By Zach Patberg
The Metropolitan Transit Authority's five-year rebuilding plan initially identified 55 stations for revamping by 2009. Contention rose, however, when a dozen hubs, includes the Forest Hills station, were cut from the program in April due to the MTA's budget problems. Although it still leaves 44 stations to be rehabilitated, the MTA's amended plan would cut the project's overall $830 million bill nearly in half. The proposal is still being considered by an obscure state legislative committee called the Capital Review Board, which should make a decision on the work at the 12 stations by the end of the month.In response, transit and community activists held a black ribbon-cutting at the Queens Boulevard station to protest the city's about-face on several stations they said were “decrepit.” “When a station's falling apart, they repel certain riders from taking mass transit,” said rider advocate Jon Orcut of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.Most of the complaints at the gathering centered around cosmetic disrepair like cracked ceilings, aging floor tile, rusty pillars, exposed wiring and dim lighting.”It's strictly functional, fairly dingy,” Orcut said of the 71st Avenue station that services the E, F, R, G, V lines through Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn.Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, put it another way: “You can get to work, but you dread it.”MTA spokesman Thomas Kelly said the agency simply did not have the money to refurbish the 12 stations, which includes another Queens stop on Union Turnpike in Kew Gardens as well as seven in Brooklyn and three in Manhattan. The other 44, Kelly said, were deemed in much worse condition.”Hard choices needed to be made,” he said. “We'll get to the others when we can.”But Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), chairman of the Transportation Committee, said MTA officials admitted that renovating all 55 of the stations was “the bare minimum necessary to keep the system in good repair” during testimony at a Council budget hearing in March.The councilman suggested the city redirect the $2 billion slated for the extension of the No. 7 line to these dozen stations now that the proposal for the West Side stadium has been killed.Forest Hills riders, however, had mixed feeling about the station's makeover, which would cost $30.2 million.Enna Padin, who travels on the R line from her home in Elmhurst, said she has never noticed any signs of dilapidation.”I don't see a problem. Not yet anyway,” she said, echoing sentiments of other commuters.But rider David Sidransky said he often notices poor lighting, crumbling beams and rats scurrying through trash.”It's a disgrace,” he said.Reach reporter Zach Patberg by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
