New York City sets $100M to upgrade freight transportation

Written by Railway Age Staff
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The New York & Atlantic Railroad connects New York City to the national rail network, interchanging with CSX in Fresh Pond, Queens. Railway Age photo by Stuart Chirls

Rail is central to an ambitious plan to streamline freight infrastructure while reducing truck emissions and creating thousands of new jobs in New York City.

The city would invest as much as $100 million in Freight NYC in an effort to expand the use of rail and water to move food, building materials and other goods that are currently trucked in from outside the five boroughs.

In a statement, EDC President and Chief Executive James Patchett said, “Freight NYC will better equip New York City to meet 21st-century demand by modernizing the city’s freight infrastructure, reducing truck traffic and improving air quality, while creating nearly 5,000 good-paying jobs in the process. This plan is a win-win for our environment and economy.”

In Sunset Park, Brooklyn, the Economic Development Corporation wants to create a 500,000 square foot distribution center on the site of the Brooklyn Army Terminal, adjacent to the New York New Jersey Rail carfloat hub.

Within the next two weeks, the EDC expects to issue requests for Proposals seeking private partners for development of the rail hub as well as a new air cargo center near John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens.

The multimodal plan will also pursue private participation in a $20-30 million barge terminal on five acres of land owned by the city in Hunts Point, a major distribution crossroads for produce in the Bronx.

Longer term, to take heavy trucks off city roads, the plan envisions a series of small rail freight yards on a line through Brooklyn and Queens, where goods would be transloaded to smaller vehicles for final delivery.

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