Elected officials who represent the area of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway’s Triple Cantilever — City Council Member Lincoln Restler, State Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, State Senator Andrew Gounardes, and U.S. Representatives Daniel Goldman and Nydia Velazquez — have jointly sent a letter to Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi requesting that the City’s Department of Transportation produce a plan to stabilize this section of the BQE to assure that it remains safe “for the next 15 to 20 years.” According to Council Member Restler’s newsletter:
Considering the importance of federal funding for this project and the orientation of the incoming Trump administration toward New York City and the general uncertainty at City Hall, it is not clear that the Adams administration’s plans remain viable. We need an alternative option that protects and preserves the safety of the highway and our community for the foreseeable future, while we work to craft longer term solutions for the whole BQE corridor. Implementation of a stabilization plan to extend the lifespan of the Triple Cantilever would create time for city, state and federal governments to achieve new strategies to divert freight and reduce trucks and cars on this highway.
As we noted in June, the DOT released preliminary plans for the reconstruction of the Triple Cantilever with the cautionary note that “[n]othing is set in stone yet” and that work, which would involve the temporary demolition of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and its reconstruction “in kind,” is unlikely to begin before 2029.
Photo: C. Scales for BHB
