FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Queens Blvd. bike lane will be fi nished in October: Mayor
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e long-delayed fourth section of the
Queens Boulevard bike lane fi nally will
wrap up on Oct. 29, making the notorious
roadway once known as the “Boulevard
of Death” safer for cyclists and pedestrians,
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in
Forest Hills.
“Th e Boulevard of Death becomes the
Boulevard of Life,” hizzoner said at a
press conference next to the newly greenpainted
lanes on Queens Boulevard near
70th Road. “Th e fi nal phase of Queens
Boulevard, the fi nal act of Vision Zero on
Queens Boulevard will be completed next
month, October 2021, once and for all.”
Th e four-phase project originally began
in 2015 heading east from Roosevelt
Avenue, and the fi nal section between
Yellowstone Boulevard to Union Turnpike
was supposed to be installed almost three
years ago in November 2018, but was
delayed repeatedly until May when de
Blasio committed to fi nishing it.
Th e upgrades include new bike paths
on the service road separated from traffi
c by plastic fl appers, new stop controls
at ramps heading on and off the roadway
to avoid clashes with cars, and longer left -
turn bays for safer turns, according to the
Department of Transportation.
In parts of the thoroughfare where the
bike lanes were installed earlier, the city
registered a 55% drop in pedestrian injuries
and 19% less crashes, according to
2018 DOT stats.
“Let me tell you it has worked. As
each phase has been completed, Queens
Boulevard has become safer and safer,” de
Blasio said. “Th e number of injuries has
plummeted — thank God — and this will
make it even better.”
Advocates praised the new bike lane as
life changing for Queens cyclists.
“Couldn’t be happier to fi nally ride on
this just this morning, it’s amazing and
it’s going to change lives of so many people,”
said Juan Restrepo of Transportation
Alternatives.
But the pedaler also repeated a push
by activists for the city to go further and
extend the lanes all the way to Hillside
Avenue in Jamaica.
“We want to eventually pass this by
Borough Hall, bring it all the way down
to Jamaica,” Restrepo said.
When pressed about the extension by
amNewYork Metro, the mayor declined
to make a commitment to bring the
“Boulevard of Life” to the more Black and
brown neighborhood to the east during
his three months and change left in offi ce.
“One step at a time, we’re looking citywide
where all the next steps should be,
but Vision Zero’s going to keep rolling,”
he said following the press conference.
“Constant expansion, that is what Vision
Zero is all about.”
A DOT rep would only say that the
agency will keep an eye on the boulevard
as a “priority corridor.”
“Queens Boulevard beyond Union
Turnpike is a Vision Zero priority corridor,
and therefore, as with any priority
corridor, we are looking into potential
future improvements,” said Brian
Zumhagen.
City awards $26.4M to complete Queens Museum expansion project
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e city has allocated $26.4
million to complete the expansion
of the Queens Museum in
Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Th e project will create a dedicated
children’s museum space
focused on art and culture in
Queens, expand the museum’s
classrooms, provide secure artwork
storage and improve the
facility’s energy effi ciency.
“As we begin to look past the
economic, social and health crisis
of COVID, perhaps no better
investment can be made than
investment in our local cultural
infrastructure, to elevate spirits,
support families, revitalize
our economy and showcase our
faith in the future of the city of
New York and New Yorkers,”
Queens Museum President and
Executive Director Sally Tallant
said. “We could not be more
grateful to the de Blasio administration
for sharing this vision
with us; together, we will deliver
a multilingual, intergenerational
arts and culture learning center
— a Queens Children’s Museum
— as part of the completion of
the Queens Museum.”
Th e mayor announced the
funding Wednesday, Sept. 22,
as part of his City Hall in Your
Borough program in Queens.
He visited the Queens
Museum in March to celebrate
the community initiatives
implemented to support
the growth and recovery of art
and cultural institutions across
the city during the COVID-19
pandemic.
“Th e Queens Museum is a
world-class institution, and this
funding will help them grow
and develop their footprint in
Queens and throughout the
city,” de Blasio said. “Arts and
culture are not just the key to
our recovery from COVID-19,
they are the key to nurturing the
talent, curiosity and creativity
that will keep New York City the
most vibrant city in the world.”
Th roughout the pandemic, the
Queens Museum remained connected
and committed to some
of the most impacted communities
through a variety of
hyperlocal initiatives. Since June
2020, the museum has been running
a Cultural Food Pantry in
partnership with La Jornada to
fi ght food insecurity.
With the support of more than
70 volunteers, it has distributed
fresh and nonperishable food
items to more than 30,000 families
in Corona. Th e museum also
helped Queens artisans remain
resilient by launching Hecho
Local, a free product development
workshop series geared
toward Spanish-speaking craft -
makers that helped them create
a sustainable business model.
“For nearly 50 years, the
Queens Museum has been an
instrumental cultural institution
in our borough, and with
recent local initiatives like the
Cultural Food Pantry and the
Hecho Local product development
workshop, maybe even
more so during the COVID-
19 pandemic,” Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer said. “With
the addition of new classrooms
and a multilingual Family Art
Lab, among other improvements,
this funding will ensure
the Queens Museum remains
an integral staple serving our
diverse communities for generations
to come.”
In 2013, the Queens Museum
completed the fi rst phase of
its expansion project, bringing
an additional 50,000 square
feet of galleries, event spaces,
educational areas and visitor
amenities.
Th e second and fi nal phase
includes the new classrooms
which will allow the museum
to accommodate additional
school trips and educational
programming.
“As both the Queens borough
president and the father of a
young child, I could not be more
excited to have worked with our
partners to turn the Queens
Museum’s longtime dream of a
space dedicated to our borough’s
kids into a reality,” Queens
Borough President Donovan
Richards said. “From its fi rstof
its-kind Queens museum
for children to the many other
improvements this critical funding
will support, the Queens
Museum will see its already tremendous
legacy continue to
grow in the years to come.”
QNS fi le photo
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the allocation of more than $26 million in funding to fi nish the Queens Museum
expansion project.
Photo courtesy of the mayor’s offi ce
Cyclists ride down the Queens Boulevard bike lane on Sept. 22.
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