QNS
The nonprofit organization that has
been advocating for a streetcar system along the Queens and Brooklyn
waterfront since 2014 made a change in leadership just as the city
launches a wide-ranging community engagement process.
The Friends of the Brooklyn Queens
Connector recently named Brooklyn resident Christopher Torres as its new
executive director to replace Jessica Schumer, who left at the end of
the year to pursue a new opportunity.
“Jessica had a tremendous run with
Friends of the BQX and we thank her for outstanding work over the past
three years,” a Friends of the BQX spokesperson said. “With its
environmental review in full swing and a public review process ahead,
we’re glad to have Chris at the helm as we head into a big year for the
BQX.”
Torres was an organizer for the
Working Families Party, where he helped lead campaigns in Arizona,
Wisconsin, and, most recently, for Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
Torres also worked with Make the Road New York Action Fund as its
director of field operations, where he spent five years working to build
electoral power in immigrant communities through grassroots and
community driven campaigns in New York and Pennsylvania. He views public
transportation as a social justice issue.
“It makes all the difference in
getting your mother to her doctor’s appointment on time, getting your
children to school, or in some cases keeping your job,” Torres wrote
Monday to board members.
“This belief must be the foundation of our work
if we are going to change the landscape of NYC and build a robust
transit system for all New Yorkers.”
The controversial proposal for the
$2.7 billion state-of-the-art light rail system, which would run along
an 11-mile corridor from Astoria to Red Hook, Brooklyn, would provide a
crucial north-south transit option for the 400,000 people who live along
the corridor and the 300,000 who work along the fastest-growing
business corridors in the city. The city’s Economic Development
Corporation has launched an extensive community engagement process that
will include presentations to community boards and public workshops that
will focus on community priorities, suggestions and concerns.
“There are myriad reasons why we want
to see the BQX happen. For me, one stands out more than most:
implementing quality public transit access for those who have been
historically neglected by city planners,” Torres wrote. “From Astoria,
Queens, to Red Hook, Brooklyn, no one feels the sting of walking more
than a half mile on a rainy day to a delayed subway or bus more than the
folks who live in public housing along the route. This year we will
work to broaden and strengthen our support in NYCHA with the help of the
resident association presidents who share our vision.”
Puh-leeze, the only reason why Jessica Schumer is gone and replaced with this young man is not to promote diversity or transit equity, but because this piece of shit trolley needs federal funding to pay for the cost of building it, which keeps rising every year. Also, Schumer is Senator Chuck's daughter and that would have been a huge conflict of interest, and it seems the Mayor and his developer overlord donors have had their fill with that. Or so it seems, the ferry's are still costing the city more money last time I/we checked.
Couldn't find a better guy to push your trolley agitprop NYC EDC. Have fun pissing away our tax dollars, Chris.
...Sorry mom, the developers have spoken
