| Dad and I were riding the A train, not to Harlem as memorialized in song, but the other way, to the far flung strand of Rockaway. On the way down, we were caught by the south channel bridge between Broad Channel and Rockaway, open to let a barge through. I didnt even think this was navigable water-Jamaica Bay is not deep-so show what I know. The line has a history. It was once part of the LIRR, which had a wooden trestle over the water. It was a headache to maintain, given the salt water environment, and occasional fires. Finally, in 1950, part of it burned, the LIRR didnt have the money to rebuild, and sold it to the City of New York, which rebuilt the causeway in concrete and steel, opening it in 1954 as an extension of the A line via a connection at 96th Street and Liberty Av in Queens. The line north of that connection point, to the LIRR Main Line in Rego Park, retained service through 1962 to Woodhaven Blvd, when it was abandoned. When NYCTA took it over, the segment from Broad Channel to Rockaway was an extra fare zone, the City charging double the fare to ride there. You had to put another token in the turnstile to get out if exiting at any of those points. Entering, you put two tokens in. Needless to say, this did not sit well with the locals in Rockaway. Abe Beame, a resident of Belle Harbor, won election for mayor in 1973, in part, for his promise to eliminate the extra fare. This was one promise that was kept in an otherwise tumultuous time for New York. |