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[KevinKorell]

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was joined by several local and transit officials to detail his plans for a new streetcar service: the Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX). The new transit line — the first New York City streetcar in more than 50 years – would stretch 16 miles from Astoria in Queens to Sunset Park in Brooklyn, linking together neighborhoods long underserved by public transit with some of the fastest-growing job hubs.

When fully built-out, it could serve almost 50,000 passengers per day, making it one of the biggest urban streetcar systems in the nation.

“People in neighborhoods like Red Hook haven’t had the quality transit they need and deserve. This new service means opportunity for those families, and it’s also going to strengthen communities up and down the waterfront. Anyone can see the enormous growth happening here – it’s time we brought new transit to these neighborhoods for all those people and jobs,” said Mayor de Blasio.

 

Photos: Streetcars Around the World

The Brooklyn-Queens waterfront is one of the fastest-growing parts of the city, with more than 405,000 residents and 296,000 workers. But transit capacity hasn’t kept pace with population and employment growth. The BQX would link together long-isolated neighborhoods and bring 21st century public transit to meet the needs of a growing city. Following extensive community outreach and planning, the Administration foresees breaking ground on the project in 2019-2020.

“The BQX will provide the modern, efficient, state-of-the-art transit link that the growing Brooklyn and Queens waterfront, which is underserved by the current subway system, urgently needs,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “The BQX will provide a cost-effective transportation option for neighborhoods all along the East River that will also spur economic development and more vibrant communities for all New Yorkers.”

Related: Streetcars: The Flexible Rail Transit Mode

Highlights of the proposed streetcar route include:

• The BQX would run along a 16-mile corridor through Astoria, Ravenswood, Long Island City, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Navy Yard, DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus and Sunset Park.
• Will link to 13 NYCHA developments with more than 40,000 tenants — roughly 10% of the city’s public housing residents.
• Ties together several “innovation clusters” in which the city has made significant economic development investments, including the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Brooklyn Army Terminal and the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island via a ferry connection.
• The Administration will begin engaging communities along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront this year to develop the new service’s exact route, operations and a phasing plan for implementation.

Keywords

Brooklyn-Queens Connector   Mayor Bill DeBlasio   Red Hook   streetcar   

 

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[Sloan]

 

 

The proposed Brooklyn-Queens streetcar’s ‘fatal flaw’

 

The city’s proposed $2.5 billion streetcar along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront may not integrate with the MTA’s subway and bus system, Mayor de Blasio acknowledged Tuesday.

http://nypost.com/20...ars-fatal-flaw/

This should be a no-brainer.  Twenty-first century technology can easily integrate fare payment systems from two different modes.  Why the MTA would be a stick-in-the-mud on the issue defies logic.

 

Sloan

[Sloan]

If NYC Builds the Streetcar, It Will Run Right Through Flood Zones

 
As others have noted, the proposed Brooklyn-Queens streetcar route would run right through city- and FEMA-designated high-risk flood zones. This raises questions about how the streetcar infrastructure and vehicles would be protected from storm surges, as well as the general wisdom of siting a project that’s supposed to spur development in a flood-prone area.

http://www.streetsbl...gh-flood-zones/
 
The human animal loves water, either to drink or to view.  Here in Harrisburg, I've seen houses in suburbia build in flood plains along Yellow Breeches Creek.  So the desire is there and no less so in metropolitan New York.  The line, IMO, will be good on an economic development basis for the two boroughs.
 
Sloan

[KevinKorell]

Second Avenue Sagas, 2/18/16:

Thoughts on fare integration and the Brooklyn-Queens streetcar

After days of discussion amongst the transit literati and a short delay due to the TriBeCa crane collapse, Mayor Bill de Blasio held his long-awaited press conference to release more details on the Brooklyn-Queens Connector earlier this week. Despite the pomp and circumstance and despite additional glimpses into the plan, de Blasio’s presser led to more concerns and more questions than the initial proposal had, and the consensus regarding this project and its $2.5 billion price tag focuses around the idea that the mayor has not rigorously defended the real estate-backed streetcar.

Continue

[Sloan]

 

 

City may have to build new bridges over Gowanus Canal, Newtown Creek for streetcar

 

The city may have to build new bridges across the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek to accommodate the streetcar system Mayor DeBlasio wants to construct along the borough’s waterfront, officials revealed on Friday.

http://www.brooklynp...6-02-26-bk.html

 

The writer must be British as she intermingles the terms tram (England's term for streetcar) and streetcar.  In USA, the term tram refers to either a people mover or a rubber tired train used to collect people from far-flung parking areas, a la Disney World.   Sloan

Edited by Sloan, 20 February 2016 - 07:24 AM.

[KevinKorell]

AM New York, 2/21/16:

Brooklyn-Queens Connector: Lessons to be learned from New Jersey light rail

Commuters who want to preview Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed $2.5 billion streetcar project for Brooklyn and Queens can cross the Hudson River and check out New Jersey Transit’s Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, which rides smoothly and has triggered an economic boom since it opened in 2000.

Article

[Sloan]

 

 

Revived Streetcars May Be On Track For Disappointment

 

Streetcars are rumbling back to life in cities across the country from Portland to Salt Lake City and Atlanta, with New York becoming the latest city to hop on the bandwagon. But as these new streetcars run into unexpected roadblocks, critics say this mode of transportation might not be the answer to great public transit.

http://www.npr.org/2...-disappointment

 

 

 

"Sometimes it is a little quicker to walk," says Atlanta resident Amber McQueen.

Amen to that! A creeping streetcar will not attract riders.     Sloan

[Sloan]

From O Scale Trolley Modelers:

 

 

The "market wired dot com" site reports that quick studies by HDR consulting have advanced the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront modern streetcar plan. HDR completed a rapid assessment in five weeks and now is doing a conceptual design to be completed in August.

Hooray!

 

Sloan

[KevinKorell]

New York, NY Times, 3/27/16:
 

A Streetcar Not Desired by Everyone in Brooklyn

A streetcar that would snake along the East River in Brooklyn and Queens, perhaps bringing a flurry of new development along the waterfront, has the residents of one neighborhood lining up on either side of the proposal.

Article

Interesting that with all the rivalry that goes on between New York and Boston, the Times chose to use a photo of a green MBTA trolley, and one from the past that has a Watertown sign on the front. Definite relic from the past!

[Sloan]

 

 

City gives new BQX streetcar details, and revs up outreach plan

 

In February, Mayor Bill de Blasio traveled to Red Hook to talk about how transformative his Brookyn-Queens Connector streetcar proposal would be for the waterfront, and all of the communities along its sinuous path from Sunset Park to Astoria.

http://www.capitalne...s-outreach-plan

Edited by Sloan, 23 April 2016 - 06:14 AM.