Most Queens residents back QueensWay elevated park

QueensWay rendering
QueensWay rendering

The proposed QueensWay Park Project, which would turn a 3.5-mile chunk of abandoned rail in Queens into an elevated pathway and park, has the support of 75 percent of the borough’s residents, a new survey shows.

The poll, conducted by research firm Whitman Insight Strategies on behalf of nonprofit Trust for Public Land, found that the park has opposition from only 10 percent of borough residents, with a remaining 15 percent undecided, the group said.

“The research is clear that this is something the people of Queens want,” Scott Kotchko, senior vice president at Whitman Insight Strategies, said in a statement. “This poll shows that the QueensWay project directly addresses the public need for more open space.”

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The telephone survey, which reached out to 500 Queens residents of voting age in September, found that 82 percent of respondents said the borough needs more open space and that 77 percent feel the QueensWay project should be a priority.

QueensWay would directly touch the Rego Park, Forest Hills, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Woodhaven neighborhoods, where 70 percent of the borough’s residents live. Support for the project, the survey found, was higher in those areas.

The survey marks the project’s second major dig for public input, after architects WXY architecture + urban design and dlandstudio unveiled a $1 million feasibility study via social media back in August. — Julie Strickland