The Transit Authority took over the right of way of the
former Long Island Railroad line to Rockaway in the early 1950s, and
eventually it extended the city subway system out to two destinations on
the peninsula. The line was -- and is -- like no other. Its
long stretches above marshland and over bridges warranted in its earlier
days a premium fare. Whereas anywhere else on the system a person
could ride for fifteen cents, if you rode to or from Rockaway it was twice
that, and the passenger wasn't supposed to double-back without exiting,
a common and accepted practice for the day-rider elsewhere.
At least once I, with my young friend, emerged at the last stop, and
craftily blended back in with the entering passengers, thus saving
forty-five cents in additional fare. Some guilt for things like this, I think, is
permanent.
This view looks south from today's connection to the JFK Airport link.
No trains are in sight, but one can see down to the bridge across Broad Channel. |
