Do you know how to put a rap on the Notorious BQE? The city’s got a job for you.
The Big Apple is looking to hire a $250-a-year “creative” engineer who can finally save the crumbling stretch of expressway that has three tiers pretzeled together along the Brooklyn waterfront.
The Department of Transportation last week quietly posted a job listing for the BQE Central Assistant Commissioner — a gig that would solely focus on the 1.5-mile expanse of the highway that contains an infamous disintegrating “triple cantilever.”
“Be a part of addressing the condition of the BQE Central section (aka triple cantilever) once and for all. This is an urgent infrastructure priority project, and leading that effort is a career-defining opportunity,” DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn wrote in a LinkedIn post.
The future BQE czar will be paid up to $250,000 to solve the decades-long problem of the storied highway, which is stacked below the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
The tiered highway has been threatening to collapse under the weight of its daily 130,000 vehicles for years, with then-Mayor Bill de Blasio saying in 2018 that the structure could crumble by 2026 if the infrastructure weren’t addressed.
The DOT proposed building a temporary roadway atop the promenade — which is city parkland — while the BQE is rebuilt, but the plan was shelved due to widespread backlash from residents.
The city instead has invested in short-term repairs to extend the stretch of roadway’s lifespan, including removing a traffic lane and installing sensors that issue tickets to overweight trucks.
The incoming BQE fixer would presumably finally solve the problem and “address the aging infrastructure” with a long-term solution.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s camp had called fixing the BQE an “urgent priority” leading up to his inauguration, with his team telling the New York Times in December that his administration would work to deliver “a permanent solution for the city-owned sections of the B.Q.E. that both meets community needs and preserves this essential transportation corridor.”
According to the listing, the new boss will oversee a team of eight others also dedicated to the sliver of roadway.
Along with years of experience, the BQE czar also needs to be a New York City resident.
