Transit Union Supports BQX Streetcar Plan

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The city's transit union is endorsing Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to build a streetcar that would run from Sunset Park up through Brooklyn and to Astoria, Queens.

The Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents 41,000 workers in New York City, made the announcement Monday morning in Red Hook, another proposed stop along the proposed streetcar routes.

"The subway system is bursting at the seams," TWU President John Samuelsen said. "This addition to intermodal transit is critical."

"These are not going to be low-wage jobs," Samuelsen told the Daily News. "We’re going to organize it."

Patch has reached out to the union for more information, and we'll update this story if we hear back.

De Blasio has been touting the multi-billion-dollar plan for more than a year, saying it will bring a much-needed transportation alternative to waterfront communities.

But while de Blasio has said the plan would pay for itself, critics say the project will be too expensive and inefficient.

And last month, a leaked memo from the mayor's "BQX Project Team" suggested that the funding plan for the streetcar "faces several serious challenges."

Image courtesy Transport Workers Union Local 100