It’s ready to roll
City taps engineer to begin environmental
review of Brooklyn–Queens trolley project
the trolley project must snake
through before any straphangers
can hop aboard, according
to a rep for the agency.
News of the contract comes
months after Hizzoner put the
fate of the streetcar in jeopardy
last summer, when he
announced it would derail
without $1 billion in federal
funding approved by his political
rival President Trump.
DeBlasio’s plea for federal
cash — which some Brooklyn
pols in Washington, DC, said
he should not hold his breath
for — followed a city study of
the project, which revealed
that the streetcar would not
entirely pay for itself by revenue
generated from new developments
along its line, despite
initial claims that it would
by the consortium of builders
that fi rst pitched the scheme.
The adoption of a new fi -
nancial model came around
the same time that the city
took other sharp turns in the
project , including shrinking
its original 14-mile route to 11
miles, changing the path of its
Brooklyn tracks so they would
skip Dumbo entirely and terminate
in Red Hook, not Sunset
Park, and increasing its
projected $2.5-billion budget
to $2.73 billion.
Offi cials also set a new start
date for construction as sometime
in 2024 — the year they
initially said the trolley would
be up and running when DeBlasio
announced it back in 2016 .
VHB’s engineers will seek
input from locals whose transit
hungry, waterfront neighborhoods
the streetcar would
serve as part of their environmental
review. And offi cials expect
the fi rm to start pushing
the plan through the lengthy
ulurp process next year, with
the hope of starting the service
FORWARD MOMENTUM: The city on Feb. 6 tapped an engineering fi rm
to begin the environmental-review process required to break ground on
Mayor DeBlasio’s beloved Brooklyn—Queens Connector trolley linking
Red Hook and other waterfront neighborhoods with the outer borough.
Economic Development Corporation
in 2029, according to an Economic
Development Corporation
spokeswoman.
“The BQX will link longdisconnected
and shorten commutes for
over half a million New Yorkers
BY JULIANNE CUBA
The city tapped an engineering
fi rm to study the environmental
impacts that Mayor
DeBlasio’s beloved Brooklyn–
Queens trolley may have on
the neighborhoods through
which it would run, according
to the leader of an advocacy
group for the so-called Brooklyn
Queens Connector.
“Today’s news makes it
clear: the BQX is moving forward,”
Jessica Schumer,
the daughter of Sen. Chuck
Schumer (D–New York), said
on Feb. 6. “These steps show
progress for the project —
something we’ve been eager to
see.”
The city’s Economic Development
Corporation awarded
Manhattan-based fi rm VHB
a $7.2-million contract to lead
the environmental-review process
and subsequent Uniform
Land Use Review Procedure
neighborhoods
who live and work along
the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront,”
said Stephanie Báez.
“It is a 21st-century solution to
our city’s transit challenges,
and we’re excited to move the
project forward.”
COURIER LIFE, F DT EB. 15–21, 2019 5