Mayor Bill de Blasio is offering more details about a proposed streetcar project that would run along the waterfront and connect Brooklyn and Queens.
The Brooklyn Queens Connector streetcar is expected to cost $2.73 billion, with the city looking for federal funding and other financial sources to pay for construction.
There would be stops in Astoria, Long Island City, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Downtown Brooklyn, and Red Hook with ridership expected to be 50,000 per day in the first year.
“The Brooklyn-Queens waterfront has experienced incredible growth. Now it's time for our transit system to catch up,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement.
The city said about 500,000 people live and work along the proposed route. De Blasio said the BQX streetcar would increase transit options for those New Yorkers, while providing affordable and reliable service. It would also connect commuters to the subway system, buses and ferries.
“The BQX is one of the biggest, most ambitious projects in a generation. It will be a challenge, but New York City is taking it on," Mayor de Blasio said.
Construction is expected to get underway in 2024 with work scheduled to be completed in 2029.
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