Top Staffer for Red Hook Councilman Knocks Light Rail Planning Process

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — The chief of staff to Red Hook Councilman Carlos Menchaca offered renewed criticism Friday of the city's public engagement process concerning the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX), the proposed 16-mile light rail train that would run from Sunset Park to Astoria, Queens.

The comments came as a spokesman for the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) confirmed that both his agency and the Department of Transportation (DOT) "are in full support" of the proposal, though they are still working to assess its "feasibility."

David Estrada, the staffer for Menchaca, initially brought up the still-hypothetical train during an unrelated presentation Thursday before Community Board 6.

Two planners working for Thor Equities were before the board to introduce Thor's proposed Red Hoek Point development in Red Hook.

At the meeting, several members of the community criticized the company for failing to meaningfully engage with locals about the project, and Estrada, saying he was speaking on Menchaca's behalf, offered them support.

"Community engagement means nothing if the input of the community cannot" be built into the project, he said to the Thor representatives.

As an example of community engagement he considered lacking, he then brought up the BQX, saying that the city had effectively told locals that they'll get the train "if you want it or not."

He also seemed to dismiss a series of public "visioning sessions" conducted jointly by the DOT and the EDC over the past year, saying they effectively asked residents to comment only on superficial elements of the system.

Reached on Friday, Estrada repeated his criticism.

While Menchaca considers the proposed transit system "well worthy of examination," he said, "constituent reaction to BQX is quite mixed and [Menchaca] is considering legitimate local concerns about viable alternatives, the funding mechanism via property taxes, resilience, possible increased displacement of commercial leaseholders, and a lack of true fare integration with MTA systems."

"The southern portion of the line in Sunset Park has not generated an enthusiastic response from local business operators in the manufacturing zones likely to surround the route," he added.

Estrada had harsher words concerning the city's public engagement on the project.

"Community engagement for BQX has had a top-down style from the onset," he said. "Though many meetings have been held, most don’t show the promise of communities significantly affecting the outcome other than modest routing alternatives."

"Recall, the idea for BQX did not originate from within communities," he continued. "Rather, BQX engagement meetings always started with the assumption there would be a train. Robust community engagement necessarily requires local voices to not just be at the table, but to initially determine the focus and scope of discussions and then to directly impact a project’s outcomes."

Going forward, Estrada said Menchaca wants the city to "conduct information and community engagement meetings in multiple languages, at times of day accessible to families, and with a special consideration for business operators in manufacturing zones whose leases might be affected by increased land values."

He also said that "land owners, lease holders, business operators and residents need more specific information about how [the BQX] will affect parking, commercial traffic flow, displacement and gentrification."

In response to Estrada's comments, EDC spokesman Anthony Hogrebe said the agency was "proud to have Council Member Menchaca stand with Mayor de Blasio earlier this year and call the BQX 'the future of the city'."

"We’re also glad he agrees that neighborhoods like Red Hook are in desperate need of new transit options," Hoegrebe continued. "We’ll be hosting even more meetings in the months ahead, and look forward to working with the Council Member to build on those ongoing outreach efforts.”

The EDC's top staffer on the project, Adam Giambrone, will update Sunset Park residents on its progress at a Community Board 7 meeting scheduled for Dec. 12.

An EDC spokesman stressed that the agency has already held community meetings in Red Hook and Sunset Park, with translators in Mandarin and Spanish, and met with the Red Hook Initiative, Red Hook Rising and the Sunset Park Task Force, a group "which represents over a dozen businesses, elected officials, and community organizations."

Public comments can be emailed to the city at any time by writing to bqxinfo@edc.nyc, he said.

The EDC and the DOT are jointly evaluating the project, and are due to put out a report on it in the first quarter of next year.

"Parking, traffic, and community impacts are all being closely considered as the project moves forward," the spokesman said.

He also noted that the train won't happen unless it's approved by the City Council, which would need to pass land use resolutions to make it a reality.

Finally, in what was arguably a break from some past statements on the project, the spokesman said that both the DOT and the EDC "are in full support of the BQX," adding that, "The analysis they have been completing is to determine feasibility and specifics."

The admission is somewhat at odds — in framing, if not in substance — with what residents have at times been told previously about the stance the agencies are taking toward the BQX.

The train has the backing of Mayor de Blasio, and EDC staffers have consistently described the proposal positively at public hearings.

The EDC's website on the project says its ongoing feasibility study is designed "to support the implementation of the 16-mile BQX corridor." And in early June, DOT head Polly Trottenberg all but endorsed the train.

And yet, at other points, agency staffers have seemed to say that a final judgement is being withheld on the project until their completion of the study.

For example, when the EDC and DOT held a public hearing in Sunset Park on the BQX in June, an EDC consultant who identified himself as Dan Baer told residents that "Nothing is a done deal," adding that the agency was conducting "an alternatives analysis."

Maria Torres-Springer, who heads the EDC, also said at the meeting that her agency was doing a "real analysis" of alternatives to the BQX.

And at that same meeting, Trottenberg departed from her earlier comments on whether the DOT would offer its blessing to the project.

During a back-and-forth with a resident, Trottenberg said the BQX is "not a done deal that's going forward."

If it was, she said, "why would we be here?"

Image via Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector