{"id":205720,"date":"2026-04-22T04:22:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/205720\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T04:22:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:22:43","slug":"queens-civic-panel-endorses-mamdanis-super-sized-astoria-bike-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/205720\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens Civic Panel Endorses Mamdani’s Super-Sized Astoria Bike Lane"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city should move ahead with Mayor Mamdani\u2019s plan for protected bike lanes and traffic-calming<\/a> on the entire length of 31st Street in Astoria, the local community board recommended on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Queens Community Board 1\u2019s 35-4 vote in support of the Department of Transportation\u2019s proposed redesign came at the tail-end of a four-hour meeting attended by more than 200 people, where speakers in favor of the project far outnumbered speakers in opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m delighted to think that I\u2019m not going to have to take my life into my hands when I go to the optometrist on 31st Street,\u201d Margaret Oppenheimer, who described herself as a 31-year Astoria resident and \u201cyear-round\u201d cyclist, told board members. <\/p>\n

Oppenheimer was one of at least 33 people to speak in favor of the redesign, compared to just 15 who spoke against it, by Streetsblog\u2019s count. Every elected official representing the area has also endorsed the project.<\/p>\n

DOT put forward the plan to redesign the entire length of 31st Street in Astoria last week after a shorter version of the project ran into legal trouble last year, when Queens Judge Cheree Buggs disregarded years of legal precedent<\/a>\u00a0that gives DOT broad discretion over city streets and ordered the agency to nix the project. <\/p>\n

The CB1 vote culminated a year-long saga that pitted a handful of 31st Street businesses against Astoria\u2019s well-organized safe streets advocacy community<\/a>. Opponents on Tuesday were backed for a short while by firefighters from FDNY Firehouse Engine 312, who loomed in the front of the room before exiting all at once about 45 minutes into the meeting.<\/p>\n

\"\"Firefighters from FDNY Firehouse Engine 312 during their attempt to death-stare CB1 into voting against Mayor Mamdani\u2019s plan to redesign 31st Street.<\/p>\n

But the firefighters\u2019 concerns, as articulated by a union representative who spoke later on their behalf, failed to convince board members that the bike lane would push fire trucks \u201c20 feet from the curb,\u201d as the union rep put it, since DOT adjusted its design to create an 11-foot open space next to the curb that the trucks can use in emergencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like common sense that having a 11-foot clear path next to the curb is going to provide more access for a ladder truck than being underneath the elevated train,\u201d CB1 member Adam Fisher-Cox said ahead of the board\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n

Members of the public who spoke in support of the project, meanwhile, batted away remarks like those from one opponent who suggested \u201cthey ought to check IDs to see where these people are living.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a lifelong Astorian, which seems to be important to some people here,\u201d project supporter Robert Reichenbach testified. \u201cWe all need to adjust. Change is hard, but it\u2019s necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. The street ranks in the top 10 percent most dangerous corridors in Queens. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was always afraid to cross that area, just as a regular pedestrian, and I was very mobile. Now, 50 years later, I\u2019m terrified,\u201d CB1 member Stella Nicolaou said before voting in favor of the redesign. \u201cI don\u2019t think anything could be worse than what\u2019s there now. I\u2019m not a bike rider, etc., but I think whatever [DOT]\u2019s going to bring is gonna bring a little bit more safety than we have now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The city should move ahead with Mayor Mamdani\u2019s plan for protected bike lanes and traffic-calming on the entire…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-205720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205720","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=205720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}