Gov. Andrew Cuomo will order the MTA to evaluate the construction of a new subway station in Red Hook as part of a neighborhood revitalization proposal in his State of the State address to be delivered Wednesday.
The proposal also calls for the Port Authority to study the consolidation and relocation of its maritime operations from the Red Hook Container Terminal to the Sunset Park’s South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
“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. “I am also calling on the MTA to take steps to improve transportation options to Red Hook, including studying the potential of a new subway line to connect Red Hook to Manhattan.”
Cuomo’s idea for subway service to a notorious transit desert of Brooklyn would entail extending a line from lower Manhattan through a new underwater tunnel, according to a news release. More details weren’t immediately available.
The proposal appears similar to one pitched by engineering firm AECOM last year, which called for a 1 train extension from the Rector Street station that would run to three new stations in Red Hook. Cuomo, though, is only requiring for the MTA to study building one new station in the neighborhood.
“We are eager to study expanded transportation options to Red Hook in line with the Governor’s vision,” said MTA spokesman Jon Weinstein, in a statement.
Cuomo’s idea comes as Mayor Bill de Blasio continues to tout his own vision to improve transportation in the area: the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, a waterfront streetcar proposal backed by real estate firms and advocates that would operate along a 16-mile route from Sunset Park to Astoria, Queens.
In response to a possible new Red Hook line, a mayoral spokesman said, “We’re not yet to the detail phase of this so it’s too early to say. Our focus is on transportation and housing for a neighborhood that’s been left out of the city’s progress for too many years. We look forward to hearing a lot more before we decide whether or not it sufficiently meets those needs.”
