the impact the current rail freight traffic through our communities.
As public officials, we have been aggressively working with shippers, transportation companies and community organizations to address the adverse impact of current and near-term projected increases in truck and rail traffic on our neighborhoods. We need your help to ensure that community voices are heard in a meaningful way as your agency proceeds.
To do this, we respectfully request that the Port Authority retain a consultant who will work directly with local public officials and Community Board Five to ensure that community views and concerns are properly documented and presented in the most professional manner for inclusion in the EIS.
The communities of Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale and Ridgewood have been energized over recent years to find solutions to what are already intolerable conditions for many of our residents as a result of current rail and truck traffic. We are in accord with your regional goals for coping with the movement of freight in the future, but we are determined to ensure that they are not achieved at the expense of our communities. Providing us with a consultant to work with us through this EIS process will help ensure the community’s views are incorporated into your final report.
Sincerely,
Margaret Markey, Member of Assembly
Joseph Crowley, Member of Congress
Nydia Velazquez, Member of Congress
Anthony Weiner, Member of Congress
Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., State Senator
Michael Gianaris, Member of Assembly
Andrew Hevesi, Member of Assembly
Michael Miller, Member of Assembly
Catherine Nolan, Member of Assembly
Elizabeth Crowley, City Councilmember
Diana Reyna, City Councilmember
Jimmy Van Bramer, City Councilmember
