NYC restores original ‘road diet’ plan for McGuinness Boulevard
McGuinness Boulevard. Courtesy of NYC DOT
In an unexpected reversal by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, Greenpoint’s McGuinness Boulevard will get protected bike lanes after all. After revealing a scaled-back redesign of the corridor less than two months ago, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) on Wednesday announced that it will instead proceed with the original proposal to install protected bike lanes and reduce lanes of traffic by four to two along busy McGuinness Boulevard. Adams had previously supported a watered-down redesign that extended a bike lane but kept the same number of traffic lanes and excluded a protected bike lane due to community concerns.
The changes will be made along a southern portion of McGuinness Boulevard notorious for traffic incidents, including one death and more than 150 traffic-related injuries from January through July 2024, according to NYC Crash Mapper.
This is the third time in recent years that the redesign has been changed. Initially proposed in 2022 as a “road diet” for the roadway leading to the Pulaski Bridge over Newtown Creek, the plan aimed to remove a traffic lane in each direction while adding a protected bike lane.
However, after a campaign against the redesign by a group of local businesses, led by powerful film production company Broadway Stages—an Adams donor—the mayor announced a scaled-back version of the redesign that kept the same number of traffic lanes and excluded a protected bike lane.
The plan’s revision angered many North Brooklyn elected officials, who had been eagerly awaiting the project for over a year since it was first announced.
Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for Operations, gave no reason for the administration’s reversal, as reported by Gothamist.
“This administration is committed to making our streets safer for all New Yorkers, no matter how they travel around our city — by car, by bike, or on foot,” Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said.
“I am grateful to DOT for its commitment to McGuinness Boulevard and willingness to adapt to community and elected officials’ feedback, and of course to New Yorkers for their candor.”
Some think that Adams’ damaged reputation due to federal investigations into his alleged bribes from foreign donors influenced the reversal, according to Streetsblog.
Make McGuinness Safe, a group supporting the redesign, is committed to continuing to advocate for the redesign along the entire roadway.
“We will have a safe McGuinness, south of Calyer at least,” the group said in a statement, as reported by Streetsblog. “We will finally have a road that prioritizes safety and visibility and local use above all. And we will continue to push to extend that work north.”
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