NYC could build a new neighborhood over Sunnyside Yard

"City officials have resumed talks about decking over Sunnyside Yard in Queens, a massive 180-acre train yard that sits between Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside. The idea is ambitious: the plan involves building a giant structural platform over the active rail yard and constructing a full neighborhood above it, with housing, parks, schools and potentially a new regional rail station."

"Sunnyside Yard is much larger-roughly the size of three Bryant Parks combined-and planners say it could eventually support around 12,000 new homes, many of them designated as affordable housing. The proposal would effectively create new land in the middle of western Queens, connecting neighborhoods currently split by the rail yard."

"Plans for the site have long included the possibility of a new 'Sunnyside Station,' a regional rail hub where Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North and New Jersey Transit could eventually meet. If that were built, it could allow direct train travel between parts of Queens, the Bronx, Long Island and New Jersey, which are all connections that typically require detouring through Manhattan."

City officials are advancing plans to construct a massive platform over Sunnyside Yard, a 180-acre active rail yard in Queens, to create an entirely new neighborhood above it. The development would include approximately 12,000 homes, many designated as affordable, along with parks, schools, and potentially a new regional rail station. This approach mirrors Hudson Yards in Manhattan but operates at a significantly larger scale. The project would connect currently fragmented neighborhoods while preserving critical rail infrastructure beneath. A proposed Sunnyside Station could serve as a regional hub linking Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North, and New Jersey Transit, enabling direct train travel between Queens, the Bronx, Long Island, and New Jersey without routing through Manhattan.

Read at Time Out New York