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Queens judge puts hold on plan for new Long Island City bike lanes
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
and
Stephen Rex Brown
Published Oct 27, 2024
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Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
and
Stephen Rex Brown
Published Oct 27, 2024
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A state judge has put a project to add bike lanes through an industrial section of Long Island City on pause after businesses along the stretch claimed the process to redesign the roads went through illegally.
The judge said before the project can move forward, it’ll need to go through a city environmental review process — calling into question whether new bike lanes could be completed this year.
The plan — which in its first phase would add a two-way bike lane on Review Avenue and a protected bike lane on other roads in the area — seeks to fill in gaps in transit and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, according to the city Department of Transportation.
It’s part of the department’s bigger “Green Wave” initiative, which seeks to build 30 miles of protected bike lanes every year and improve street safety in all five boroughs.
But a complaint filed by Queens business LeNoble Lumber says the project would “severely narrow and restrict vehicular traffic lanes” on Review Avenue and would “ruin over 40 businesses, some of which have been in existence for over 100 years.”
LeNoble argues in the complaint the new bike lanes will have “catastrophic consequences” for the area’s industrial zone because they would affect businesses with “loading docks, tractor trailers constantly coming in and out of garages onto the street, and forklifts into the road.”
City officials plan a two-phase project that would bring new bike lanes to Long Island City.
New York City Department of Transportation
This bike lane project is just the latest in a series of street safety projects that have been hotly contested by neighbors or businesses. Orthodox Jewish leaders have rallied against new biking infrastructure in South Williamsburg for years. Neighbors and a film production company in Greenpoint have quarreled over a redesign of McGuinness Boulevard. Cyclists, residents and other stakeholders have called for a second upgrade to existing bike lanes on Kent Avenue near the waterfront in Williamsburg, saying the existing lane has become a dangerous mess.
In Justice Kevin J. Kerrigan’s decision to issue a temporary restraining order on Friday, he said the transportation department violated the city environmental review process.
Transportation department spokesperson Vincent Barone said the bike lanes are essential to improve safety in the stretch of Long Island City with heavy traffic.
"This project addresses critical safety needs for everyone by narrowing lanes on an unsafe corridor and protecting cyclists on a highly traveled route between Brooklyn and Western Queens,” Barone said in a statement. “Our proposals utilize common design elements found on streets across the city and we will defend our work in court."
The ruling doesn't mean the project is automatically dead — a hearing in November will allow the Department of Transportation to defend its plan.
But the department is on a strict timeline. Barone said that the markings for the bike lane project are weather-sensitive, meaning they require dry ground and temperatures above 40 degrees to be installed. The department originally earmarked the first phase of the project to be complete by 2024.
The business along the stretch of the proposed bike lanes say that the city should consider alternative plans with the local stakeholders in mind, according to the complaint.
Attorneys for LeNoble did not immediately respond for comment Sunday.
Tagged
queens
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Stephen Rex Brown
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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