Stories to follow in NW Queens
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Will plans for the
Brooklyn-Queens
Connector move ahead?
The city’s Brooklyn-Queens
Connector (BQX), a zero-emission
streetcar that would connect
some of Queens and Brooklyn’s
waterfront neighborhoods,
has been in the works since
2015. While BQX is projected to
connect about 400,000 residents
throughout the two outer boroughs,
the de Blasio administration
also sees it as a way to
address the changing needs of
commuters and the Manhattancentric
subway system.
The City Council discussed
the Economic Development Corporation’s
(EDC) plans and setbacks
for the project in a hearing
last May, a few months after
the EDC released their conceptual
design report.
The project will cost $2.7 billion,
funds that de Blasio initially
said would be paid for through
value capturing (which may
involve increasing tax revenue
and rising property tax values
along the streetcar’s route) but,
according to the EDC’s 2018 report,
they’ll need more funds
from the federal government.
But Councilman Jimmy Van
Bramer questioned whether the
federal government would grant
the funds needed for BQX under
the Trump administration.
Larry Penner, a former Federal
Transit Administration
(FTA) official, told QNS he isn’t
convinced the project will receive
federal funding from the
FTA’s New Starts program either.
“The odds are slim to none
that the project will get out of
the barn,” Penner said.
The EDC’s 2018 report also
outlined 11 potential stops from
Astoria to Red Hook — with
a single ride set at $2.75 — but
some critics of the plan said that
the stops are similar to those on
the G train.
If City Council approves the
project the way it is now, construction
would begin by 2024
and completed by 2029. The city’s
conducting an environmental
impact review for the project,
which will then go through the
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure
(ULURP) before it goes
back to City Council for a vote.
Astoria residents want
a ferry connection to the
Upper East Side
The Hallets Point Alliance,
which is a coalition made up of
residents of the Astoria Houses
TIMESLEDGER |16 QNS.COM | JAN. 3-JAN. 9, 2020
Tenants Association and the
Durst Organization, are urging
the city to expand the NYC Ferry
service to Astoria by providing
a direct connection to Manhattan’s
Upper East Side.
Although a landing already
exists at 90th Street and the
EDC added a new Brooklyn
Navy Yard ferry stop to the
Astoria line that will connect
residents to the city’s premier
manufacturing hub, the Hallets
Point coalition said that doesn’t
help them.
Many of the residents of the
Astoria Houses currently work
in the Upper East Side’s medical
sector, which is 1,515 feet across
the East River. The nearest subway
station to Hallets Point is
more than a 20-minute walk,
and a train trip to the Upper East
Side can take up to an hour.
City Councilman Costa Constantinides
advocated for the
current ferry service since he
took office in 2013, and told QNS
he understands his constituents’
current proposal.
“The distance is just 1,515
feet away. If you want to get people
out of cars and take public
transportation if it’s something
that will accomplish that goal
it would be a good one but right
now it’s not an option,” Constantinides
said.
Old Astoria Neighborhood
Association even created a petition
in order to get the city
to provide a direct connection
from Hallets Point to the Upper
East Side, which already has
more than 1,100 signatures.
The EDC committed to another
feasibility study, but that
will take place only after the
agency launches its proposed
routes in 2021. But we will see if
the community’s concerns help
speed up the process.
The EDC’s plan to
develop Sunnyside Yards
gets bumpy
The EDC has another big development
project in the works
that’s getting lots of attention
from the community — the Sunnyside
Yards.
The city agency has proposed
new land built atop of one of the
busiest rail yards in the country
in order to create a whole new
neighborhood, but they haven’t
released a final master plan. An
earlier feasibility study placed
the Sunnyside Yards project
between $16 and $19 billion, but
the price went up to $22 billion.
The EDC is currently conducting
outreach interviews
and meetings with the community
in order to get their feedback
on the project. But in September,
one of their in-person
meetings became a demonstration
against the EDC and their
plans for Sunnyside Yards.
Community activists don’t
believe the EDC will keep true
to their promise of offering affordable
housing and public
amenities. Some residents say
the city should instead invest
that money in existing issues in
the neighborhood, such as NYCHA
maintenance and affordable
housing.
In November, several community
watchdog groups, including
Justice for All Coalition, Stop
Sunnyside Yards and Woodside
on the Move, held a rally outside
of the rail yard in order to call for
the city to stop all plans for the
project. They also presented a petition
that calls for a moratorium
on all developments in Queens,
the abolishment of the EDC and
alternative ways to use the project’s
funds. Senator Michael Gianaris,
Council member Jimmy
Van Bramer, Assemblywoman
Cathy Nolan and Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
have also sent letters to the EDC
so that they address the concerns
raised by the community.
The EDC said the official
plan for Sunnyside Yards will
be released in Winter 2020.
2020 PREVIEW
Nicholas Velkov of Justice for All Coalition leads a Sunnyside Yards protest on Nov. 25. Photo: Angélica Acevedo/QNS
/QNS.COM
