Sunset Park to Host June 21 Meeting on Brooklyn Queens Connector

• Image courtesy of Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The city will host a public comment session on the proposed Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) streetcar in Sunset Park on June 21.

The meeting will start at 6 p.m., and will take place at Notre Dame Hall, located at 552 59th Street.

The BQX would be a $2.5 billion light rail line stretching from Astoria to Sunset Park along the Queens and Brooklyn waterfronts.

Other public comment sessions have already been held in Astoria and Red Hook.

The sessions have featured visual presentations from staffers with the New York City Economic Development Corp. and the Department of Transportation.

They have also allotted time for community members to offer thoughts on their hyper-local transit needs, as well as comment on how the BQX would impact their neighborhood.

The BQX is being promoted by an independent group,Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector, composed of community organizations, transportation advocates and developers.

Backers say the train could carry 50,000 passengers daily — cutting down waterfront transit times and connecting numerous communities to rapidly growing job hubs.

But some have raised concerns that the BQX will cause waterfront property values to spiral out of control, pricing out existing residents and businesses.

The city is currently considering the proposal's feasibility. Officials have said they'll make a decision by fall on whether to move forward with the idea.

If approved, the BQX is projected to be operational by 2024.