MTA to Hold Three In-Person Public Meetings in Brooklyn and Queens
Follows Three Virtual Public Town Hall Meetings
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will hold its first in-person public engagement town hall meetings on the Interborough Express. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the meetings to hear an overview of current progress on the Interborough Express, including the Planning and Environmental Linkages study. The transformative Light Rail Transit project will connect communities in Brooklyn and Queens to 17 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road, and significantly reduce travel times within and between the two boroughs.
“The Interborough Express is going to be a gamechanger for New York City, and as we move forward with this project, I want the entire community to be involved,” Governor Hochul said. “I encourage everyone to attend one of these sessions to learn more about the IBX and share their feedback.”
The first town hall will be held on Wednesday, November 8 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Brooklyn College in Flatbush, Brooklyn. This meeting will be followed by two more public events held on Wednesday, November 15 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at P.S.007 Louis F. Simeone School in Elmhurst, Queens and Thursday, November 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Widdi Catering Hall in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The town hall events will provide an opportunity for members of the public to learn more about the proposed project and to provide feedback on its potential benefits as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) prepares to formally enter the environmental review process.
The Interborough Express would use the existing right-of-way of the Bay Ridge Branch, which is a freight rail line that runs through Brooklyn and Queens, connecting ethnically and socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods such as Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Borough Park, Kensington, Midwood, Flatbush, Flatlands, New Lots, Brownsville, East New York, Bushwick, Ridgewood, Middle Village, Maspeth, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. The project would include several new connections in neighborhoods that currently lack efficient connections to each other, and in some cases, to Manhattan.
The project has the potential to provide connections up to 17 subway lines (, , , ,, , , , , , , , , , , , ) serving areas of Brooklyn and Queens, and initial studies indicate this new transit option could serve up to 115,000 daily weekday riders, amounting to an annual ridership of approximately 40 million. Travel times between Brooklyn and Queens could be reduced by up to 30 minutes each way, depending on travel distance.