Locals can weigh in on the mayor’s proposed $2.5-billion, Sunset Park-to-Queens streetcar project at a meeting in Sunset Park tonight.
Developers building along the waterfront have been pushing the trolley as an amenity for neighborhoods it would run through — including Red Hook, Dumbo, the Navy Yard, and the Williamsburg waterfront — but the local councilman has said the plan was a non-starter because it would result in jacked-up rents in Sunset Park.
Officials released a sketch of the proposed route in November and are making their rounds to community boards asking for input on specific streets it is considering.
The city may close some roads to car traffic altogether and it may also build new bridges to accommodate the trolley.
The upcoming meeting will feature a presentation from Adam Giambrone — a rail advocate and former Toronto politician that the city’s Economic Development Corporation hired to head the streetcar system’s design.
A draft of the paths will be released in early 2017 followed by a public-approval process. Construction is slated to begin in 2019 and the city aims for the system to be up and running by 2024.
Streetcar meeting at Community Board 7 [4201 Fourth Ave. between 42nd and 43rd streets in Sunset Park, (718) 854–0003] Dec. 12 at 6:30 pm.
