The NYC parks queensway project will connect several of the country's most diverse neighborhoods in queens, new york via an active linear park

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Discretionary Grant Program awarded the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation $5,815,975.00 on January 17, 2025 to advance the NYC Parks Queensway Project. This project will connect several of New York's most diverse neighborhoods in Queens via an active linear park, transforming a 3.5-mile stretch of abandoned railway into a greenway and transportation corridor. The funding will support planning activities, including community engagement, feasibility studies, preliminary engineering, and environmental reviews to remove transportation infrastructure barriers and reconnect disadvantaged communities. The project aims to improve mobility, access, economic development, and quality of life for residents by creating a more integrated and accessible urban environment.

The project advances two sections of a larger vision which is seeking to transform a continuous 3.5-mile-long stretch of abandoned railway into a greenway and transportation corridor. This project will reconnect culturally diverse, historically disadvantaged communities while providing alternative, low-emitting transportation options along with economic, health, and climate benefits.