State Comptroller Carl McCall is the latest – and highest-ranking – elected official to slam the controversial Kennedy Airport rail-link proposal, saying there must be a better alternative.
In a recent meeting with The Post editorial board, McCall said the city needs a single link from the Queens airport to Manhattan – not the Port Authority’s current $1.5 billion plan, which would require travelers to switch trains.
“We’ve got to do something,” McCall said. “But it just seems to me that we can do better” than the PA plan.
Chris Ward, the PA’s chief of planning and external affairs, said McCall’s comments showed he “acknowledges the need for action today” – and said the current plan is vital to building a one-ride link someday.
The proposal calls for three miles of elevated track to run along the Van Wyck Expressway, and connect to the subway station in Jamaica, Queens, where straphangers will have to switch to another line. Jamaica residents are fuming about the plan, saying it will clog their neighborhood with noise and traffic disruptions during the construction.
The City Council will hold hearings on the plan this week, and will vote in two weeks on whether to give it a green light.