FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 7, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Queens leaders hopeful as stalled streetcar project gets new life
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e city took a step forward in the
stalled Brooklyn Queens Connector
streetcar project on Feb. 6 when it selected
a contractor to oversee the proposed
system’s environmental review.
Th e executive committee of the New
York City Economic Development
Corporation awarded a $7.25 million
contract to civil engineering and design
consulting fi rm VHB to lead the process,
prepare the public review application,
and related tasks including support
during public outreach activities on the
BQX project.
“Th e BQX will link long-disconnected
neighborhoods and shorten commutes
for over half a million New Yorkers
who live and work along the Brooklyn
and Queens waterfront,” an NYCEDC
spokesperson said. “It is a 21st-century
solution to our city’s transit challenges
and we’re excited about moving the project
forward.”
Th e $2.7 billion project would travel
11 miles between Astoria and Red
Hook, Brooklyn, a corridor which could
be home to an additional 70,000 jobs,
including 25,000 at Amazon’s proposed
HQ2 campus in Long Island City, by
2029.
In Queens, the BQX route would cross
Newtown Creek and run from 44th
Drive along Vernon Boulevard. Once
past the Queensboro Bridge it would run
along 21st Street to a terminus at Astoria
Boulevard. All of the rails would have to
be installed.
“Today’s news makes it clear: the BQX
is moving forward,” Friends of the BQX
Executive Director Jessica Schumer said.
“Th ese steps show meaningful progress
for the project — something we’ve been
eager to see. We are pleased with the city’s
commitment not just to moving the project
forward, but to community engagement,
which must play a central role. As
Rendering courtesy of the Friends of Brooklyn-Queens Connector
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. Th e BQX is an essential
fi rst step and will provide a model for
future city-run light rail lines in transit
across the city.”
VHB is a transportation planning and
engineering fi rm with experience in
the metropolitan area for public agencies
and private entities, including the
Port Authority, New Jersey Transit and
CornellTech. Th e BQX is supported by a
range of transit advocates including the
last fi ve MTA leaders, numerous small
business owners and groups, civic associations
and NYCHA’s tenant association
leaders.
“For far too long, NYCHA residents’
limited access to reliable mass transit
has been a serious barrier to accessing
employment,” Urban Upbound Founder
and CEO Bishop Mitchell Taylor said. “I
am encouraged that the city is taking concrete
steps to eliminate the barriers of the
past and to bridge our community with
the opportunities increasingly sprouting
up along the waterfront.”
Th e awarding of the contract follows
a recent report by the Friends of the
BQX highlighting the rapid growth of
commercial offi ce space along the corridor
with job centers in Long Island
City, Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Navy
Yard and Downtown Brooklyn which
will add 58 million square feet of commercial
space within a decade. Th e BQX
would run past the proposed Amazon
HQ2 campus at 44th Road and Vernon
Boulevard where the company will initially
create 25,000 jobs over 10 years,
with a plan to grow to 40,000 over 15
years.
“Timing in life is everything and the
arrival of Amazon makes this all the more
true for the BQX,” Queens Chamber
of Commerce President and CEO Tom
Grech said. “Our capacity to move people
around our city and Queens in particular
has never been more important.”
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