2020 FALL RESIDENCY:

TO BE OR NOT TO BQE 

 

Earlier this year, Mayor DeBlasio convened a panel of experts tasked with delivering recommendations on how to repair the deteriorating Brooklyn Queens Expressway. As reported by , an interesting conclusion was the panel’s call for “a broader vision for the future of the highway,” a comprehensive overhaul of the entirety of the BQE from Staten Island to Queens, “rather than the piecemeal approach that DOT proposed for the triple cantilever section beneath The Promenade”. That broader vision includes the seeming radical query: What about just tearing the BQE down?  This question is resonating within the current NYC political structure. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson included a call for a “fresh look at the BQE problem” in his State of the City address in March, urging the city to study alternatives to the roadway’s reconstruction “including the removal of the BQE in its entirety.”