Co-op City Residents Support Proposed Metro-North Station

By Lennin Reyes

The Bronx Journal Reporter

 

After years of bus cuts and changes in Co-op City, those in the 50,000-resident housing development have something to cheer about — a proposed Metro-North station in their backyard.

Hundreds of Co-op City residents joined local elected officials in showing their support for the proposed station at an MTA informational hearing Monday. “On a good day, the BxM7 express bus takes 40 minutes to reach Midtown,” Belinda Bailey said. “This will shrink my commute from 40 minutes to 27.”

Not only will it shrink commute times to Midtown, but the Metro-North says Co-op City residents will be able to reach Stamford, Connecticut in 31 minutes, something beneficial for residents in the largest reverse-commute market in the United States. “The Bronx has 5,000 reverse commuters going to the northern suburbs,” Robert McLagger, vice-president of Operations and Planning, said. “Many of the reverse commuters begin their travel in the east Bronx [in neighborhoods such as Co-op City].”

Residents are also happy about the station’s location on Erskine Place and Boller Avenue in Co-op City’s Section 5, which already has existing tracks. This is something Congressman Eliot Engel (D-Riverdale), who once resided in Section 5, has thought about for decades. “When I moved to Co-op City 35 years ago with my parents, we thought ‘Geez, the tracks are here, why isn’t there a station here?'” he said.

“I want people to get off their cars to take the train,” said Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. (D-Soundview). But, while many are ecstatic about the new station, some are concerned about the Metro-North’s lack of parking near the station. “I’m worried about commuters from surrounding communities who would drive here, park here and take the Metro-North,” Bailey said. “They will take parking spots away from us.”

The Co-op City station is one of four Bronx stations the Metro-North is proposing along the existing Hell Gate Line, which services Amtrak trains running between Penn Station and Boston. The others are located in Parkchester, Hunts Point and Morris Park.

Despite the fanfare, there is still more to be done. While an environmental assessment of the new stations is currently in progress, actual construction of the stations will not begin until the East Side Access (which will connect the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal) is completed and an agreement can be reached with the track’s owners, Amtrak, and the states of Connecticut and New York, which jointly operate the Metro-North’s New Haven Line.