Supporters of the proposed 17-mile streetcar route between Astoria and Sunset park in Brooklyn admit they have challenges ahead of them.
One they don’t have is generating interest among residents, business owners and civic leaders in the Queens side of Newtown Creek.
More than 40 attended an informational session in Long Island City Tuesday night. And while it was not as crowded as one in Astoria on May 9, there was no lack of opinions and concerns.
The project is supported by the city as well as developers and business interests along the Queens-Brooklyn waterfront. Anticipated increases in nearby property tax revenue will be used to pay the projected $2.5 billion startup costs.
Lydon Sleeper of the New York City Economic Development Corp., who led the meeting, said while some things are points of disagreement and others unknown, the one thing most believe is that there is inadequate public transportation in the north-south directions.
“Four hundred thousand people live in this corridor and 300,000 work there,” Sleeper said. “The waterfront is growing at 20 times the rate of the surrounding areas.”
And he reiterated EDC’s contention that any expansion of development must include expanded transportation options.
Residents on Tuesday broke up into small groups, marking maps of the corridor where they would want stops to be and along what streets.
Problems for BQX backers include finding an exact route; avoiding major underground utility lines; how to retain access to and from businesses, firehouses, and possibly a hospital along some proposed routes; and dealing with the likely need to eliminate a lot of street parking.
Finally, they also must cross both Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal.
Sleeper said public input from both Queens meetings, as well as a recent one on Brooklyn, will be compiled into a report to be released in the fall.
Sheila Lewandowski, a homeowner, business owner and member of Community Board 2, told the gathering that her group wanted just a little bit more than the 15 subway lines, 30 bus routes and ferry access being promised.
“We would like a LaGuardia [Airport] connection,” she said.
Helen Ho and Stacey Leatham, representing LaGuardia Community College in LIC, said some kind of north-south service would be beneficial to the school.
“Eighty percent of our students live in Queens and Brooklyn,” Ho said.
And while Sleeper quoted statistics about how streetcars in other cities — when planned and operated properly — benefit small businesses, Patricia Dorfman, executive director of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce, said she has concerns about the project encouraging gentrification.
“We don’t want commercial rents so high only chain stores and banks can afford them,” she said. Speaking after the meeting, Dorfman said they already have lost about 15 businesses in recent months to real estate speculators who have bought out or not renewed tenants and then flipped the properties for healthy profits.
“That’s not development — that’s speculation,” she said.
On the other hand, Elizabeth Lusskin, president and executive director of the Long Island City Partnership, voiced strong support for the plan before the crowd broke up into individual groups.
Sleeper, during his presentation, said the aim now is to use cars that run on batteries rather than rely on overhead wires.
With groundbreaking tentatively slated for 2019, they would have a few years’ leeway for advances in battery technology before 2024.
“When we would have the first card swipe, brain chip or whatever they are using instead of a MetroCard,” Sleeper said. The plan is to tie the cost of a ride to the cost of a single bus or subway fare.
Sleeper told the Chronicle while the process still is in its very early stages, he has learned a lot since the May meeting in Astoria.
“It’s not like I learned something specific about the project,” he said. “But I have learned a lot about how residents want to go about this.”
