Cross Bay Boulevard

History

Cross Bay Boulevard dates from Patrick Flynn's 1899 proposal to build a road across Jamaica Bay. The crossing, which would be 80 feet (24 m) wide, would contain a double-track trolley line, a bicycle path, and roadway. Flynn's project aimed at connecting the Jamaica Bay islands, filling in the marshes and leasing properties for homes along the route. The Long Island Rail Road, whose Rockaway Beach Branch trestles were the only transportation connection across the bay at the time, vigorously opposed Flynn's plans in an effort to protect its monopoly. In June 1902, the New York Court of Appeals invalidated the 1892 lease that Flynn's project was based on. The only work that had been performed was a flattening of a plateau south from Liberty Avenue to a point 1,500 feet (460 m) from the bay's northern shore.