BQX streetcar plan jeopardized by Amazon withdrawal, transit buffs say (Updated)
Project's boosters reiterate support
Backers of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector have touted Amazon’s potential arrival as an illustration of the critical need for a new interborough transportation option. But when the company canceled its $2.5 billion plan to bring 25,000 employees to Long Island City, it may have taken with it any hope of the streetcar becoming a reality, transit advocates said.
“It’s one less arrow in the mayor’s quiver,” Ben Fried, a spokesperson for commuter advocacy group TransitCenter, told the Brooklyn Eagle. “But the fact is — with or without Amazon — this project was losing momentum and was on its last breath.”
(Update [February 22 at 2:25 p.m.]: This story has been amended to include an additional statement from Friends of the BQX.)