Trolley good! BQX streetcar plan on track
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan for a shiny new streetcar through Brooklyn and Queens took a step forward Wednesday.
The NYC Economic Development Corp. approved a contract with a consultant to oversee the environmental review for the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, or BQX.
The trolley, which was announced in 2016, looked dead in the water last April when Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen questioned whether it was worth its $2.5 billion price tag.
But the city revised a plan to slash the streetcar’s route to 11 miles from 16, and inflated its cost to $2.7 billion. The route now ends in Gowanus in the south and Astoria in the north.
Now, consulting firm VHB will try to cut cut through the red tape that comes with a project this size, including conducting an environmental-impact study and filing a land-use review application, which requires approval from every City Council member along the route.
The proposed streetcar has garnered controversy since it was announced. Like the NYC Ferry, it has raised concerns about gentrification and housing prices.
Friends of the BQX, a real estate-backed nonprofit advocating the project, praised the progress Wednesday.
“As the city grapples with a transit crisis, now is the moment for it to take control of its mass transit destiny and expand access wherever it can.” said executive director Jessica Schumer, daughter of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The city hopes to have the trolley completed in 2029 — it still hasn’t determined how it will be funded.