First Step Complete In Queens To Brooklyn Train, Hochul Says
Hochul's 14-mile Interborough Express was deemed feasible by the MTA. Community and environmental reviews come next, the governor said. (Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
Patch
By: Kayla Levy
ASTORIA, QUEENS — A long sought subway line connecting Brooklyn and Queens is one step closer to becoming a reality, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.
Stretching from Bay Ridge to Jackson Heights, and linking hundreds-of-thousands of low-income riders and people of color along the way, the transit line, which the governor dubbed the "Interborough Express," has been deemed "feasible" by a new Metropolitan Transportation Authority report, Hochul said on Thursday.
"What it's going to do is create a lifeline, a connection," Hochul promised of the project, which has been celebrated for serving riders (about 88,000 per-day, according to Thursday's estimates) in transit-starved outer-borough neighborhoods — unlike the city's other major transit investments, which are largely Manhattan-focused.
Now that the Interborough Express has been deemed doable by the MTA, which would eventually build and operate the line, the project can move forward to the community and environmental review phases; those processes will help the transit agency figure out some still-unknown details, Hochul explained, like what kinds of vehicles to use on the line.
