DOT shoots down plan for more pedestrian and
cyclist space on Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | AUG. 14-20, 2020 17
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer didn’t mince
words with regards to President
Trump’s economic executive
orders: He thinks they’re “unworkable”
and “weak,” and will
cause even more economic pain
for New York.
While questioning the Constitutionality
of Trump’s executive
orders on budgetary issues
such as extending unemployment
insurance and freezing
payroll tax collection, Schumer
said that Trump’s orders completely
ignored the financial
plight of states and local governments
devastated by the COVID-
19 pandemic.
Specifically, New York’s senior
senator pointed out that
the president did not provide
any compensation for expanded
COVID-19 testing and treatment,
or for schools preparing
to reopen. Trump’s orders also
did not provide funding for completion
of the Census; ensuring
safe elections in November;
operating the post offices; or
expanding food assistance for
families in need.
“Yesterday’s executive orders
can be summed up in three
words: unworkable, weak and
narrow,” said Schumer. “That
is why I am calling on President
Trump and the GOP to meet
Democrats in the middle — like
we have done in the prior bills
— and come up with an agreement
that will actually help us
get through this crisis.”
Schumer further charged
that the payroll tax freeze
Trump ordered also endangers
the long-term viability of Social
Security.
“The president did not ‘cancel’
payroll taxes and this will
actually hurt businesses, workers
and end up weakening Social
Security and Medicare because
most employers will continue to
withhold the payroll tax so they
and their employees won’t be hit
with a huge tax bill in December
when it expires,” Schumer added.
“I warn seniors and people
who have paid into Social Security
and Medicare – watch out!
What is being sold here would
deplete the trust funds and destroy
Social Security and Medicare
as we know it.”
Trump’s unemployment benefit
order would enhance payments
by $400 a week, but that’s
less than the $600 enhancement
approved under the CARES Act,
which expired on July 31. The
reduced unemployment benefits
negatively impact more than 1.8
million New Yorkers, the senator
noted.
The lack of state and local
government funding aid will
put more than 20,000 government
jobs in New York City at
risk, Schumer said.
Reach reporter Robert Pozarycki
by e-mail at rpozarycki@
qns.com or by phone at (718) 260-
4549.
BY MARK HALLUM
The city’s Department of
Transportation nixed Transportation
Alternatives’ call to
close the eastbound outer roadway
of the Ed Koch-Queensboro
Bridge to vehicular traffic — at
least for now.
Transportation Alternatives
wants that the roadway, dubbed
the South Outer Roadway because
its on the south side of the
bridge, reserved only for pedestrians
and cyclists, but the DOT
maintains that now is not the
time — largely due to the roadway’s
fencing.
Not only does the agency
plan to prioritize vehicular
traffic until work on the upper
roadway is complete in 2022, but
a spokesman says the fencing is
only half the height deemed safe
for foot traffic over a bridge.
The advocates, citing reduced
use of the bridge and a
boom in cycling as the pandemic
still looms in the minds
of New Yorkers, seemed to anticipate
this response in the letter
claiming that while the reasoning
was sound, the current
climate of health safety should
shift their priorities.
“Between 2006 and 2016, vehicle
traffic on the Queensboro
Bridge fell 8.5 percent, while
bike trips doubled and pedestrian
trips tripled. Due to concerns
from COVID-19, millions of New
Yorkers remain wary of returning
to the subway and bus system
and are increasingly turning
to bikes, scooters, and their
own two feet as their main form
of transportation,” the Transportation
Alternatives letter to
the DOT reads. “The DOT has
cited reasons for inaction, such
as using the outer roadway to
stage construction equipment
for bridge repairs, and the lack
of barrier fencing. These considerations
are important, but
they cannot prevent the city
from rising to the challenge and
finding ways to prioritize the
creation of more space for the
thousands of pedestrians and
cyclists who need it in this crucial
moment. Emergency street
redesigns, such as open streets
and ‘pop-up’ bike lanes, have
been successfully implemented
in quick response to the growing
demand for space to walk,
bike, and social distance.”
While work goes on on the
upper roadway, DOT says they
lack the resources to mend fences,
making them high enough
to prevent them from being
scaled.
On Aug. 5, DOT Commissioner
Polly Trottenberg with other
transit leaders said that their
funding, due to the pandemic
and the city $15 billion deficit,
has been slashed by 12 percent
this year. But during the height
of the pandemic in New York, a
90 percent reduction of vehicle
traffic was clearly seen and
CitiBike ridership has hit new
heights, she acknowledged.
“DOT has examined the
modifications that would be
necessary to convert the South
Outer Roadway to a pedestrian
path and the North Outer
Roadway to exclusive bicycle
use,” a DOT spokesman said
in response to the letter. “However,
due to ongoing work on
the Queensboro Bridge Upper
Roadway, the South Outer Roadway
will be needed for vehicle
diversions through the end of
construction in the fall of 2022.
In addition, even for temporary
use during this crisis, the South
Outer Roadway’s current level
of fencing is not safe for pedestrian
or cyclist use, as the existing
railing is scalable and only
about half the standard height
for bike and pedestrian paths on
NYC bridges. Moreover, installing
the necessary safety fencing
would be difficult to accomplish
while our resources are limited.”
Proposals to convert the
roadway have been passed nearly
unanimously by community
boards on both sides of the East
River as both cyclists and pedestrians
struggle for a piece of
the current foot path just 9 feet
wide.
Over 3,500 have signed the
petition coupled with the letter
also signed by Councilmen
Jimmy Van Bramer and Ben
Kallos.
File photo by Christina Santucci
Trump’s economic orders do
more harm than good: Schumer
Senator Charles Schumer REUTERS/Erin Scott
/QNS.COM
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