Group Behind Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar Releases Membership

Image courtesy of Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector

BROOKLYN, NY — Five months after the New York Daily News first reported on its work, the public has finally learned who is behind Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector, the group pushing for the construction of a $2.5 billion streetcar system linking Brooklyn and Queens.

The Friends group, which paid for the first study of the BQX plan, listed the members of its board of directors Thursday on the group’s newly launched website.

As proposed, the BQX would connect Astoria to Sunset Park via a 17-mile light rail train. The project was backed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in February, with supporters saying it’s a needed transportation upgrade that will connect waterfront communities to growing job opportunities.

The Friends board includes major real estate developers, such as Two Trees Management, Tishman Speyer and The Durst Organization, and business associations like the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the DUMBO Improvement District, and Brooklyn Allied Bars and Restaurants.

Community organizations and activists are also part of the advocacy group, including the Red Hook Initiative, which works with Red Hook youth, the Williamsburg-based Los Sures, the Fifth Avenue Committee, and Paul Steely-White from Transportation Alternatives.

Here’s a complete list of groups and organizations on the board:

• Tishman Speyer
• Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
• Goldman Sachs
• Brooklyn Allied Bars and Restaurants
• The Durst Organization
• Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
• Gail Benjamin, land use attorney
• DUMBO BID
• Fifth Avenue Committee
• Steiner Studios
• Red Hook Initiative
• Brookly Education Innovation Network
• AGA Public Realm Strategies
• Urban Upbound
• Queens Chamber of Commerce
• Motivate
• Coalition for Queens
• Two Trees Management
• Industry City
• Transportation Alternatives
• NYU Langone Medical Center
• Union Square Ventures
• Long Island City Partnership
• Regional Plan Association
• Los Sures

What do you think? Are your community’s interest being represented?