This photo (specific date unavailable) were taken in downtown Brooklyn, near Borough Hall and the intersection of Court and Joralemon Streets. (h/t:The Tech - MIT's Oldest and Largest Newspaper)
After two decades of false starts, the city is finally back on track with plans to build a light-rail or trolley line connecting Brooklyn's most transit-starved neighborhood with its downtown area.
The city Transportation Department expects to select a consultant within the next two months to study running the mile-long line from the Red Hook waterfront to Atlantic Avenue at the edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is in walking distance to several subway and bus lines.
The study could also look at extending the route another half-mile east, directly to the transit hub at Borough Hall.
DOT plans to finally take advantage of a $300,000 federal grant that Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn) secured for the six-month study in 2005.
Velazquez said the project is crucial for Red Hook, since the isolated neighborhood is facing brutal service cuts to its already-limited bus service -- the B61, B77 and B71 lines. The neighborhood has no subway; its nearest train line -- the F -- is more than a mile away.
Bob Diamond, president of the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association, which has tried to create a trolley line since 1989, estimated the project would cost $10 million to $15 million to complete.
Velazquez has requested $10 million of the funds needed for the project from a pending House transit bill.
Nearly a decade ago, the BHRA proposed a trolley route running from existing tracks at the Van Brunt Street waterfront, north up Richards Street and then Columbia Street, before hitting the park at Atlantic Avenue and then heading east to Borough Hall.
Light-rail lines are much cheaper and quicker to build than subway lines and use far less energy. They run on existing streets, normally without the need to eliminate parking spots.
