BQE corridor alternatives
Concept renderings and an interactive 3D model comparing reconstruction in place with removal, transit, and reclaimed land, including the triple cantilever in Brooklyn Heights.
I help explain what a public project would actually change.
I’m Liam Blank, an independent transportation and infrastructure analyst in New York. I read the records, test the operating claims, and turn plans into maps, data tools, and visualizations that residents, reporters, funders, and officials can use before a decision is locked in.
Public records · Operating analysis · Civic visualization
What the work has changed
Middletown, RI2025–2026
Resident visualizations of the Middletown Center (West Main/Coddington) Development Concept showed how much of 15 acres of town land the plan gave to parking and roads. In April 2026 the Town Council approved an agreement that keeps the 3.86-acre recreation complex, including Pottsy Field, in place.
Case study →Penn Station records2025
Public-records research showed the Regional Plan Association had received $2.3 million from Amtrak since 2017, as reported by The Architect’s Newspaper, Crain’s New York Business, and a New York Daily News editorial.
Records →Congestion pricing2024, updated 2026
District-level analysis for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign gave legislators toll-zone commuting figures for their own constituents.
Explorer →BQE corridor2026
Corridor visualizations gave Off-Ramp NYC’s teardown alternative a physical form. They appeared at a CityNerd LIVE event at Hunter College, in Streetsblog NYC, and in a New York Daily News op-ed.
Case study →How I can help
Most projects combine two of these. Each runs on a fixed fee and a two-page written scope; most fall between $1,500 and $15,000.
Public records research
For campaigns, reporters, and legal teams that need the documents behind a decision.
- Deliverables
- Request strategy and drafting across city, state, and federal agencies; a tracked request registry; document review; a sourced findings memo.
- Example
- Penn Station and Gateway document archive: public records on Penn Station and Gateway, from reports and drawings to contracts and correspondence.
Operating and data analysis
For advocates and funders who need to test a claim against the numbers.
- Deliverables
- Census, LEHD, and National Transit Database analysis; capacity and service-pattern review; district fact sheets; interactive maps and public data tools.
- Example
- Congestion pricing explorer covering 326 legislative districts in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
Civic visualization
For coalitions and resident groups that need people to see a proposal before they are asked to support or oppose it.
- Deliverables
- Plan-to-scene renderings, before-and-after comparisons, corridor concepts, interactive 3D models, and meeting boards, produced under a published method with AI disclosure.
- Example
- BQE corridor alternatives for Off-Ramp NYC and resident alternatives in Middletown, RI.
Selected work
Congestion pricing by district
Who pays the toll, district by district, with fact sheets and a public dataset.
Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Penn Station’s federal capacity record
What the FRA’s Phase I study found inside the existing station, and what Phase II needs to test before anyone expands it.
Public research
- Penn Station and through-running
The federal capacity study, the case for through-running, the expansion claims checked against the record, and a tracker.
- Congestion pricing district explorer
An interactive map, 326 two-page district fact sheets with margins of error, and a downloadable CSV.
- Penn Station and Gateway document archive
Public records on Penn Station and Gateway: reports, drawings, contracts, and correspondence.
- Regional governance in the news
A century of newspaper coverage of the region’s attempts to plan and run transportation across state lines.
About
I have worked on New York transportation policy since 2014, at ReThinkNYC, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, and the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. I wrote From Here to There: Regional Rail for Metro New York (2022) and have testified before the New York City Council.
I also chair the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee of The City Club of New York.
Start a project
Send a short note with the decision at stake, your deadline, and a budget range. I’ll reply with questions or a draft scope.