Brooklyn without the BQE? Exhibit explores possibilities
An exhibit by the Institute for Public Architecture (IPA) on alternatives to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway — which suggests doing away with the BQE altogether — is generating quite a bit of discussion in the Brooklyn and Queens communities.
Portions of the BQE have been under criticism in Brooklyn for many years. The elevated portion of the highway in Sunset Park has long been thought of as an impediment to the area’s renaissance.
During the 1990s, politicians and planners talked about the “tunnel option,” which would put that part of the roadway underground, but nothing was done. More recently, at a breakfast sponsored by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Carlo Scissura, head of the New York Building Congress, called the structure “a ridiculous, disgusting eyesore” and said the city and state should use money from the recently passed federal infrastructure bill to tear it down.