Brooklyn Marine Terminal + Brooklyn–Queens Expressway
Help shape what happens in our neighborhoods. Take three actions now, then explore the BMT and BQE processes below.
Our working waterfront. Our neighborhoods.
Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) is a 122-acre working waterfront with a future worth protecting. We support a modern port that creates good-paying union jobs, moves more freight by water, gets trucks off our streets, and helps the city withstand emergencies. Our Blue Highway vision: water in, water out →
The City’s vision cuts the port footprint to 60 acres—roughly half the terminal—alongside 6,000 homes, mostly luxury homes. Our concern is that shrinking the working waterfront limits the port’s room to grow and its potential to serve New York.
The Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE) Central rehabilitation review is now beginning too. These projects could bring years of overlapping construction—noise, dust, traffic diversions, and access problems—for the Columbia Street Waterfront, Red Hook, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, and adjacent neighborhoods.
We need to help shape both projects now: press for alternatives, demand a study of their combined impacts, and secure enforceable neighborhood protections.Explore our concerns and alternatives →
Sources: BMT proposal · Assemblymember Simon on the housing mix · Blue Highways · BMT draft scope · BQE timeline
Take action now
Three things you can do right now. Start here, and check back as new opportunities open.
Ask DOT to study three lanes versus two and the effects on Columbia Street Waterfront, Red Hook, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, and adjacent neighborhoods. Describe how traffic affects your daily life.
2026 deadline · Meetings November 10 & 12
Support an all-port future for all 122 acres and a fair study of that alternative. Keep cold storage at BMT. At a minimum, require the replacement port to be built and operating before housing begins.
A ready-to-edit email makes it easier.
Tell us what matters most to you. Your answers help us identify shared concerns, plan our next steps, and organize together.
Everyone is welcome—you don’t need to have attended the forum.
Your experience gives this message its strength. Add where you live or work, how long you’ve been here, and what is at stake for you. Review the draft before sending. See the Blue Highway case for an all-port future →
Opening a draft does not send it. You send it from your email app. If your email app doesn’t open, copy the text and use the contact directory below. These letters support advocacy; formal comments also need to reach the agency’s official review.
Understand the process
The Brooklyn Marine Terminal (BMT) and Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (BQE) have separate reviews, deadlines, and decisions. They use similar terms, but they are at different stages.
Tap or click a panel marked + to read more. Tap again to close it.
Scoping comments have closed. Prepare for public review of the draft environmental study and the state plan.
Follow the BMT process BQEExpressway rehabilitationScoping is open now. Tell DOT what to study. BQE scoping comments are due November 23, 2026.
Follow the BQE processNext: public review of the draft environmental study and the state plan. Watch for the official notices.
The BMT process
CEQR No. 25DME018K
This is not a done deal. The Task Force endorsed a vision. Final state decisions, financing approvals, and waterfront permits still matter. Follow these opportunities to ask questions, comment, and press for changes.
ESD project overview · BMTDC planning forecast · GPP hearing process
The Brooklyn Marine Terminal Development Corporation (BMTDC) makes project decisions. Read its meeting materials and ask your representatives or Community Board 6 to raise your concerns.
The published process brings these two drafts to public review together. Read both, submit comments through the official notices, and ask for specific changes before final decisions.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement examines impacts, alternatives, and protections. Check whether it answers your concerns and fairly studies the 122-acre all-port alternative.
Environmental-review notices ↗Empire State Development’s General Project Plan sets out the project and the actions needed to carry it out. After initial adoption, ask for plan changes and enforceable commitments.
State-plan notices & hearings ↗The City’s Office of Deputy Mayor Julie Su, Economic Justice is the lead agency; the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination (MOEC) administers the review. BMT scoping closed May 8, 2026. Check whether the study addresses your earlier concerns and fairly compares the City Club / Tom Fox alternative, which keeps all 122 acres maritime.
Official BMT environmental-review notice
ESD’s board is chaired by Kevin S. Law; Hope Knight is its President and CEO. This state process can override local zoning. Ask ESD to explain the proposed powers, financing, and commitments in plain language. Meet ESD’s leadership.
The published scope describes joint DEIS and GPP public review · State-plan hearing requirements
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) must respond to substantive environmental comments. Agencies make environmental findings; ESD can affirm, modify, or withdraw the GPP after public review. Keep pressing for unanswered concerns and enforceable protections.
Under SEQR, at least 10 calendar days must pass after the FEIS is filed before findings. This is a consideration period, not a new comment window.
SEQR process ↗BMT also needs state financing approvals. Before the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB) votes on a financing application, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli can review it and comment. Ask for scrutiny of funding gaps, public costs, and the money needed to deliver commitments.
ESD’s General Project Plan sets out the project. The Public Authorities Control Board (PACB) separately reviews financing for covered state projects. Its approval is another decision to follow as BMT moves toward implementation. Look for BMT or related project names in the board’s agendas and resolutions.
View PACB project approvals and meeting materialsPACB has five members, but only three vote. A project approval requires all three votes. Members may designate someone to attend and vote on their behalf.
Membership checked September 30, 2026. Check the official PACB roster for changes. State law explains appointments and voting.
Help shape what gets studied. Submit BQE scoping comments by November 23, 2026.
Write a BQE commentThe BQE process
BQE Central · CEQR No. 26DOT006K
The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) leads this separate project for the City-owned BQE Central section, including the triple cantilever. Its proposal keeps two lanes in each direction and uses temporary bypass structures during rehabilitation.
Sources: NYC DOT BQE Central
Name the streets, travel needs, alternatives, and construction effects that need examination. Comments on the draft scope are due November 23, 2026. See how to submit your comment →
DOT forecasts a draft study and public meetings in late 2027. Check whether the DEIS answers the questions you raised. Ask for missing analysis and specific neighborhood protections.
DOT forecasts the final study in early 2028. Follow the FEIS, City land-use review, and state parkland legislation. Use each hearing and comment opportunity; ask your state legislators to scrutinize any parkland changes.
Report disruption, record access problems, and follow up on promised protections. DOT forecasts construction in 2029–2040, including temporary bypasses and their removal. DOT also promises a community liaison, advisory committee, and regular office hours. Ask how to reach them and track the response. All dates are planning estimates.
Dates to watch · Reviewed October 1, 2026
Information events help you prepare. Formal notices establish hearing dates, filing instructions, and comment deadlines.
BQE · Information events
Listed by NYC DOTBQE · Scoping & comments
Currently listed by NYC DOTWritten comments are due November 23, 2026. Tell DOT what the environmental study should examine.
DOT’s live project page currently lists these dates, which differ from the September 30 draft-scope PDF. Use the live project page for current filing instructions, the meeting location, and registration. DOT lists November 5 as the deadline to request interpretation for the virtual meeting.
Sources: DOT events and participation · September 24 ATF background materials
September 28, 2026 · Columbia Street Waterfront Association
Watch the conversation about our waterfront’s future, explore the presentation, and share the resources with a neighbor.
Keep the tools close
Preview the one-page guide, prepare your own comment, or explore the concerns behind our requests.
Use the right submission channel, save your comment and confirmation, and follow up.
Get notices, meeting dates, and the next opportunity to act.
Keep these contacts close
You don’t have to search for every office. Email, call, or use an official contact page below. Tell them where you live, how these projects affect you, and what you want them to do.
Use the ready-to-edit BMT email →
City Council · District 39
Neighborhood impacts and City oversight.
City Council · District 38
Waterfront, truck traffic, and neighborhood concerns.
City Council · District 33
BQE and neighborhood concerns in Brooklyn Heights and other District 33 communities.
Brooklyn Borough President
Borough-wide planning and community protections.
Mayor of New York City
Ask City Hall to honor commitments and respond to community concerns.
Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice
Ask her office to honor BMT’s port commitments and respond to neighborhood concerns. Her office is the lead agency for BMT’s environmental review.
Use the City Hall form and begin your message “For Deputy Mayor Julie Su.”
State Assembly · District 52
State advocacy, legislation, and follow-through on commitments.
State Assembly · District 51
State advocacy, oversight, and waterfront concerns.
State Senate · District 26
State advocacy, parkland legislation, and oversight.
Governor of New York State
Ask the Governor to keep the cold-storage commitment at BMT in Brooklyn.
BMT project team
Project questions and commitments. This inbox is not a dedicated BMTDC board contact.
BMT environmental review
Emily Spokowski · Senior Project Manager
The project contact named in BMT’s official scoping notice. Ask about review documents, upcoming hearings, and how to submit comments.
When DEIS review opens: use the new hearing notice’s submission address and deadline.
BQE Central project team
BQE questions and written scoping comments.
Your local community board
Raise local concerns and ask the board to follow up with agencies.
Raise questions about financing, financial risks, and delivery of community commitments. See when the Comptroller and PACB enter the process →
New York State Comptroller
Ask for financial scrutiny before PACB acts. Address the message to Comptroller DiNapoli; this is the office’s general inbox.
Governor’s representative · Chair
New York State Budget Director
Who selects this seat? The Governor appoints this member and designates the chair. Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Washington as Budget Director.
Contact: Use the Division of the Budget’s official contact options. Ask that your message be directed to Blake G. Washington in his role as PACB chair.
Division of the Budget contact options ↗Senate majority representative
New York State Senator
District 14 · Southeast Queens
Who selects this seat? The Governor formally appoints the member recommended by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
Email: comrie@nysenate.gov
Albany office: 518-455-2701
District office: 718-765-6359
Assembly majority representative
New York State Assemblymember
District 26 · Queens
Who selects this seat? The Governor formally appoints the member recommended by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
Email: braunsteine@nyassembly.gov
Albany office: 518-455-5425
District office: 718-357-3588
Senate Majority Leader
State legislative priorities and Senate-recommended PACB representation.
Assembly Speaker
State legislative priorities and Assembly-recommended PACB representation.
Help us keep a community record. Please CC BMT Works for New York at BMTWorks4NY@gmail.com on your messages, or send us a copy of a contact form submission. Letters to officials support our advocacy.
For formal environmental comments, please use the agency’s filing instructions and deadline.
Official contact routes checked September 30, 2026; Julie Su’s office and MOEC added October 1, 2026. Email links open your email app; official contact pages open in a new tab.
Sources: ESD overview · SEQR guide · DOT participation guide
We’re going to work together.
We’re going to plan together.
We’re going to organize together.
And we’re going to get through this together.
We move forward together
Bring your concerns, your ideas, and your skills. There is a place for you in this work.