GREENPOINT — The mayor's proposed streetcar could rumble down bustling North Brooklyn commercial strips like Manhattan Avenue and Bedford Avenue, according to a handful of routes put forward by the city Tuesday.
The streetcar, dubbed the Brooklyn-Queens Connector or BQX, could travel along McGuinness Boulevard, Manhattan Avenue or Franklin Avenue in Greenpoint and switch over to Berry Street, Wythe, Kent or Bedford avenues through Williamsburg, according to the Department of Transportation.
"It would be cool to have it down Manhattan Avenue," said Nick Giannios, 49, owner of Greenpoint Floral Company, located on Manhattan Avenue. "I'm sure people are just going to ride the trolley just for the sake of riding the trolley. It would bring newfound eyes to Manhattan Avenue."
What Williamsburg street do you think the streetcar should go down?https://t.co/L1B6eJa0t7
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Despite the coolness factor, he worried that small businesses would suffer during construction, and at the end of the day, the G train and a bus already run down the block, making another mode of transportation redundant.
Plus, he added, the street is fairly narrow and many of his customers drive to the shop and use the street parking out front.
"McGuinness probably makes more sense," he said. The street is far wider than Manhattan Avenue and more residential, meaning fewer local businesses would be disrupted, he pointed out.
The Tuesday report on potential routes, marks the beginning of a second round of public input session on the streetcar project. The city will put together a complete report on the streetcar next spring and the official public review process will begin later in the year.
The $2.5 billion project pushed by Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to begin construction in 2019 and be completed by 2024.
The route would extend from Astoria in Queens to Sunset Park in Brooklyn stopping roughly every half mile along the way in Long Island City, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill and Red Hook.
