Cyclists, like John Bezemes, said they like the new 31st Street bike lane in Astoria, Queens.
“I think this kind of infrastructure [is] really important for the city,” Bezemes said. “And, yeah, it just makes me feel safer in my own neighborhood biking around.”
Others, like George Stamatiades, who has lived on 31st Street for 50 years and uses a walker, feel differently.
“Well, I don’t step out if I don’t look in both directions five times,” Stamatiades said. “All day, I bet you don’t count five bicycles.”
There is one lane in each direction protected by parking and one lane of traffic under the tracks of the N and W subway line.
It’s somewhat similar to an earlier plan that a court ruled against in December over concerns about fire response from the FDNY. The city filed a notice of appeal, which automatically put the decision on hold.
“They then proceeded to develop a new plan for 31st Street, which is even broader than the original plan, covers more of the street,” Hartley Bernstein, the lawyer for the 31st Street Business, Parents and Residents Association, said.
Now the association filed a new suit over the new plan. The protected bike lane that was installed in May currently runs from Northern Boulevard to Newtown Avenue — the original length.
But next year the city’s Department of Transportation will extend it to 20th Avenue. The FDNY signed off on it this time because the new plan creates more space around hydrants and more ability for apparatus to operate and use the bike lane.
Those suing said emergency vehicles aren’t using the lane.
“Traffic jams, double-parked cars, some of parked trucks doing deliveries,” Anthony Gulino, the owner of Triboro Iron Works, said. “People are fighting with each other on both sides of the lane, trying to crisscross over.”
“Due to the congestion, it’s more difficult [for] me to test drive cars,” Anthony Koulizakis, owner of Z.A. & D. Service Station, said.
The DOT installed loading zones and more metered parking, but business owners said they’re often blocked, including their driveways, because the curb markings aren’t clear.
“Going to Dunkin’ Donuts, they don’t care,” Guiino said. “I had to fight with people like you were my driveway.”
The DOT said it consulted 150 businesses and at a community board meeting in April said the design also protects pedestrians, with concrete islands to shorten crossing distance, and there will be traffic signals for cyclists.
“It’s not just a bike lane,” city DOT official Joe Patti told the meeting. “It’s a safety treatment.”
The plaintiffs are asking for a temporary restraining order to block the bike lane.
A hearing has been set for Sept. 28.