16 JANUARY 2, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
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 Manhattan-centric 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 Upper East Side
The Hallets Point Alliance, which
is a coalition made up of residents of
the Astoria Houses 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
Top stories to follow in NW Queens
Nicholas Velkov of Justice for All Coalition leads the Sunnyside Yards protest on Nov. 25.
Photo: Angélica Acevedo/QNS
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