BQX Light Rail Model Debuts

The BQX prototype light rail car at Brooklyn Navy Yard

NEW YORK CITY— A prototype of the proposed Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX), a streetcar that would run between Astoria, Queens and Sunset Park, Brooklyn was unveiled on Monday evening at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Michael Rudin, senior vice president at Rudin Management Company, and Friends of BQX , board of directors member, welcomed the guests.

The proposed light rail system is anticipated to cost approximately $2.5 billion. The Association for a Better New York, Friends of BQX and Tech:NY hosted a panel discussion, “Beyond Amazon.” In reference to the city’s bid to be the internet retailer’s second home, the talk focused on ways to make New York City its most competitive in attracting companies and talented people. As transportation was a key point, the event concluded with a tour of the model rail car.

Panelist Jed Walentas, CEO of Two Trees Management, founded the Friends of the BQX, and serves as its executive committee chair. He explained the BQX would be funded through a mechanism called value capture. This involves increases in property tax of the real estate located near the rail line, which benefits from the streetcar’s operations. The taxation would generate the revenue to pay the debt that funded the initial investment.

The streetcar project has not been without its controversies, including this Daily News report on contributions to Mayor Bill de Blasio from real estate developers who stood to gain by the mayor’s approval of the BQX. The mayor vehemently denied such allegations.

BQX model car interior

“The reality is every time the public makes an investment in a community, whether it’s a park, an improvement of a school or a piece of transit, the real estate owners are the ones who benefit,” said Walentas. “We need a system for these real estate owners to give back more than they are now and to figure out a way to use that value to finance these kinds of pubic goods.”

Two Trees owns several properties along the waterfront, close to where the BQX would run. The Walentas family business is well know for its investments in Brooklyn, particularly having influenced the shape and character of Dumbo.