To all Involved Parties:

Many residents of Staten Island, including those who have signed this petition, strongly believe the Staten Island Railway is not currently being used to its full potential and, if expanded and improved, would revolutionize Staten Island's commuting options both within and outside of Staten Island. 

For many years, many Staten Islanders were under the false impression that the Staten Island Railway was only a single rail line connecting St. George and Tottenville since its beginnings in 1860. However, this is historically and patently false. In the past, the Staten Island Railway was a more extensive system consisting of three rail lines. They included the North Shore Branch, South Beach Branch and The Mainline between St. George and Tottenville. Unfortunately, in 1953, both the North Shore Branch and South Beach Branch were abandoned due to low ridership as a result of competition from lower-fared city buses. Back in 1953, nobody could have predicted that these two rail line closures would have tremendous consequences for future generations.

After more than 60 years of continued decline, Staten Island's rail transportation system has literally hit rock bottom. There has been little to no investment in our rail system, and it has now become an outright embarrassment to both Staten Island and New York City. What’s worse, the population boom following the opening of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge – and the over-development which followed – has only exacerbated the mobility problems we are dealing with today, creating a traffic nightmare with very few alternatives available for us. Simply put, our borough is heavily dominated by the automobile, so much so that – in fact – using a car is seen by many residents to be the only transportation option for travelling within Staten Island. What’s more, as if the current situation wasn’t already bad enough, it’s about to become even more pressing. According to one New York City report, Staten Island’s population is estimated to reach as much as a half million people by 2030. Our road system, even if it were to be expanded, physically cannot carry the burden of such a massive population increase. To wit, it is having tremendous problems in accommodating our current population of 470,000 people.

With our roads becoming more crowded and now in a state of infrastructure disrepair, residents are desperately seeking out alternatives to escape our traffic nightmare. Unbeknownst to many of us, the most effective solution has been in place all along, but is underutilized and in a continued state of decay. We urge you to realize the untapped potential of this solution: the Staten Island Railway. Not the Staten Island Railway as it exists today, but the “new” Staten Island Railway after a bevy of expansion and modernization investments to make it a truly 21st century asset that Staten Island residents can be proud of. This may seem strange, as Staten Island has consistently been short-changed and overlooked when it comes to city-wide decisions pertaining to investing in our mass transit system. Now is the time to turn all that around, and develop a modernized, expanded, and efficient Staten Island Railway that our residents rightfully deserve.

Among the factors for consideration, we request:

1. Make all of the Staten Island Railway stations ADA accessible (currently, only St. George, Dongan Hills, Great Kills, and Tottenville are ADA accessible). It is shameful to everyone, and insulting to the disabled, that the Staten Island Railway is not fully ADA compliant.

2. Construct a station at New Rosebank; relocate the Staten Island Railway shop at Tompkins Avenue; and create a Huguenot Transit Hub. These projects would be beneficial on many levels. First, relocating the Staten Island Railway Shops away from the danger of being flooded from another dangerous storm surge similar to Hurricane Sandy is a smart decision both environmentally and economically, as the Staten Island Railway shops suffered terrible damage being so closeto the harbor. Second, a New Rosebank Station would be desperately-needed asset for commuters between Clifton Station and Grasmere Station, a large gap between station locations in which many residents have been inconvenienced for years. Third, a Huguenot Transit Hub would provide Staten Island commuters and High School Students a transportation hub that streamlines connections with the Staten Island Railway at Huguenot Station, along with connections to local and express bus routes including the X17, X17J, X19, X23, S55, and S56.

3. Link The Staten Island Railway with a tunnel to Brooklyn or Manhattan. There is little to no excuse for continuing to ignore a tunnel project for the Staten Island Railway, and now is the time do undergo such a project. Using the Long Island Rail Road East Side Access project as inspiration, we must continue to modernize our transportation options with a long-sought tunnel linking the Staten Island Railway with Manhattan or Brooklyn. It’s extremely difficult to believe that, in the 21st century, many Staten Islanders still commute by boat. The Staten Island Ferry may be a novelty for tourists, but it isn’t an adequate solution for a growing population base of Staten Island residents.

4. Extend the reach of The Staten Island Railway by implementing Light Rail Transit. Quite shockingly, the last time The Staten Island Railway saw an expansion project was back in 1892, under the auspices of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and many years before the creation of the MTA. Staten Island residents have expressed strong interest in the implementation of Light Rail on our north shore, south shore, and through Staten Island's mid-section (from the Outerbridge Park & Ride, with a connection at the Eltingville Transit Center to locations like the Staten Island Mall and a possible expansion to the College of Staten Island).

5. Re-fare the entire Staten Island Railway. If the Staten Island Railway is to expand and modernize, the freeride has to end. The Staten Island Railway needs to generate increased revenue to ensure its expansion and modernization. The only other alternative is a route to continued decay, and an embarrassment to us all – residents, transit planners, and politicians alike.

While a seemingly long list of lofty goals, no one can dispute that The Staten Island Railroad needs to be “reinvented” through a sweeping modernization and expansion program. We realize results and achievements will come piecemeal, but Staten Island deserves to be home to a world-class rail transportation network. Indeed, our economy and our quality-of-life all depend on it. Please let’s not make the same lapse in judgement our ancestors made back in 1953 when two of the railway’s branches were killed off by automobile. Our generation has the opportunity to be remembered for its visionary foresight in expanding and modernizing The Staten Island Railway, resulting in an extensive rail network fully-equipped to handle Staten Island’s mobility needs for both the current and future generations.