Mamdani says his admin is ‘digging into’ restoring weekend G train service to Forest Hills

Mayor Zohran Mamdani signaled on Wednesday that his administration is taking a serious look at advocates’ renewed push to extend G train service to Forest Hills on weekends for the first time in 15 years — even though the MTA, and not the city, has the final call on whether that will happen.

“It’s a very interesting idea, and one we’re digging into right now,” Mamdani said of the proposal during a Feb. 11 state budget hearing in Albany. His comments came in response to a question from Assembly Member and Congressional candidate Claire Valdez (D-Queens) — one of his close allies.

Valdez, who represents parts of western Queens, is one of several lawmakers and advocates who have reignited calls in recent days for the MTA to resurrect Forest Hills G train service — specifically on the weekends.

But while Mamdani would be a powerful advocate for the proposal, it is ultimately the MTA’s decision.

amNewYork reached out to the Mayor’s office for details on how Mamdani would convince the MTA to restore weekend G service to Forest Hills; a spokesperson declined to answer, referring us back to the mayor’s statements at the state budget hearing.

The change would extend the G’s current route, from Church Av in Brooklyn’s Kensington section to Court Sq-23rd St in Queens’ Long Island City, to Forest Hills 71st-Av on Saturdays and Sundays. It would connect neighborhoods along the Queens Boulevard line — including Astoria, Elmhurst, and Rego Park — to areas throughout northern and western Brooklyn, such as Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvasent, and Park Slope.

The G ran to Forest Hills on nights and weekends until 2010, when the MTA shortened the line to its current route. At the time, the agency cited its own financial struggles and low capacity on the crowded Queens Boulevard line for its decision.

Last week, a coalition of over 30 groups, including advocacy organizations and the New York Mets baseball franchise, penned a letter to Mamdani, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber urging them to extend the G.

In their missive, the signatories argued that restoring G train service to Forest Hills would be a fast and inexpensive way to ease commutes for Brooklyn and Queens residents between the two boroughs. They also contended the change would help those traveling to several notable destinations along the current G and Queens Boulevard lines as well as shift workers headed to their jobs move between Brooklyn and Queens more smoothly.

The letter’s lead author Jaqi Cohen, the director of climate and equity policy at Tri-State Transportation Campaign, told amNewYork that Mamdani is uniquely positioned to push the MTA and the governor toward embracing the proposal as a former Astoria Assembly member.

“I think that he, as somebody who represented one of the outer-boroughs for years, gets it,” Cohen said. “And we were really excited to see him acknowledge that it’s an idea worth looking into.”

The advocate’s letter came after John Surico, a transportation writer who lives in Astoria, published an op-ed on the news site Streetsblog NYC late last month, pitching the G train extension. Similar to Cohen, Surico argued that Mamdani would be a strong advocate for the proposal as a former Astoria resident who won the mayoralty with a focus on improving public transit.

“The mayor can really be this bully pulpit for this idea,” Surico said. “He knows this problem better than anyone, that it’s really difficult to go between these two boroughs at a time when these two boroughs have never been more important for the city’s economy.”

Following Mamdani’s Wednesday comments, Surico also signaled excitement that his administration is examining the idea.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber raised concerns about the proposal when Valdez asked him about it during a state budget hearing focused on transportation last week.

Those included the Queens Boulevard line already being crowded by three trains — the E, F, and R — on the weekends and MTA surveys of the line indicating that commuters are going to and from Manhattan far more than other destinations in Queens.

However, Cohen noted she was encouraged that Lieber left the door open to the idea during the hearing last week, when he said “we’re never going to say never, never, never.”