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QUEENS WEEKLY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019
The DOT will speed up work to make streets in Sunnyside and Maspeth safer for cyclists and
pedestrians to connect with the dual path on the new span of the Kosciuszko Bridge.
Photo: Bill Parry/QNS
BY BILL PARRY
The city’s Department
of Transportation is
expediting its plans to
create safe and effective
connections for bicyclists
and pedestrians to the
shared-use path on the
new second span of the
Kosciuszko Bridge between
Queens and Brooklyn.
DOT Commissioner
Polly Trottenberg detailed
the improvements in a
letter to City Comptroller
Scott Stringer after he
criticized the agency for
the lack of infrastructure
that would protect cyclists
and pedestrians on roads
leading to the bridge when
it opened Aug. 29.
“Based on NYSDOT’s
(New York State Department
of Transportation) original
estimate that the new
path would open in the
fall, we had scheduled
implementation of the
city street portion of
these connections for late
summer,” Trottenberg
wrote, adding that new
signs and marking would
be installed along the
approaches to the K-Bridge
this week.
“On the Queens side
of the bridge, NYSDOT
is still at work on some
of the key infrastructure
connections, particularly
along Laurel Hill
Boulevard. That street will
eventually include a new
parking protected bike
lane,” Trottenberg wrote.
We will coordinate relevant
on-street bike connections
with the completion
of that work starting
with 43rd Street, which
includes raised lanes, and
50th Avenue.”
Additional lanes will
be added in the coming
months on 47th Street and
48th Street in Maspeth and
Woodside, with 56th Road
and Rust Street in Maspeth
under development for
2020. Similar work will be
done on the Brooklyn side
of Newtown Creek.
Trottenberg added that
over the long term, DOT
will continue to work on a
larger protected bike lane
network shown in the Green
Wave plan, which outlines
planned protected bike lane
connections on both sides
of the new bridge.
Stringer’s letter
highlighted the urgent
need for action as the
city confronts cyclist and
pedestrian safety across
the five boroughs. Already
this year, 19 cyclists have
been killed — nearly twice
the number in all of 2018
— which according to
the DOT have occurred
disproportionately in
primarily industrial
areas that have
experienced significant
population growth.
“Just as no
transportation department
would open up a highway
before constructing on-
and off-ramps, it is utterly
baffling that a new bike
and pedestrian path could
be introduced without
sufficient connecting
infrastructure, on Day
One,” Stringer said. “The
rebuilt Kosciuszko Bridge
and the new pedestrian
and cycling path are
critical arteries, but
without protected bike
lanes, sufficient lighting
and high-quality signage
in the immediate vicinity,
cyclists and pedestrians
could be placed in
harm’s way.”
Trottenberg said DOT
is “excited about the new
addition to New York City’s
bicycle network, we know it
comes against the backdrop
of a challenging year for
bicyclist safety” in the five
boroughs. She concluded
by noting that 30 miles of
new protected bike lanes
would be built within New
York City in 2020.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
Fed up with bad curbs
Bayside church says city ignores repair requests
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Leaders and members
of the oldest church
in Bayside have been
waiting over five years
for the city to fix the
damages it caused to the
curbs outside.
Back in the winter of
2014, resident Jack Oshier
said that Department
of Sanitation plows got
too close to the curbs
at All Saints Episcopal
Church, causing them
to crumble. Oshier said
that the church reached
out to the Department of
Transportation over four
years ago to no avail and
the damages get worse
every year.
“The city is sure quick
to issue fines to residents
with bad sidewalks but if
the city does the damage,
getting it fixed is nearly
impossible,” Oshier said.
All Saints’ pastor
Reverend Laurence G.
Byrne said that the craggy
curbs on 40th Avenue
are an eyesore for the
neighborhood. He added
that it’s “unfortunate”
that the city does
not care about cityowned
property.
“If we were responsible
for damaging it we would
suck it up and have it fixed.
But we’re really not and
we can’t afford to suck it
up and have it fixed,” said
Byrne. “We just want the
city to repair the damage
that they caused.”
Byrne said that the
church staff has allowed
the weeds to grow along
the curb in order to hide
the extensive damages.
Oshier added that the
community keeps the
church and surrounding
area in “immaculate
condition” while the city
does not.
In April, Assemblyman
Edward Braunstein
wrote to DOT Queens
Commissioner Nicole
Garcia as a follow up to his
repair request from 2014.
In the letter, Braunstein
said that Acting Borough
Commissioner Jeff Lynch
added the location to the
Reverend Lawrence G. Byrne and Jack Oshier next to damaged
curbs at All Saints Episcopal Church Photo: Jenna Bagcal/QNS
“curb database for repair
under a future curb
repair contract.”
“It is outrageous that
more than five years
after DOT indicated that
the curbs at All Saints
Episcopal Church would
be repaired, the work
has still not taken place.
The curb repair program
shouldn’t be treated as
an unfulfilled wish list.
The curbs were damaged
by a city agency, DOT
promised to repair it, and
the work needs to be done
now,” said Braunstein.
In his letter, the
assemblyman said that
the damaged curbs posed
a tripping hazard and
that pedestrians may
become injured from the
broken curb.
A DOT spokesperson
said that if DSNY caused
the damage, the church
should go to the city
comptroller’s office to
file a claim. But Nancy
McCarthy, the parish’s
secretary and bookkeeper,
said that they were
denied a claim from the
comptroller’s office in 2015
and there was no way for
them to make an appeal.
DOT added that the
church might consider
getting the sidewalk
fixed themselves in
the meantime.
“While requests to
address curb conditions
outpace available
resources, DOT works
to make curb repairs
as efficiently as it can
by rotating through
community boards
citywide. Since the original
request and subsequent
inspection, this location
has been retained in
DOT’s curb database for
repair under a future curb
repair contract,” said a
DOT spokesperson. “We
will inspect the location
to evaluate the current
conditions of the curb and
the sidewalk.”
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by email at
jbagcal@qns.com or by
phone at (718) 260-2583.
DOT speeding up efforts for
bike paths to new K-Bridge
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