Establishes the Brooklyn-Queens expressway authority for the purposes of the continuance, further development and improvement of transportation along the Brooklyn-Queens expressway and other services related thereto.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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7497
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 1, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the transportation law, in relation to establishing the
Brooklyn-Queens expressway authority
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "21st Century Approach for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway".
3 § 2. The transportation law is amended by adding a new article 23 to
4 read as follows:
5 ARTICLE 23
6 BROOKLYN-QUEENS EXPRESSWAY AUTHORITY
7 Section 490. Legislative findings and intent.
8 491. Establishment of authority.
9 492. Powers and duties of the authority.
10 493. Authority membership.
11 § 490. Legislative findings and intent. Critical stretches of the
12 Brooklyn-Queens expressway are suffering from significant deterioration
13 and work must begin this year to fix it and ensure the viability and
14 sustainability of the I-278 corridor through Brooklyn and provide a new
15 twenty-first century route to meet the needs of today's travel around
16 Brooklyn on I-278 and its connections.
17 § 491. Establishment of authority. 1. There is hereby created the
18 Brooklyn-Queens expressway authority (hereinafter referred to as "the
19 authority"), which shall be a body corporate and politic, constituting a
20 public benefit corporation. The purposes of the authority shall be the
21 continuance, further development and improvement of transportation along
22 the Brooklyn-Queens expressway from the Verrazano-Narrows bridge
23 connection in Brooklyn to the Kosciuszko bridge (hereinafter referred to
24 as "the BQE") and other improvements related thereto.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03431-01-3
S. 7497 2
1 2. The authority in its corporate existence shall continue until
2 terminated by law, provided, however, that no such law shall take effect
3 so long as the authority shall have bonds, notes and other obligations
4 outstanding, unless adequate provision has been made for the payment
5 thereof in the documents securing the same. Upon termination of the
6 existence of the authority, all its rights and properties shall vest in
7 the state.
8 § 492. Powers and duties of the authority. 1. The authority shall
9 study current conditions and data, develop a plan to improve such condi-
10 tions, and implement such plan. Such plan shall address the following:
11 (a) Deterioration of the roadway, particularly the southern extension
12 of the BQE known as the Gowanus expressway;
13 (b) Short-term repair, and the reconstruction or replacement of the
14 triple cantilevered section of the BQE;
15 (c) Potential construction of tunnel alternative to replace the Gowan-
16 us expressway and other areas of the expressway where feasible;
17 (d) Enforcement of truck weight limits;
18 (e) Environmental, environmental justice and environmental sustaina-
19 bility concerns, including but not limited to, the inclusion of trends
20 and scientific developments in such areas as vehicle emissions, alterna-
21 tive fuels, including electric vehicles, developments in transportation
22 materials and construction, or other similar developments, and alterna-
23 tive modes of transportation in order to ensure a just transition from
24 fossil fuels; and
25 (f) Safety and sustainability.
26 2. Such plan shall be submitted to the commissioner for approval
27 before funds are appropriated to the authority for the implementation of
28 such plan.
29 § 493. Authority membership. 1. Membership in the authority shall
30 include:
31 (a) one representative from the federal highway administration;
32 (b) one representative from the state department of transportation;
33 (c) one representative from the department of transportation for the
34 city of New York;
35 (d) the borough president of the borough of Brooklyn;
36 (e) no more than three independent engineers, including represen-
37 tatives from the urban transportation research center of CUNY; and
38 (f) six community stakeholder representatives from communities
39 throughout the I-278 corridor which shall include:
40 (i) two representatives appointed by the senate;
41 (ii) two representatives appointed by the assembly;
42 (iii) one representative appointed by the city council of the city of
43 New York; and
44 (iv) one representative appointed by the governor.
45 2. Membership in the authority may include other community represen-
46 tatives appointed by the city council of the city of New York, the
47 governor, the senate and the assembly; provided, such members shall be
48 non-voting members who shall not be considered in determining a quorum.
49 3. The voting members shall elect the chairperson of the authority
50 from among their number. A majority of the voting members of the author-
51 ity shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business or the
52 exercise of any power or function of the authority. The authority may
53 delegate to one or more of its members, or to its officers, agents or
54 employees, such powers and duties as it may deem proper.
55 4. The members shall serve without salary or other compensation, but
56 each member shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual and necessary
S. 7497 3
1 expenses incurred in the performance of his or her or her official
2 duties. Anything to the contrary contained herein notwithstanding, any
3 member who serves as an employee of the authority shall be entitled to
4 receive such salary as the members may determine for services as such
5 employee. Such members other than those serving as employees of the
6 authority may engage in private employment, or in a profession or busi-
7 ness. The authority, its members, officers and employees shall be
8 subject to the provisions of sections seventy-three and seventy-four of
9 the public officers law. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of
10 law, general, special or local, no officer of the state, or of any civil
11 division thereof, shall be deemed to have forfeited or shall forfeit his
12 or her office or employment by reason of his or her acceptance of
13 membership on the authority created by this section.
14 5. The chairperson may remove any member for inefficiency, neglect of
15 duty or misconduct in office after giving him or her a copy of the
16 charges against him or her and an opportunity to be heard, in person or
17 by counsel, in his or her defense, upon not less than ten days' notice.
18 If any such member shall be removed, the governor shall file in the
19 office of the department of state a complete statement of the charges
20 made against such member and his or her findings thereon, together with
21 a complete record of the proceedings.
22 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
23 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
24 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
25 of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
26 completed on or before such effective date.
