MAY 2017 Queens Business Renderings courtesy of the Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector This rendering shows a BQX streetcar passing under the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City. How the BQX Connector links the past to the future BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI SMONTEVERDI@QNS.COM / @SMONT76 It’s been decades since trolley cars rolled across Brooklyn and Queens streets, but the boroughs are growing in population along with the need for additional transit options. Now, one group is looking to bring back the streetcar in a more modern form. Ya-Ting Liu, executive director of the Friends of Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX), calls the BQX a “transformative public transit project.” The modern, state-of-the-art, above-ground streetcar line on the waterfront would run a 14-mile path between Astoria, Queens and Sunset Park, Brooklyn and would service the 300,000 people who work and the 400,000 people who live along the corridor. Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector, a nonprofit coalition consisting of transit experts and community and business leaders, was formed to advocate for and collaborate with the public on the project. “Our goal is to build a coalition that is really reflective of the diversity of stakeholders on the corridor, and to make sure that all the stakeholders are actively participating in all of the planning discussions around the BQX streetcar,” Liu said. Over 100 institutions along the corridor have currently signed on to support the BQX, including the NYCHA Public Housing tenant associations, community groups, businesses, churches, hospitals, institutions of higher education, former MTA Chairs and transit advocates. Fift y businesses in north Brooklyn alone have declared their support for the project, Liu said. “Businesses that have been very receptive really understand the power of what the streetcar could potentially do, in terms of bringing much more foot traffi c and eyes onto their storefront,” she said. Get freebies from Flushing businesses Page 8 Ridgewood boutique offers vintage items Page 12 Queens population is growing - and aging Page 14 >> Continues on Page 2
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