You are reading

Future of the BQX Streetcar Will Be in the Hands of the Next Mayor, De Blasio Says

BQX Rending on 21st Street in Astoria (EDC+DOT)

Sept. 4, 2020 By Allie Griffin

The future of the $2.7 billion streetcar connecting western Queens to the Brooklyn waterfront will be up to the next mayor of New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.

The coronavirus pandemic and fiscal constraints have significantly delayed the timeline of the project, dubbed the Brooklyn Queens Connector or BQX.

The city had just begun the environmental review process for the 11-mile streetcar project in February but the pandemic brought the process to a screeching halt. It was scheduled to begin scoping and public hearings in May and June, but has been delayed indefinitely.

Yesterday, de Blasio said the next administration will decide the fate of the project, as his term ends in 2021.

“We’re going to continue to do the work to prepare,” he said at a press briefing. “The decisions will have to be made by-and-large in the next administration given the time that’s been lost here.”

The project also comes at a time when New York City faces a multi-billion-dollar budget hole due to economic fallout from the pandemic.

At the end of April, de Blasio said he was unsure whether the city had the funds to cover its share of the costs — given the budget crisis. He said that “substantial federal funding” was needed to make the project a reality.

Critics of the BQX argue that the project is not worth the multi-billion dollar cost. Many transit advocates say the money would be better spent on improving MTA buses and bus lanes, which cost much less.

The BQX does, however, have its supporters. A coalition of local businesses along the route have been advocating for it, along with developers and business improvement groups.

“Thinking big and focusing on ambitious projects that leverage private funding will be critical for the city’s long-term recovery from the pandemic,” a spokesperson for the coalition, Friends of the BQX, said. “We continue to believe in the potential of light rail to boost the city’s economy, create jobs and expand opportunity for a wide swath of New Yorkers.”

The streetcar, which was first announced by de Blasio in 2016, would connect Astoria, Queens to Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Critics also say the project would serve mostly wealthy neighborhoods along the route and benefit real estate developers.

However, the city estimates that the light rail would serve 40,000 NYCHA residents, who live along the route, including those at Queensbridge and Ravenswood Houses.

De Blasio is still an advocate for a light rail system, pointing to its success in other cities across the country.

“Again, a lot of the decisions will have to be deferred to the future, but the more we can build out mass transit in the city, the better off we’re going to be,” he said.

Proposed BQX Route (EDC+DOT)

email the author: news@queenspost.com

2 Comments

Click for Comments 
Sara Ross

I hope the next mayor gets rid of the citi bikes and the ugly structures that hold them, take up room on sidewalks and make formerly nice neighborhoods look horrible. We don’t need a street car in this city! We need a mayor who will work for all people and not start a group run by his wife who gets paid a lot of money for doing a lot of nothing.

Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Suspect wanted for shoving E train rider onto the tracks at Sutphin Boulevard station in Jamaica: NYPD

Police from the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica and Transit District 20 are looking for a suspect who shoved an E train rider onto the tracks at the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue–JFK Airport subway station on Thursday morning.

The 39-year-old victim was standing on the southbound platform at around 4:40 a.m. when a stranger approached him and pushed him onto the track bed below in an unprovoked attack, police said Friday. The suspect fled the station onto Sutphin Boulevard and ran off in an unknown direction. EMS responded to the scene and transported the injured man to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition.

Bellerose man arrested in fatal collision that killed his neighbor on Jericho Turnpike in December: NYPD

A Bellerose man was arrested and booked at the 105th Precinct in Queens Village on Tuesday, May 20, five months after he struck and killed his 78-year-old neighbor with his vehicle at the intersection of Jericho Turnpike and 91st Avenue.

The fatal collision occurred just after 6:40 p.m. on Saturday, December 14, 2024, as Benjamin Jean-Baptiste, 39, of Ontario Road, was behind the wheel of a 2010 Dodge Ram pickup truck traveling northbound on 91st Avenue.

Robbery suspect flees courthouse mid-trial, convicted of holding woman at knifepoint in Flushing: DA

A Flushing fugitive failed to return to court before trial and was convicted in absentia on Monday for a violent armed robbery of a young woman at her Parsons Boulevard apartment with two accomplices in 2022.

Michael Fan, 25, of Farrington Street, was found guilty of multiple burglary and robbery counts and an unlawful imprisonment charge before Queens Supreme Court Justice Gary Miret on May 19.