{"id":198786,"date":"2026-04-16T00:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/198786\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T00:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:10:09","slug":"mamdanis-dot-responds-to-astoria-bike-lane-backlash-with-an-even-longer-bike-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/198786\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani’s DOT Responds to Astoria Bike Lane Backlash… With an Even Longer Bike Lane"},"content":{"rendered":"

After an anti-bike lane lawsuit sent<\/a> the Department of Transportation back to the drawing board<\/a> on 31st Street in Astoria, the agency is responding\u2026 with a plan for an even longer bike lane on the deadly corridor.<\/p>\n

DOT\u2019s latest proposal for 31st Street extends its plan for a protected bike lane all the way to the northern and southern tips of Astoria from its previously proposed termini of 36th Avenue and Newtown Avenue, city officials said.<\/p>\n

The future bike lane will now stretch the entire length of the neighborhood from Northern Boulevard to 20th Avenue, as then-Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani and other Astoria elected officials envisioned<\/a> back in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cA redesigned 31st Street will bring better organized traffic patterns, shorter and safee crossings, new bike connections and more pedestrian space to the heart of Astoria so you can stay safe and stay moving,\u201d DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"\"DOT\u2019s abandoned 2025 project inlaid in its 2026 project. <\/p>\n

Now-Mayor Mamdani announced plans in January to restart the community outreach process for placing protected bike lanes on 31st Street. DOT began to install those lanes last August before a lawsuit from bike lane opponents put the project on ice. In December, Queens Judge Cheree Buggs disregarded years of legal precedent<\/a> that gives DOT broad discretion over city streets and ordered the agency to nix the project.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn pledged to appeal the ruling, but honor Buggs\u2019s procedural concerns by starting the bureaucratic process for proposing and installing the project from scratch. Flynn committed to getting the certified sign-off from bureaucrats at the FDNY and other agencies, which Buggs cited as one of two main reasons for halting the project.<\/p>\n

Buggs\u2019s other reason defied legal precedent: The judge took issue with DOT\u2019s expertise, siding with bike lane opponents who claimed that the new lanes, which follow a design DOT implemented<\/a> in 2024 in the Bronx, \u201clacks a rational basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

But DOT\u2019s traffic planners determine what\u2019s rational \u2014 not FDNY or Judge Buggs \u2014 and the agency has used protected bike lanes for decades to calm traffic and increase safety on corridors like 31st Street, which runs beneath elevated subway tracks. From 2021 to 2025, NYPD reported 502 traffic injuries on 31st Street, including 23 severe injuries, plus two pedestrian deaths and one \u201cmotorized two-wheeler\u201d death.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, New Yorkers have held their breath or said a prayer when crossing underneath the tracks at 31st Street with families and loved ones,\u201d Flynn said. \u201cWhen a street strikes fear into the hearts of New Yorkers, it is clear something needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite that clear and present danger, a handful of 31st Street businesses vocally oppose the proposed bike lanes and traffic calming. They claim, without evidence, that DOT\u2019s redesign will make the corridor less safe. In fact, DOT projects with protected bike lanes have reduced severe injuries and deaths by an average of 18.1 percent overall \u2014 and 29.2 percent for pedestrians in particular, according to the agency.<\/p>\n

Rogue FDNY officials have buffeted the opposition. Last year, a local firehouse expressed concerns that DOT\u2019s design did not leave enough room for its trucks to dispatch ladders under the elevated subway tracks. FDNY brass put their weight behind that firehouse-level opposition earlier this year when a top official told City Council members<\/a> that the department is \u201cagainst the protected bike lanes\u201d when a project \u201creduces the real estate in that street.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reducing the space for drivers to speed, illegally park and take dangerous turns is a key element of the \u201ctraffic calming\u201d strategy the city has practiced more the past two decades. City law requires DOT to collect input from FDNY, but does not give the Fire Department a veto power over street design. <\/p>\n

Judge Buggs, however, placed FDNY\u2019s judgment on equal footing with the judgment of DOT in her ruling \u2014 in direct contradiction of the city charter.<\/p>\n

Still, DOT adjusted its design in response to FDNY\u2019s concerns. On Wednesday, officials who presented to Queens Community Board 1 said the project now actually improves FDNY ladder access to building, which is impeded by wiring below the subway tracks. To help fire trucks get closer to the curb, DOT added buffered no parking zones, officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the feedback we received from FDNY, we repurposed even more parking as a result of that feedback from FDNY,\u201d DOT Queens Deputy Borough Commissioner Jason Banrey told CB1 members. \u201cGod forbid, if there was an emergency, now they have closer access to those buildings if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

More legitimately, Buggs dinged DOT for not getting a certified sign-off from FDNY and other cities agencies affirming that DOT consulted those agencies on the project.<\/p>\n

FDNY did not return a request for comment. A rep for DOT said the agency has secured the required certifications.<\/p>\n

\"\"The unfinished 31st Street protected bike lane has become a default double parking lane since a Queens judge ordered the project halted it last summer..<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s new expanded, 2.5-mile project has the support of the local City Council member, Caban, who called it \u201cessential.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bike lane is essential for making our streets safer. It is one of the most dangerous corridors for bikers in the city,\u201d Caban said in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s time to build this protected bike lane and keep our neighborhood safe. If it saves lives, it\u2019s worth doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Mamdani represented the area in the State Assembly for five years, and worked with other elected officials<\/a> in 2023 on the \u201cWestern Queens Street Safety Plan\u201d that first proposed<\/a> installing protected bike lanes on 31st Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to create a comprehensive protected bike lane network, Western Queens needs a second North\/South PBL, ideally East of 31st Street,\u201d Mamdani, Caban, State Sen. Jennifer Gonzalez and Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez-Roja wrote at the time. \u201cThis lane must extend from Long Island City past Astoria Boulevard to 20th Avenue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After an anti-bike lane lawsuit sent the Department of Transportation back to the drawing board on 31st Street…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,52479,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-198786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-promoted","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}