Mayor Zohran Mamdani is closing the book on one of the city\u2019s most controversial bike lane projects.<\/p>\n
Mamdani\u2019s Department of Transportation is expected to announce Wednesday the redesign of McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn will be completed after years of delays. Transportation officials will extend the parking-protected bike lane from Calyer Street to the Pulaski Bridge, fully implementing a project that prosecutors allege had been watered down in exchange for bribes paid to a deputy of previous Mayor Eric Adams.<\/p>\n
Construction is expected to begin this week, fulfilling a pledge Mamdani made on his first weekend<\/a> in office.<\/p>\n When finished, McGuinness Boulevard will have a parking protected bike lane from Meeker Avenue to the Pulaski Bridge.<\/p>\n McGuinness Boulevard was at the center of a defining scandal of the Adams administration.<\/p>\n Adams and his Department of Transportation had planned to remove a lane of traffic in each direction on McGuinness and build a parking protected bike lane. Street safety advocates had pushed for years for such a redesign of the road with a reputation for dangerous driving. In 2021, a popular teacher was killed crossing the street<\/a> by the driver of a Rolls Royce, energizing efforts to fix the road.<\/p>\n But local businesses protested Adams\u2019 plan, saying it would reduce customers and interfere with their operations. Leading the charge were the sibling owners of Broadway Stages, a major film production company based nearby. Tony and Gina Argento argued the redesign would slow down their trucks hauling equipment to film sets around the city.<\/p>\n The administration abruptly halted the project, then installed a version<\/a> that scaled back the overhaul of McGuinness, dividing it into two sections with different types of bike lanes. Advocates were furious.<\/p>\n