Governor Kathy Hochul came to Brooklyn Friday morning for a victory lap after the MTA board’s design contract approval for the Brooklyn-Queens Interborough Express, or IBX.

Hochul, speaking to press next to train tracks in downtown Brooklyn, kicked off the train’s project design phase with MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, and New York State Operations Director Kathryn Garcia.

“I’m so proud of this because it’s all about lifting up people’s quality of life, that is what I’m dedicated to, keeping people safe, making them have a phenomenal life in the City of New York,” Hochul, who has championed the project since she took office in 2021, said. “This is one step forward.”

The board approved the contract — totaling nearly $166 million with Jacobs an

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