City Wants to Bring Trolley Cars Back to Brooklyn

The streetcar could eventually return to Brooklyn.

New York City's Department of Transportation will conduct a 5-month study on the feasibility of bringing back the quaint-looking trolley to the streets of the borough's Red Hook neighborhood.

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn says the agency will use a federal grant to see whether the trolley would be the best transportation alternative for Red Hook residents. Currently, only one bus line connects residents to the subway system.

Streetcars were once everywhere on New York's streets. They were phased out by 1957.

U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who helped obtain the federal grant needed to finance the study, touted a trolley system's potential to revitalize and reunite the area.

"When completed, a streetcar system in Red Hook has the potential to reconnect this neighborhood," Velazquez told the Daily News. "This study will help determine the best way forward."