Mayor Zohran Mamdani is reevaluating the plan for a bike lane on 31st Street in Astoria, following a court ruling that sided with local business owners and a school that filed a lawsuit against the project. As reported by Gothamist, the Department of Transportation (DOT) will reconsider the redesign, which had been criticized for potentially disrupting emergency response times and delivery routes. In his statement, Mamdani emphasized, "New Yorkers shouldn’t be forced to go out of their way because our roads are too dangerous."
Alongside the reboot of the Astoria bike lane proposal, Mamdani has also rekindled the plans for a protected bike lane on McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint, previously scrapped by the administration of Eric Adams amid allegations of corruption. According to the New York Post, the new bike lanes are aimed to enhance safety on a road that witnessed over 200 deaths since 1956. The mayor also made a veiled reference to the scandal involving Adams' adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, and local influences that allegedly led to the cancellation of the prior bike lane plans.
The bike lane on McGuinness Boulevard, expected to begin construction in the spring, has won the support of local officials like Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher and has been a focus of safety advocates who launched the Make McGuinness Safe campaign. The roadway's notorious history includes the deaths of individuals such as York College student Doniqueca Cooke in 2016 and teacher Matthew Jensen in 2021, both victims of hit-and-run accidents. "He doesn’t know because if he knew me, he would know I would never do anything wrong, so I’ll give him a pass," Lewis-Martin, who is facing multiple indictments yet maintains her innocence, told the New York Post in response to Mamdani's indirect criticism.
While the DOT builds a revised plan for the 31st Street bike lane, its commitment to making the borough's streets safer remains clear. Despite the setback due to the court's ruling, which found that the city had not sufficiently collaborated with necessary city agencies, Mamdani's administration intends to proceed with the appeal. Meanwhile, on the streets of Greenpoint and Astoria, the promise of safer thoroughfares for cyclists and pedestrians inches closer to reality, even as legal and communal hurdles persist.
