Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Velazsquez likes the Trolley idea!!

Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that Rep. Nydia Velsquez is taking action on the trolley/streetcar idea!

Along with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Brooklyn Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez is calling for funding for a Red Hook trolley, or streetcar, system.

In her request for funding for the Fiscal Year 2010 surface transportation bill, she has included $10 million for “design and construction of a light rail system along the Brooklyn waterfront from Red Hook to Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn, N.Y.”

At a campaign rally earlier this month, Bloomberg unveiled his ideas for overhauling the city’s transit system — streetcar service being one of them. Velázquez’s request was made in May, prior to Bloomberg’s statement.

Bloomberg’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, also said recently that positive experiences with streetcars in Toronto and Portland made her want to explore a trolley system in Brooklyn. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has now begun a $259,000 feasibility analysis of placing streetcar lines in Red Hook, DUMBO and other waterfront areas, according to published reports.

A network of electric trolleys once crisscrossed Brooklyn, but they were phased out in stages during the 1950s. The Red Hook plan is very similar to one put forward by Flatbush rail fan Bob Diamond in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Rest of the article here

2 comments:

denise carbonell said...

...This is SO exciting...!

Anonymous said...

THem boys in Bayside are the most dangerous and backwards of all. The city should toughen inspections for medical, psychiatric and vehicle reasons to cut down the number of congestion. This way, we will also get the voters against congestion pricing, who live in Bayside and Staten Island, to move away. Free health care means psychiatric care for all those angry talk radio white males!