Rockaway residents: LIRR railroads us

By JESSICA DURHAM

Far Rockaway residents want the Long Island Rail Road to offer the $3.75 weekend “CityTicket” option at their local stop – rather than the $10 they pay now.

The fare is available for travel within New York City on weekends. “Why don’t they have that here?” Jeremiah Elam, 19, a sophomore at Tidewater Community College in Virginia, said of the missing CityTicket service in Rockaway. “I would save a lot of money.”

Elam said he lived in Far Rockaway all his life and moved to Virginia last year. He takes the LIRR to travel to and from Far Rockaway to visit his family.

“On the weekends, it’s $10,” Elam said. “I would like the CityTicket service to be here to save that money. I wouldn’t mind it being here at all.”

Councilman James Sanders (D-Queens) has pushed the issue.

“Once again, the city is denying the most vital of services to those most in need,” he said in a statement. “Those of us who live furthest from Manhattan and have the hardest time getting there should at least be afforded the same advantages as every other city resident. Far Rockaway is part of New York City, and we expect and deserve, at minimum, the same treatment and consideration as everyone else.”

The CityTicket program is a new way to travel on Saturday and Sunday within air jordan 11 the city limits on Long Island Rail Road or Metro-North Railroad, according to the MTA website. It is supposed to make the LIRR experience a quick, safe, and cost-effective way for residents from roshe run suede the outer boroughs to reach Manhattan on a weekend, reducing the often cost prohibitive price tag of a ticket down to about the fare of a subway.

However, commuters who ride from Far Rockaway are not extended the CityTicket offer. MTA officials say that passengers from Far Rockway can take the A train from their neighborhood for $2.25.

“As ever, it’s just a simple matter of economic fairness,” Sanders said. “Those who live furthest from the epicenter of New York are generally those who can least afford to live in it. We should be looking for ways to make things easier for those struggling to make ends meet. But this policy basically tells the people of Far Rockaway: we don’t want you here. It’s not fair, and it needs to change.”

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply