The Brooklyn Heights Association, in a letter sent today to Polly Trottenberg, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation, noted that the announcement of an alternative plan for repair of the L train tunnel should inspire DOT “to re-think DOT’s approach to the BQE reconstruction project.”
The parallels seem clear: each project poses huge engineering challenges, and in each
case the government’s initial approach would impose unthinkably devastating
consequences. The exciting new approach for the L Train, devised in a brief period and
announced only a few months before the start of the planned shut-down approach,
shows it is not too late to solve the BQE challenge. It also demonstrates that the fresh
perspective of creative, independent experts can identify far preferable solutions … DOT seeks to rebuild (and modernize a bit)
exactly what was built from 1951-54. But a highway that made sense for the NY
metropolitan area for the last 75 years cannot possibly be the right way to serve the
region’s transportation needs for the next 75 years.
The full text of the letter is here.
In further news on the BQE front, the Harvard Krokodiloes, a men’s chorus that performs “popular music from the Great American Songbook” and is “America’s oldest collegiate social organization”, will sing at the Heights Casino this Friday, January 11 at 6:00 PM. Tickets are pricey: “a cocktail reception and warm-up concert in the Doubles Court for $100, or the above including a formal concert in the upstairs Governors Room followed by a private dinner with The Krokodiloes for $250.” However, “[a]ll proceeds will benefit the efforts by the BHA and A Better Way to defeat the DOT’s 6-lane highway on the Promenade.” You may purchase tickets here.
