Sunnyside Yard Master Plan

In 2014, Amtrak approached the City of New York to develop a long-term plan for a future overbuild on Sunnyside Yard.

The Yard, which serves Amtrak, LIRR, and New Jersey Transit, is one of the busiest passenger rail facilities in North America and a critical piece of national rail infrastructure. In 2014, Amtrak completed a once-in-a-century plan to upgrade Sunnyside Yard, creating a unique and time-sensitive opportunity to envision extending neighborhoods over the Yard.

To craft the vision for the plan, we conducted an extensive public outreach effort, consisting of:

• Hundreds of conversations in interviews, workshops, and meetings
• Group discussions with over 145 local organizations
• Neighborhood tours and information sessions
• Three public meetings
• Four public workshops
• Quarterly Steering Committee meetings
• A digital townhall
• Hundreds of written comments and feedback 

Informed by the voices of Queens, the Sunnyside Yard Master Planning Process identified six pressing needs. The priorities below respond to these needs and form the backbone of the Sunnyside Yard Master Plan, which was released on March 3, 2020, after 18 months of public engagement and analysis.

• Public space and social infrastructure
• Improved transportation
• Affordable housing
• Jobs, schools and workforce development
• Sustainability and resilience
• Keeping it Queens