Queens Officials Renew Call For Sunnyside LIRR Station

SUNNYSIDE, NY — Queens public officials on Monday renewed calls for a long-promised LIRR station in Sunnyside, but the MTA says the station can't be built until its East Side Access project is complete.

The transportation authority is spending $11 billion to connect the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Station, a project known as East Side Access, and reduce overcrowding at Penn Station. The Sunnyside station is part of that plan. Once built, some LIRR trains traveling to and from Penn Station would stop there.

"Nearly 20 years have passed since Long Island City was promised a new station in Sunnyside Yards and it is way past time for the state to deliver," U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who represents Long Island City, said on Monday. "We need a transportation system that recognizes and accommodates the growing number of riders on our railways and one that recognizes our city’s changing commuting patterns."

The proposed Sunnyside Rail Yards station at Queens Boulevard would be a transportation hub connecting the LIRR to Amtrak and NJ Transit, which also use the yard.

So, what's the hold up? Central to the construction work on East Side Access is a rail junction in Sunnyside called Harold Interlocking — the busiest in the country, according to the MTA. Building the Sunnyside station now, a spokesperson said, would interfere with that work on East Side Access.

And with trains traveling to Penn Station every two to three minutes, adding a stop at Sunnyside could congest the entire railroad; once the LIRR can travel to Grand Central, schedules could become more flexible.

Officials say the Sunnyside station is critical to accommodating population growth and development in Western Queens.

"Western Queens continues to grow at a remarkable pace, but we risk stunting that growth if we’re not able to keep up when it comes to upgrading key area infrastructure," Queens Borough President Melinda Katz said. "By building a LIRR station in Sunnyside, we will not only be fulfilling a long-overdue promise to the residents of Western Queens in need of more transit options, we will be making an absolutely critical investment that will help further diversify the borough’s economy."

Sunnyside Yard is the site of an upcoming mixed-use megadevelopment by Amtrak and the city's Economic Development Corporation. The MTA says the plan wouldn't interfere with building the Sunnyside LIRR station.

"As NYCEDC and Amtrak develop a Master Plan for a potential overbuild of Sunnyside Yards, the MTA is working with them to ensure that options for a station can be pursued without compromising future LIRR service or operations," an MTA spokesperson said in a statement.

Lead image: One of four escalators that will carry passengers from the concourse level to the mezzanine and train platforms of the East Side Access project beneath Grand Central Terminal in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)