NEW YORK (MNTV) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced a $4 billion, 10-year rehabilitation of the city-owned section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), ending decades of delay over one of the city’s most contentious pieces of infrastructure.
The project covers a 1.5-mile stretch between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street, with construction expected to begin in 2030 and extend the highway’s life by about 40 years. Mamdani said inaction was no longer acceptable, noting the structure is more than two decades past its design life while carrying over twice the traffic it was built for.
Its most contested element is a temporary two-level highway bypass over Furman Street, which officials say would keep traffic moving during reconstruction but which local lawmakers warn could worsen air pollution and congestion in a dense neighborhood.
State Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, and Council Member Lincoln Restler called for more transparency, better air-quality protections, and stronger links to Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The plan revives the legacy of Robert Moses, whose mid-20th-century highways displaced and divided New York communities; Mamdani’s administration acknowledged that history while arguing political paralysis had left few options.
The rehabilitation may finally move the BQE toward structural safety, but its success, critics say, will depend on whether the city can rebuild aging infrastructure without imposing fresh environmental and health burdens on the communities beside it.