{"id":93348,"date":"2026-01-08T05:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T05:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/93348\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T05:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T05:04:12","slug":"mamdani-announces-plans-to-restart-31st-street-redesign-in-astoria-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/93348\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani announces plans to restart 31st Street redesign in Astoria \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced that the city will restart the process to redesign 31st Street in Astoria<\/a> one month after a Queens judge ordered the Department of Transportation<\/a> to halt plans<\/a> for a protected bike lane along a one-mile stretch of the street.<\/p>\n

Mamdani announced the move on Jan. 7, describing 31st Street as one of the most dangerous corridors in Queens. He said the decision to restart the redesign process and comply with a ruling issued by Queens Supreme Court Judge Chere\u00e9 Buggs represented the \u201cfastest path\u201d to delivering \u201ccritical safety upgrades\u201d along the corridor.<\/p>\n

The Mamdani administration added that the New York City Law Department will also file a notice of appeal of the court\u2019s ruling.\n<\/p>\n

Mamdani, as an Assemblymember representing Astoria in the 36th District, was part of a cohort of elected officials who proposed the Western Queens Street Safety Plan<\/a>, which called for a protected bike lane underneath the elevated N\/W subway tracks along a mile-long stretch of 31st Street from 36th Avenue to Newtown Avenue.<\/p>\n

The DOT\u2019s plans for a 31st Street redesign included plans to reduce moving lanes and parking lanes by three and five feet, respectively, to make way for 8-foot-wide protected bike lanes on each side of the corridor. Advocates said the plan would significantly improve street safety along the corridor, pointing to two fatalities and 11 serious injuries that took place on 31st Street between 2020 and 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\"Renderings for proposed bike lanes along 31st Street compared to the current layout of the corridor. Courtesy of the DOT<\/p>\n

Buggs, however, sided with a number of local businesses and residents who had filed suit against the city, arguing that plans for a protected bike lane were rushed and presented a hazard for pedestrians and motorists along 31st Street.<\/p>\n

In her December ruling<\/a>, she ordered the DOT to halt plans for the street redesign, also ordering the agency to restore the roadway to its original design after a section of the protected bike lane was installed on one side of 31st Street between 31st Avenue and Broadway over the summer.<\/p>\n

A coalition of local businesses and residents sued the city shortly after that work began in August, accusing the DOT of violating proper procedures by failing to properly engage with the local community about their concerns.<\/p>\n

Buggs sided with the plaintiffs, ruling that the DOT had failed to comply with mandatory consultation and certification requirements with agencies such as the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and the Mayor\u2019s Office for People with Disabilities.<\/p>\n

Buggs also cited concerns raised by the FDNY after the Fire Department informed the DOT in July that the street redesign would not permit it to operate at \u201cfull capacity.\u201d The Fire Department further warned that the implementation of the redesign would \u201cnegatively impact FDNY emergency response and fireground operations, delaying Fire Department personnel and their resources for fire suppression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buggs further ruled that the DOT\u2019s response to concerns raised by St. Demetrios School, a Greek-American school located at 30-03 30th Drive, was \u201cinsufficient.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

School representatives had stated that the proposed bike lanes would run directly through drop-off and pick-up zones used by parents and students, adding that the bike lanes would create \u201cunacceptable risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani acknowledged that Buggs had taken issue with how the DOT had previously completed a legally required Mandatory Transportation Project (MTP) process regarding the 31st Street redesign. He announced that the agency intends to begin the MTP process again in compliance with the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

Mamdani also described 31st Street as a corridor that is unsafe for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, adding that he regularly avoided using the corridor when he lived in the neighborhood.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI love being in Astoria \u2014 walking through it, biking across it and driving from one end to the other,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement. \u201cBut when I can, I avoid doing so on 31st Street because it isn\u2019t safe for pedestrians, cyclists or drivers. Enough is enough. My administration is restarting the 31st Street Redesign because New Yorkers shouldn\u2019t be forced to go out of their way because our roads are too dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

DOT Commission Mike Flynn described 31st Street as one of the most dangerous corridors in Queens and said there is an urgent need to make the corridor safer.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a proven safety-focused design solution, and it will be implemented as quickly as possible. Since 2020, there have been two traffic deaths and 190 injuries along this corridor\u2014and that is unacceptable,\u201d Flynn said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Flynn confirmed that the city is beginning the legally required mandatory consultations necessary to restart the project, as well as filing a notice of appeal of the court\u2019s decision.\n<\/p>\n

The 31st Street Business Association, a collection of local businesses that joined the lawsuit against the street redesign last year, did not respond to a request for comment.\n<\/p>\n

The organization previously described the 31st Street redesign a \u201cdangerous plan that would have made our streets and community less safe.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The group had consistently called on the DOT to install a bike lane on a residential corridor running parallel to 31st Street such as 33rd Street, where there are fewer storefronts and less traffic.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued last month, the group said it remains committed to collaborating with the DOT to find an appropriate location for the protected bike lanes. They also accused the agency of refusing previous suggestions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are eager to participate in a genuinely collaborative process with DOT to improve street safety for everyone: including pedestrians, older adults, young children, people living with disabilities, public transit users, cyclists and motorists,\u201d the 31st Street Business Association said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Association President Joseph Mirabella previously claimed that the proposed bike lanes would\u00a0negatively impact local businesses while creating new safety issues by installing bike lanes through loading and delivery zones along 31st Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support cycling infrastructure,\u201d Mirabella said. \u201cBut given the nature of 31st Street with the amount of commercial loading zones and the subway running overhead, it makes no sense to do this here.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, Assembly Member Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas and Council Member Tiffany Cab\u00e1n, who worked on the Western Queens Street Safety Plan with Mamdani in 2023, described the December ruling as \u201cdeeply dangerous\u201d for local residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemoving a protected bike lane on one of the most hazardous corridors in Queens is terrible news for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike. I look forward to working with the City, local businesses, and residents to find a path forward that prioritizes safety for everyone,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas said in a statement last month.<\/p>\n

Cab\u00e1n, meanwhile, said the ruling \u201cputs lives at risk\u201d by removing plans for \u201cproven safety measures.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced that the city will restart the process to redesign 31st Street in Astoria…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[43987,43988,43989,33946,43990,310,34558,6157,43991,36424,22925,41779,9,24,63,33951,122,124,123,43992],"class_list":["post-93348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-31st-street","tag-31st-street-business-association","tag-31st-street-redesign","tag-31st-street-bike-lanes","tag-cheree-buggs","tag-daily-newsletter","tag-department-of-transporation","tag-dot","tag-dot-commissioner-mike-flynn","tag-mamdani-administration","tag-mayor-zohran-mamdani","tag-mike-flynn","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-protected-bike-lanes","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-western-queens-street-safety-plan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93348","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=93348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}