Reps from the city Department of Transportation presented their plans to bring Citi Bike into Forest Hills and Rego Park next year at Community Board 6’s meeting at Borough Hall last Wednesday.
It was the same presentation they shared with the board’s Transportation Committee last month. There are 44 stations planned for Community District 6, and installations are slated to begin early next spring. The expansion will lead to the loss of some parking spots and sidewalk space.
Kate Sundberg, outreach coordinator for the DOT’s bike share and shared mobility unit, said the agency did not want to make any changes until it had feedback from the full board.
But CB 6 Chair Heather Beers-Dimitriadis said the committee sent the DOT about 18 pages of feedback, and that it was established at that meeting that the agency would look at them and make any changes it found necessary before the full board met.
“That’s why we turned it around so quickly, and that’s not what we’re getting tonight,” Beers-Dimitriadis said.
Among the issues discussed at the committee meeting were parking, a lack of Citi Bike stations south of the Forest Hills Long Island Rail Road station and the possibility of reduced fares for some users, such as students and seniors. The latter subject also was raised last month.
Others last week asked about stations on Austin Street, as some committee members had. Board member Daniel Solow said there would no longer be any conflicts with the Q23, as it no longer runs on the stretch.
Reps replied that Austin Street is a narrow two-way road with parking on both sides, so it is “tricky” to get viable space for stations. But the DOT is looking at ways to pursue adding them, although they could not be at a corner.
Board member Karen Imas also inquired about the possibility of Citi Bike stations in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, but reps said they can only be in areas that are accessible 24/7, which parks are not.
DOT reps said the agency would respond swiftly to the board’s feedback. They also discussed potentially joining another Transportation Committee meeting on Zoom to talk through it.
In other business, the board voted 28-2 in favor of an application by Soho Dispensary Corp. to open a marijuana shop at 71-19 Austin St. in Forest Hills. Members also OK’d Natural Leaf Inc. at 98-48 Queens Blvd. in Rego Park by 25-5.