Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar Is in Hands of Next Mayor, But No Democrat Running Fully Embraces It

A 16-mile streetcar line along the East River in Brooklyn and Queens was going to be one of Mayor Bill de Blasio's signature projects, expanding transportation access to neighborhoods like Red Hook that are relatively far from the subway.

“If they have a tram, they don’t have to walk all the way to the train," said Frances Brown, tenant leader at the Red Hook East houses. "They can get on the tram and go where they have to go.”

The mayor called for construction of the $2.5 billion plan to begin in 2019. But the project remains on the drawing board, and de Blasio now says it will be up to his successor to build it.

“A lot of the route work has been done, a lot of the infrastructure investigations, as to what’s underneath the area, is being done," transportation engineer Sam Schwartz said.

Read more: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/03/11/brooklyn-queens-streetcar-is-in-hands-of-next-mayor--but-no-democrat-running-fully-embraces-it
(Spectrum News)