Forest Hills LIRR Station To Get ADA Revamp After Locals Complain

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Water leaks, inaccessible platforms, and vine-covered tracks.

Those are just some of the issues plaguing the Forest Hills Long Island Rail Road Station, according to a group of politicians and locals — dubbed the Burns Street Alliance — who called on LIRR President Phil Eng to meet with them about station upgrades last month.

Eng has seemingly heeded this call, and announced the transportation agency's plan to bring upgrades to the Forest Hills station, as well as others across Queens, according to multiple sources.

"We look forward to making an additional six Queens stations ADA accessible as part of the current capital plan," Eng wrote in a letter to the Queens Chronicle, detailing the MTA's plan to allocate $51 billion towards making LIRR stations across queens accessible, per the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"We’re grateful for the community participation and feedback from residents, and we’re taking it all into consideration as we plan to meet the needs of all our riders.," he said.

In Forest Hills, station upgrades will reportedly include elevators as well as platform extensions and replacements, which should be complete by 2022. The station has had ramps to and from platforms since 1997, but they aren't considered ADA-compliant.

You can read the full list of locals' demands, signed by seven local politicians, here.