Mayor de Blasio to Propose Streetcar Line Linking Brooklyn and Queens
Building a Subway in NYC takes forever. Maybe it's time to try a streetcar? Mayor Bill de Blasio will announce the proposal of a streetcar running along the East River from Astoria, Queens to Sunset Park in Brooklyn. The proposed line, dubbed the Brooklyn Queens Connector, will serve some of Queens and Brooklyn's newly revived neighborhoods (which just so happen to be where a ton of uber-expensive housing will be in the future).
The project is estimated to cost about $2.5 billion with an opening date -- if approved -- by 2024. As you can imagine, there are a ton of hurdles to cross, especially for a transit system going through this many neighborhoods, but at least the conversation is going about finally getting a decent connection between Queens and Brooklyn that doesn't involve the G train or going through Manhattan. At the moment, I'm skeptical this will ever happen, but hey, the renderings are a nice way to dream.