De Blasio Creates New Panel To Take 'Fresh Look' At BQE Project

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — After months of pushback to its original proposals, the city has put together a panel of experts to evaluate options for fixing a 1.5-mile section of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that he formed a 16-person panel to look into all options — including those submitted community groups or elected officials opposed to the original plans — and submit a report with their conclusions by this summer.

“The BQE is a lifeline for Brooklyn and the entire city – which is why we are bringing in a panel of nationally renowned experts from a range of fields to vet all ideas and make sure we get this right,” de Blasio said in a release. “We will be engaging in a transparent, collaborative process to find the best solution for one of the most critical transportation corridors in the nation.”

The announcement comes after months of protests, environmental studies and alternative suggestions since the city's Department of Transportation first announced its plans in September, the most controversial of which would close down the Brooklyn Heights Promenade for at least six years.

It also comes just hours before the two groups leading the charge against the city's proposal planned to hold highly-anticipated Town Hall meeting aimed at conveying a "resounding no" to the proposal. The meeting is still scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Plymouth Church.

“We applaud the City and DOT for assembling a panel of experts to find a better way to restructure the BQE,” said A Better Way spokeswoman Hilary Jager. “Passionate community voices led us to this moment, and those same voices will demand a say in this process as it moves forward. We look forward to being part of a solution that reimagines the BQE to the benefit of all New Yorkers for decades to come.”

De Blasio's panel will be chaired by Carlo Scissura, President and CEO of the New York Building Congress and will include leaders from urban planning, engineering, construction, traffic modeling and historic preservation, according to the announcement.

The community groups and elected officials against the project have spoken out against the idea to close down the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, but also about the pollution, noise and traffic congestion they argued the DOT's plans would bring to local streets and to neighborhoods in Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights.

The panel's task to review all proposals including those generated by "elected officials and community members" and "no-build or reduced capacity options" likely means that they will explore several alternatives that have made it to the headlines over the last few months.

The three most talked about being Comptroller Scott Stringer's suggestionto make the BQE trucks-only, the Brooklyn Heights Association's idea to build a two-lane temporary highway instead of a six-lane and the Regional Planning Association's idea that congestion pricing and more tolls can make the BQE four lanes instead of six.

Here's a full list of the panel members:

Carlo Scissura, NY Building Congress (Chair)

Rohit Aggarwala, Sidewalk LabsVincent Alvarez, New York City Central Labor Council

Kate Ascher, BuroHappold Engineering

Elizabeth Goldstein, Municipal Arts Society

Henry Gutman, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp./Brooklyn Bridge Park

Kyle Kimball, Con Edison

Mitchell Moss, NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service

Kaan Ozbay, NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Hani Nassif, Rutgers School of Engineering

Benjamin Prosky, American Institute of Architects

Denise Richardson, General Contractors Association

Ross Sandler, New York Law School

Jay Simson, American Council of Engineering Companies of New York

Tom Wright, Regional Plan Association

Kathryn Wylde, Partnership for NYC