Far Rockaway LIRR commuters will finally be eligible for discounted fares after they were denied access to CityTicket because the branch runs through Nassau County.
Photo courtesy of MTA
After years of legislative wrangling in Albany by elected leaders from southeast Queens, Far Rockaway residents will finally be able to purchase discounted rides on the Long Island Rail Road within Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan under CityTicket beginning Sunday, Aug. 20.
While the program has been available to commuters citywide for two decades, due to the geographic position of Far Rockaway, which is within the city but the LIRR branch travels through Nassau County, so riders that use the Far Rockaway station have not been eligible for the discounted fares.
“The new ticket will make transportation more affordable for everyone at a time when many are striving to make ends meet,” state Senator James Sanders said. “After fighting for equity for CityTicket for a long time, I am very glad we have finally achieved our goal.”
Sanders was joined by his colleagues on Tuesday at the Far Rockaway LIRR station to announce the expansion of CityTicket.
“This successful adaptation of Senator James Sanders’ SO4719 and my bill AO2055 will empower commuters and promote economic growth in Far Rockaway where transportation options are scarce,” Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson said. “I look forward to continuing to address long-standing inequities in public transit for the Rockaways, Assembly District 31, and the rest of southeast Queens.”
Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato spoke of her own experience as a LIRR commuter.
“Twenty years ago, I was not an assemblywoman, but I was a person trying to get to work in Brooklyn. And it was quite difficult to get to Brooklyn from Rockaway, but it was very expensive as the choice was the Long Island Rail Road,” she recalled. “So, this is a culmination of all our work, as people who, [like] myself, grew up here, our electeds who…
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