Government briefs: Mayor proposes streetcar system, LIC project hits approval roadblock … and more

From the March issue: In what has been hailed as his most ambitious transportation initiative to date, Mayor Bill de Blasio has put forward a $2.5 billion proposal for a 16-mile streetcar system that would connect neighborhoods along the East River in Brooklyn and Queens that have little or no subway service. The streetcars are expected to run between Sunset Park and Gowanus in Brooklyn and Astoria, Queens.

“This is about mapping transit to the future of New York,” said Alicia Glen, the city’s deputy mayor for housing and economic development, in a New York Times story. The plan has won support from developers, including Jed Walentas of Two Trees Management, who is redeveloping the Domino Sugar site in Williamsburg. Walentas is helping to pay for a study on the project’s feasibility and cost. Construction on the streetcar system is set to start in 2019, but full service may not begin until 2024, officials said. [more]