De Blasio blindsided us on BQE, Brooklyn Heights Association fumes
Blasts NYC DOT for Not Considering Other Options
The Brooklyn Heights Association sent out a searing statement on Sunday condemning Mayor Bill de Blasio for “blindsiding” the community by supporting a radical Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) reconstruction plan even before the public comments are all in.
On Friday, the mayor voiced his support for a proposal to temporarily replace the Heights Promenade with a floating, six-lane highway during reconstruction of the BQE between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street. The highway, choked with 153,000 vehicles a day, would run alongside the back doors of some of the most valuable real estate in Brooklyn.
BHA President Martha Bakos Dietz said in a response to de Blasio that she was “stunned” to read of the mayor’s endorsement of the controversial plan.
“At a time when the BHA has been trying to meet again with the DOT [Department of Transportation] to urge serious consideration of alternatives to its two proposals, the mayor makes it clear that the city does not care to hear our community’s opinion,” she said.