22 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 24, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Transit advocates blame City Hall
for Queens Blvd. bike lane fi asco
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Call it “500 Days of Bummer” for
Queens bike enthusiasts.
Th at’s how long it’s been since advocates
were promised a protected bike lane along
Queens Boulevard between Yellowstone
Boulevard and Union Turnpike in Forest
Hills that has yet to be even started.
On Sunday, activists gathered along the
roadway once dubbed the “Boulevard of
Death” because of its dubious safety record
to slam the de Blasio administration and
the city Department of Transportation for
ignoring their requests.
Peter Beadle, an activist who sits as
second vice chair of Queens Community
Board 6, said that while the community
Queens rental prices saw slight decreases during September
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
A new report that tracks real estate
trends throughout the borough found
that average rental prices in Queens took
a slight decline last month.
MNS Real Estate recently released their
September 2019 Rental Market Report,
which took a look at the ongoing rental
trends throughout that month. According
to their fi ndings, average rental prices
in Queens dropped from $2,375.24 to
$2,299.17 in September, marking a 3.2
percent decrease.
Compared to August 2019, studio,
one- and two-bedroom units all saw
their average prices. Average studio prices
decreased from $1,934.77 to $1,856.67
(-4.04 percent); one-bedroom pricing
decreased from $2,254.00 to $2,237.48
(-0.73 percent); and two-bedroom prices
dropped from $2,906.37 to $2,803.35
(-3.54 percent). However, year-overyear
studio rental rates are down 0.1 percent,
while one- and two-bedroom units
saw their average prices increase by 1.1
percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Astoria saw a 3.7 percent increase in
prices for studio units, which raised from
$1,888 to $1,959 in September. Onebedroom
units in Ridgewood are up
4.1 percent in September, raising from
$1,928 to $1,998.
Studio apartments in Rego Park
saw the largest monthly decrease in
September, decreasing from $1,826 to
$1,686 (-7.7 percent). Prices for two-bedroom
units in Rego Park also saw one the
biggest decreases in September, dropping
from $2,798 to $2,558 (-8.6 percent).
Flushing’s two-bedroom units also saw a
big drop in price, decreasing from $2,727
to $2,543 (-6.8 percent) last month.
Like in previous months, Long Island
City continued to have the most expensive
studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom
units in September, with prices
averaging $2,757, $3,397 and $4,460,
respectively. Ridgewood had the lowest
priced studio and two-bedroom units
with prices averaging $1,575 and $2,380,
respectively, while Jackson Heights had
the lowest priced one-bedroom units
Photo via Shutterstock
with prices averaging $2,380.
Despite the expensive prices, Long Island
City experienced a 2.42 percent price correction
in September. Flushing also experienced
at 4.8 percent price correction
throughout the month. Astoria and Jackson
Heights each experienced a 1.55 percent
and 0.18 percent increase, respectively.
According to the report, Ridgewood’s
prices fell 7.65 percent despite the
increase in prices for two-bedroom units.
MNS Real Estate attributes the decrease
to the lack of inventory in the neighborhood.
Other neighborhoods that
saw price decreases in September were
Forest Hills (-2.96 percent) and Rego
Park (-6.66 percent).
Read the full report at mns.com/
queens_rental_market_report.
does not have concrete evidence
that the project will not move forward
at some point, the city blowing its own
deadline almost by years is circumstantial
enough.
“Th e mayor was very clear that they
were going to go forward — he said
they were going to go forward, DOT
said they had to go forward — for the
imperative of saving lives, and they’re
absolutely right,” Beadle said. “And then
something happened.”
CB6 voted against Phase Four of the
Queens Boulevard plan, despite the fact
that it voted in favor of the other three
phases. However, approval from the
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
advisory body was not required by the
city to move the plan forward as CB6
can only vote in an advisory capacity.
Some have even speculated that the
Forest Hills bike lane was nixed as a
result of alleged horse trading between
de Blasio and local Councilman Karen
Koslowitz for a vote in favor of borough
based jails at City Hall.
Beadle, however, is not convinced
Koslowitz would make such a concerted
eff ort to halt the bike lane.
“It’s just weird to see safety as a mayoral
priority just fl ip so suddenly …
that’s unacceptable,” Yehuda Pollack
added.
Back in May 2017, de Blasio and DOT
announced that the existing bike lanes
on Queens Boulevard had brought the
number of deaths down to zero in the
years prior.
With the same announcement, the
administration said residents of Rego
Park and Forest Hills would enjoy the
same protections as residents in previously
redesigned stretches.
Koslowitz issued a statement accepting
the bike lanes into the community
she represents.
“Th is latest DOT plan, with its pedestrian
and bike safety improvements,
will continue the transformation of this
major thoroughfare from the ‘Boulevard
of Death’ to the ‘Boulevard of Life,’”
Koslowitz said.
All the redesigns on Queens Boulevard
were estimated to cost only $4 million.
An amount of $255 million had already
been committed to all three phases,
according to a press release from the
mayor’s offi ce in 2017.
Neither the DOT nor the de Blasio
administration responded to a request
or comment prior to publication.
Activists slammed the de Blasio administration and the city Department of Transportation.
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