BQX Or Better Buses?: Streetcar Proposal Faces Its First Hearing

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — From cheaper bus investments, to gentrification, to its impact on local businesses, there was no shortage of differing perspectives Thursday about the proposed Brooklyn-to-Queens streetcar as the idea faced its first public hearing.

City Council members from both boroughs that make up a task force on the proposal spent two hours asking city officials and Friends of the BQX, the group leading the charge for the 11-mile light rail, detailed questions about the potential streetcar. They then heard for another few hours from business owners, environmental advocates, street safety activists and others both for and against the idea.

A common theme throughout the extensive hearing became whether the streetcar, which officials estimate will cost $2.7 billion and could take a decade to put in place, is a necessary alternative to investing in existing transit in both the boroughs, like the city's bus system.

"Clearly there's a need for more and better transportation options, I think all of us can agree on that," Queens Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said. "But what I want to assess is — how realistic is this (BQX)?"

Van Bramer was one of a few council members, including the task force's chair Brooklyn Councilman Carlos Menchaca that questioned whether "bus rapid transit" improvements, like more dedicated bus lanes or off-board fare collection, would be a better option to the BQX.

City officials from the Department of Transportation and Economic Development Corporation told members that they reviewed those upgrades, known as BRT, when looking into the BQX idea, but decided they ranked second to the street car.

Their analysis found that the streetcar would increase property values in the 11-mile stretch from Astoria to Red Hook by enough that the city could bring in as much as $1.4 billion more in taxes to help pay for its $2.7 billion price tag. They hope to get federal funds to cover the rest of the cost.

Officials contended that those numbers make the project a better investment than adding bus service, which has been shown not to increase property values by nearly as much.

Other advocates for the BQX argued that better bus service would still fail to bring the same ability to get throughout the borough as the streetcar.

Harris Schectman, a planner who first reviewed the idea for the Friends of the BQX group, told council members that because buses would need to come every one to two minutes to transport as many people as the light-rail plan, they would end up "back to back" in traffic.

"If there was a way that we could’ve designed the (bus) service and could say with confidence that it would achieve the goals of this corridor it would’ve been there, it just doesn’t work," Schechtman said. "A bargain is not a bargain if what you get is worth nothing."

Council members, though, were still left with unanswered questions about other possible consequences of the streetcar.

City Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo, whose district includes Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn, said she worried how adding a light rail would speed up gentrification, which could displace residents in the five NYCHA complexes in her district.

City officials told Cumbo they plan to look into how to create a balance between creating transit options but avoiding that displacement. Cumbo argued that the topic should have its own hearing before any decision is made on the BQX.

"I believe that is a question that should really be driving this process," Cumbo said. "We really have to understand the info about how this is specifically going to impact our districts, our communities and our people — particularly those that are most vulnerable."

Another concern brought up at the hearing was the concern that building a new light rail along a waterfront could only cause more future problems when climate change causes higher water levels or flooding during extreme weather.

Menchaca also spent a lot of time asking officials and Friends of the BQX about the origins of the streetcar idea, likely alluding to its link to Two Trees Management, a private developer.

He probed how much has been spent on investigating the idea so far by the city, about $7.5 million, they said, and the Friends of the BQX, whose executive director said she did not have that number available.

Menchaca also asked whether Sunset Park, which was originally included in the light rail's proposed route, was still being looked at by city officials for transit improvements.

After hearings in front of the task force, the BQX idea will face the full City Council. The project still needs to undergo an environmental study, which a consulting firm will complete thanks to a $7.2 million contract with the city.