[Photos via Friends of the Queensway/OldNYC.]
The very ambitious QueensWay project, whose supporters envision transforming a 3.5-mile stretch of abandoned LIRR railway into a park and cultural hub a la the High Line, has inched a few steps closer to reality. The Journal reports that The Trust for Public Land, which is spearheading planning along with grassroots group Friends of the QueensWay, announced that it has hit $1 million in funding and that it has tapped two firms to conduct a feasibility study.
WXY Architecture + Urban Design (of the East River Blueway, Transmitter Park, Battery Park's SeaGlass Carousel, and many more) and dlandstudio (of Sponge Park in Gowanus, among other projects) will assess the stretch of track in question, which plunges into ravines and climbs onto shaky elevated platforms, for its safety. The duo will also "calculate the project's cost, identify any environmental contamination of the site, evaluate the structural soundness of the railroad trestles and develop a conceptual design." The whole aim of this phase is to see if the QueensWay can attract deep-pocketed donors the way its older sister has done so flawlessly. There is, clearly, a long way to go.
· Friends of the QueensWay [official]
· QueensWay Project [Trust for Public Land]
· QueensWay Park Project Reaches Funding, Planning Milestones [WSJ]
· All QueensWay coverage [Curbed]
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