19 TO WATCH 1
HERE COMES L: The number-one story to watch in Brooklyn this year
will be just how the looming L-pocalypse unfolds. File photo by Zoe Freilich
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In April , members of his
own administration doubted
their boss’s initial promise that
tax revenue generated by new
development along the streetcar’s
route would pay for the infrastructure
alone. And in August
, DeBlasio himself said his
pet BQX project would derail
without $1 billion from President
Trump — putting its fate
in the hands of his frequent political
rival, who some Brooklyn
pols in Washington, DC ,
said would be unlikely to pitch
in a penny for the trolley.
Around that time, the city
also revealed the project’s cost
shot up to its current fi gure
from a previous $2.5-million
price tag, and that its Brooklyn
route would skip Dumbo and
terminate in Red Hook instead
of Sunset Park, after planners
shortened the tracks from 14 to
11 miles.
But the November news
that online-retail giant Amazon
will open a second headquarters
in Queens along the
proposed BQX line breathed
new life into the seemingly
stalled streetcar scheme, with
some local offi cials now calling
on the trillion-dollar company
to help foot the bill for the form
of alternative transportation
— which the city previously
said it wants to begin a necessary
public review process for
in 2020.
2. Fixing the BQE
The city is currently weighing
at least three options for
fi xing the Brooklyn-Queens
Expressway’s crumbling triple
cantilever, a job that could begin
as soon as 2020.
Transit offi cials fi rst revealed
their two plans for the
repairs in September. Their socalled
“innovative approach”
would rebuild the 70-year-old
length of expressway in one
shot, but require turning the
Brooklyn Heights Promenade
into a six-lane speedway for vehicles
for no less than six years
in order to wrap the job by
2026. And their so-called “traditional
approach” would instead
rebuild the three-tiered
highway lane by lane, work
that could last into 2029 and
cause traffi c jams that offi cials
warned could stretch for up to
12 miles.
But in November, the city
announced it would consider a
third option , proposed by leaders
of civic group the Brooklyn
Heights Association, that
would send traffi c on a temporary
highway created on
the Furman Street border of
Brooklyn Bridge Park, instead
of along the Promenade.
As the time until the fi x’s
kick-off drops from years to
months, all eyes are on the city
to see whether it will heed the
concerns of those locals and
pols who demanded offi cials
keep cars and trucks off the
Promenade, or if Mayor De-
Blasio will move forward with
transforming the walkway
into a speedway — an option
he already came out in favor of ,
that he likened to pulling off a
Band-Aid.
1. Welcome to L
The time is near, Brooklynites.
After years of fretting
over and planning for the socalled
“L-pocalypse,” the 15-
month suspension of Brooklyn–
Manhattan L train service
will commence on April 27 .
Last month, Gov. Cuomo
took a late-night tour of the
subway’s East River–crossing
Canarsie Tube with independent
engineering experts, suggesting
the pros might come
up with a way to shave time
and money off the repair plan
members of the pol’s own administration
put together to
fi x the infrastructure ravaged
by superstorm Sandy.
But following his trek,
Cuomo told a radio station that
local commuters shouldn’t get
their hopes up for the job to
fi nish much earlier than its
initial June 2020 deadline.
That means the roughly
250,000 straphangers who
cross the river daily on the
L should plan to avail themselves
of offi cials’ many alternative
commuting options
, which include beefed
up service on the G, J, M, and
Z trains; dedicated ferries
between Williamsburg and
Manhattan, with as many as
three fl oating across the river
per hour daily; new bike lanes
along Grand Street; a high-occupancy
vehicle lane across
the Williamsburg Bridge during
a daily “rush-hour” window;
and fi ve new bus routes.
Some of the alternative
transportation options, including
the new bus routes
and dedicated ferry service,
will launch on April 21, giving
riders a few days to settle into
their new commutes. But the
rest will kick in on April 28 —
the day after the L train starts
its temporary stint as Brooklyn’s
new local line running
exclusively between Canarsie
and Bedford Avenue.
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