It’s hard to get a sense from the site or from the actual idea pages what the goal is. Removing the BQE (https://transformyour.city/vision/new-york-city/the-bqe ) would affect millions of people and businesses, and simply saying “transform it into a linear park” comes across as incredibly naïve. I would feel foolish signing this petition because…what’s the actual plan?

Sure, maybe there is some way to do it with a multi-decade effort, an enormous cost, and a fundamental shift in NYC’s layout and even economy, but something about how MASSIVELY oversimplified the statement “Remove the BQE” is makes it hard to take this seriously.

I applaud the sentiment, though! And I hate the BQE.

Edit: Also just to be even clearer for anyone not familiar with NYC geography: the BQE is a stretch of interstate highway 278 that connects Brooklyn and Queens.

This isn’t the High Line, built from a disused rail line. It’s proposing removing a stretch of interstate and putting a park in its place.

Edit 2: Ok, apparently the goal is to gather signatures and then show elected officials. The minimum bar appears to be 100 signatures. I have a hard time understanding what outcome is expected when an elected official in NYC is shown a petition in which 100 people say we should rip out part of the interstate (and one of NYC’s most important stretches of road) and put in a park.