Cuomo asks MTA to study possible subway extension from Manhattan to Red Hook
Red Hook waterfront, photo via Sunghwan Yoon on Flickr
Gov. Andrew Cuomo called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Tuesday to study a possible extension of subway service from Lower Manhattan to a new station in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. In addition to expanding transit options, the governor is also asking the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to consolidate maritime operations by relocating them to Sunset Park, as a way to free up space for community activities. The revitalization of Red Hook is Cuomo’s 21st proposal expected to be delivered in his 2018 State of the State address on Wednesday.
Possible relocation site via Governor Cuomo’s office
“Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood is full of untapped potential, and with this proposal, I am calling on the Port Authority to accelerate consideration of relocating its Red Hook maritime activities to free up this waterfront for more productive community use,” Cuomo said in a statement.
The study would look at ways to consolidate and relocate maritime operations from the Red Hook Container Terminal to the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park. According to the state, once a plan to relocate and consolidate maritime activities becomes clear and the MTA study is completed, stakeholders and elected officials will be asked to make recommendations and suggestions for what community-based activities the Port Authority can make of the new open space.
Engineering firm AECOM released a proposal last September that called for a sprawling complex on the waterfront neighborhood, including more than 12 towers, 45,000 units of housing and an extension of the 1-train from South Street Seaport. This $3 billion train extension would involve building a new East River tunnel and creating three new subway stations: one next to the Container Terminal, one at the public-housing complex Red Hook Houses, and another at Fourth Avenue which would connect to the F and G lines.
In 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his support for the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX), a streetcar that would run connect Brooklyn and Queens along the East River. While the first prototype of the streetcar was unveiled in November, funding and basic logistics for the BQX remain up in the air.
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A better and less expensive idea would be to run a ferry to Red Hook. We already have multiple ferry slips in lower Manhattan and there are already docking facilities at Red Hook Terminal. Cost now would be renovating a slip at Red Hook to accommodate the ferry and a small passenger terminal at that slip (WC, Tix, Newstand/Coffee). Should be about a ten-minute trip across calm waters that don’t freeze in the winter. Possibly Waterways or other existing ferry carrier can take on the route. Should be explored!