{"id":90279,"date":"2026-01-05T21:27:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T21:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90279\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T21:27:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T21:27:29","slug":"mamdani-says-city-will-finish-full-redesign-of-mcguinness-boulevard-as-soon-as-the-weather-warms-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90279\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani says city will finish full redesign of McGuinness Boulevard \u2018as soon as the weather warms\u2019 \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

On his third day in office, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that the full, originally-planned redesign will be implemented on McGuinness Boulevard after the project was derailed by the Adams administration.<\/p>\n

The Department of Transportation \u2014 headed by newly-appointed commissioner Mike Flynn \u2014 will install parking-protected bike lanes along the northern part of the boulevard, Mamdani said, from Calyer Street to the Pulaski Bridge, and remove one lane of vehicle traffic in each direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a new era for New York City and a new era for New York City DOT,\u201d Flynn said at a press conference at Father Studnizki Square. \u201cWe said we would hit the ground running and that\u2019s exactly why we\u2019re at McGuinness Boulevard on just the third day of this new administration. For far too long, a critical street safety redesign developed by committed public servants at DOT was set aside, even though the need was clear and the planning work was done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"dotNewly-appointed DOT commissioner Mike Flynn said it was the start of a \u2018new era\u2019 for the city and for DOT. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

The upgrades will make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street, protect cyclists, and reduce reckless driving, Flynn said.<\/p>\n

A similar design has already been implemented on the southern half of the roadway, from Meeker Avenue to Calyer Street. Construction will begin \u201cas soon as the weather warms,\u201d Mamdani said on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers deserve to be safe no matter how they commute \u2014 whether they bike, walk, or drive. That\u2019s why, as one of my first acts as Mayor, my administration is committing to restarting implementation of parking-protected bike lanes on McGuinness Boulevard and complete its redesign,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement. \u201cNew Yorkers deserve an administration that gets right to work to deliver genuine street safety.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 1.5 mile boulevard is infamously dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, and has seen dozens of crashes over the past five years.\u00a0
\n\"mcguinnessMcGuinness Boulevard at the corner of Greenpoint Avenue in August 2025. The northern half of the boulevard currently has two lanes of vehicle traffic and a partially-protected bike lane. File photo by Kirstyn Brendlen\n<\/p>\n

Then-mayor Bill De Blasio pledged to transform the boulevard in 2021, after public school teacher Matthew Jensen<\/a> was killed in a hit-and-run. Two years later, DOT approved<\/a> a sweeping redesign, which was promptly squashed<\/a> by then-mayor Eric Adams. After another year of tug-of-war, the city opted to install a partial redesign<\/a> on the southern half of the boulevard, leaving the northern half largely untouched.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last August, prosecutors revealed that former mayoral advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin had allegedly accepted bribes<\/a> from the owners of local production company Broadway Stages in exchange for axing the project.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Days after Lewis-Martin was charged, Mamdani \u2014 then in the thick of campaigning after winning the Democratic mayoral primary \u2014 joined politicians<\/a> and activists on McGuinness Boulevard and promised to finish the redesign if elected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ingridIngrid Lewis-Martin, (center) allegedly accepted bribes in exchange for axing the original redesign. File photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the mayor said the Adams administration had \u201cbowed to big money interests, leaving the project incomplete and Greenpointers still at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, however, there is a new mayor in City Hall,\u201d he declared, to cheers from supporters and local pols.\n<\/p>\n

Greenpoint resident Bronwyn Breitner helped found the group \u201cMake McGuinness Safe\u201d after Jensen, then her son\u2019s teacher at P.S. 110, was killed just a block from her family\u2019s home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so grateful to you, Mayor Mamdani, for making this a priority in your campaign, for keeping your promise that you made to our community many months ago,\u201d Breitner said on Saturday. \u201cAnd we are so thrilled to partner with you on this today and in the work that this involves in the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"brownynLocal resident Bronwyn Breitner, who helped found \u201cMake McGuinness Safe\u201d after Jensen was killed. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Assembly Member Emily Gallagher, who has helped to lead the effort to redesign McGuinness Boulevard, was joined by Jensen\u2019s cousin John Ogren. In 2021, Ogren said he had been shocked to get the call that Jensen had been killed in a hit-and-run \u2014 but \u201cwasn\u2019t surprised\u201d that it had been on McGuinness Boulevard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise, too, that cousin Matty would be standing here with you, and I really believe that Matty\u2019s up here with the choir watching all of us,\u201d Ogren told the crowd on Saturday, before turning his attention toward Mamdami. \u201cSo god bless you, I\u2019m so proud that you\u2019re my mayor. Thank you for all you do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opponents of the redesign \u2014 including Broadway Stages \u2014 had argued that removing vehicle lanes would increase traffic, reduce safety, and threaten local businesses.<\/p>\n

Restler said that the redesign on the southern half had slowed by only about a minute in each direction.
\n\"rallySupporters held signs with the names of people killed on McGuinness Boulevard, including Jimmy Battaglia, Neil Chamberlain and Liem Nhan. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOur neighborhood is demonstrably safer already because of the changes that we have secured on McGuinness Boulevard,\u201d he said. \u201cBut McGuinness Boulevard will finally be safe from the Pulaski Bridge down to Meeker thanks to the leadership of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The announcement came just a day after DOT announced that New York City recorded its lowest number<\/a> of traffic deaths in history \u2014 205 \u2014 in 2025, under the leadership of Adams and former DOT commish Ydanis Rodriguez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Flynn, just three days into his new role, said the McGuinness Boulevard redesign is just the start for the agency.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just the beginning,\u201d he said. \u201cDOT will advance bold ambitious ideas to keep New Yorkers safe on streets across the city. Let\u2019s get to work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On his third day in office, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that the full, originally-planned redesign will be implemented…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[42922,13929,5333,14476,42923,42924,128,98,29551,42925,42926,5459,6157,42927,81,2422,42928,42929,3075,42930,42931,42932,22925,42600,42933,42934,41779,9,24,12,370,63,42935,42936,42937,21989,42938,129,131,130,42939,82],"class_list":["post-90279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-assembly-member-emily-gallagher","tag-bike-lane","tag-bqe","tag-bribery","tag-broadway-stages","tag-bronwyn-breitner","tag-bronx","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-queens-expressway","tag-calyer-street","tag-council-member-lincoln-restler","tag-department-of-transportation","tag-dot","tag-emily-gallagher","tag-eric-adams","tag-greenpoint","tag-ingrid-lewis-martin","tag-john-ogren","tag-lincoln-restler","tag-make-mcguinness-safe","tag-mamdani100days","tag-matthew-jensen","tag-mayor-zohran-mamdani","tag-mcguinness-boulevard","tag-mcguinness-boulevard-redesign","tag-meeker-avenue","tag-mike-flynn","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-protected-bike-lane","tag-pulaski-bridge","tag-redesign","tag-street-safety","tag-street-redesign","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-vehicle-traffic","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90279","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=90279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}