Prototype streetcar unveiled for proposed Brooklyn-Queens line

The Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX) advocacy group yesterday unveiled a prototype vehicle for a proposed 14-mile streetcar line connecting the two New York City boroughs.

The unit has a seating capacity for 150 people and cost about $100,000 to build, amNewYork reported. Alstom manufactured the Citadis X05 streetcar, which arrived from Nice, France. More than 150 New Yorkers attended the unveiling, Friends of the BQX officials said on Facebook.

In his 2016 "State of the City" address, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio first unveiled plans for the $2.5 billion Brooklyn-Queens Connector project, which would run from Queens' Astoria neighborhood to Sunset Park in Brooklyn.

Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector Executive Director Ya-Ting Liu told amNewYork that her organization plans to "call on the city of New York and the mayor to take action and move this project forward" following de Blasio's re-election last week.