City land use review rules permit the City Council to approve or reject the Air Train segment between the airport and Jamaica Station, because it will run over city land. But the Council does not have to take a position. The city's Planning Commission is expected to give the Air Train a thumbs up on May 3. A Council vote would have to be taken within 50 days of the Commission's action.

The report's schizophrenia may indicate that the Council has not made up its mind on the project. Council Speaker Peter Vallone demurred on the question of a vote when contacted by reporters this week.

Still, Council members at a hearing this week ripped into the Air Train plan. It's possible that rank and file members could force a vote, but Vallone usually holds sway over Council action. Three community boards and the Queens borough board have backed the project, though residents near the route still oppose it and elected officials in the Rockaway area would prefer to see the LIRR's disused Rockaway branch re-opened for airport and general passenger use.