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Aug. 9-15, 2019 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
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Pedaling for more LIC bike lanes
Van Bramer unveils ambitious plan to make neighborhood lead city in protected paths
BY MAX PARROTT
Councilman Jimmy Van
Bramer was several minutes
late to the presser to unveil
his comprehensive bike plan.
After he pedaled up to the
gaggle of reporters waiting
at the corner of the Pulaski
Bridge and Jackson Avenue in
Long Island City, he said that
his bike ride to the event was
“sweaty but revealing.” When
he biked to end of the protected
lane on Skillman Avenue, he
shot out into the middle of
bumper-to-bumper car traffic
and felt unsafe. This is the
exact problem he set out that
morning to address.
“We need protected bike
lane networks throughout
every neighborhood across all
five boroughs, and today, I’m
calling on the Department
of Transportation to start in
Long Island City,” said Van
Bramer in his speech.
Van Bramer gathered
members of Transportation
Alternatives and Bike New
York on Wednesday morning
to call on the Department of
Transportation to implement
a five-mile protected bike lane
network that would span Long
Island City. The councilman
revealed the proposal shortly
after the 18th bicyclist death
in the city as well as Mayor de
Blasio’s promise to ramp up
the city’s bike infrastructure
with a $58 million plan,
dubbed the “Green Wave,”
which would commit to build
30 miles of protected bike
lanes across the five boroughs
each year.
The councilman and the
bike advocates explained
that their idea for a
neighborhood plan was
meant to advise the DOT to
start taking a neighborhoodby
neighborhood approach
to building bike lanes in a
connected pattern, rather
than a piecemeal approach
of building small stretches
of bike lanes scattered in
different neighborhoods.
Juan Restrepo, the Queens
Organizer for Transportation
Alternatives, explained that
they thought Long Island
City is the best place to begin
this approach in Queens
because it’s a hub for bike
commuters on their way to
Manhattan in addition to its
cultural offerings.
“This vision will create
a #BikeNeighborhood by
connecting the Queensboro
and Pulaski Bridges, homes,
schools, businesses, cultural
institutions, parks, waterfront
and more. Protected bike lanes
help children, parents, seniors
access and enjoy the benefits of
cycling,” said Laura Shepard
of Bike New York.
Asked to clarify how this
proposal connects to the
mayor’s “Green Wave” plan,
Restrepo said that it was
meant to exceed the minimum
recommendations that the
plan sets out. He added that
the recommendation was not
meant to come at the exclusion
of other bike lane projects
across the borough.
“We’re not saying DOT
should work on this first,
exclusively. We think the DOT
has the role and imperative to
really look at being visionaries
– to really revitalize how they
do their process. This is a
neighborhood system of bike
lanes. Typically the DOT
works on a street-by-street
basis,” said Restrepo.
Read more at QNS.com.
COMMUNITY BUILDING
Police officers from the 104th Precinct and a child are all smiles at National Night Out on
Tuesday, Aug. 6. See Page 21 for more photos. Photo by Max Parrott/QNS
Vol. 7 No. 32 48 total pages
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