Slow down, you move too fast?
The Queensboro Bridge's long-awaited pedestrian path was in the works to open this weekend until Mayor Adams intervened, Streetsblog has learned.
Adams inexplicably called off the long-awaited opening of a dedicated pedestrian path bridge's south outer roadway, which officials had planned for Sunday, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.
After publication of this story, a spokesperson for City Hall denied that anything had been delayed, but said the mayor “requires a full briefing” before the path can open — a last minute hold-up for a project his administration has touted for years.
"Nothing has been delayed, and anyone saying otherwise is either lying or lacks a basic understanding of how city government works,” said the spokesperson, Amaris Cockfield. "This is a massive project proposed by the previous administration, and since it will impact the commutes of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers across two boroughs, Mayor Adams requires a full briefing on how the Department of Transportation plans to roll this out smoothly and ensure New Yorkers can continue to get to where they need to go efficiently."
Advocates for the path expressed dismay at yet another setback for a project beset by repeated delays over two different mayoral administrations.
"This 11th-hour delay is so in the spirit of this project," said one of the people aware of the discussions, who spoke to Streetsblog on the condition of anonymity.
The Department of Transportation reached out to stakeholders earlier in the week to let them know that City Hall would be putting out a press release within 24 hours announcing plans to open the path at a ribbon-cutting this weekend, according to the people, and the news leaked out via the tuned-in "Micromobility" Subreddit.
The agency later followed up that the mayor postponed both the ribbon-cutting ceremony and the path's opening — without giving them a reason or new date, according to sources who spoke to Streetsblog.
"From my understanding, DOT is saying this is done, we want this to be open, we want this saga to be over," said another person with knowledge. "I think it’s just chaos and disorganization [at City Hall] more than any grand strategy."
For years, cyclists and pedestrians have squeezed into the bridge's less-than-10-foot, crash-prone north outer roadway. In 2021, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to give people walking their own path on the southern shoulder by closing that strip to cars. The project has been on DOT's agenda since at least 2017.
Advocates said they hoped that the latest hiccup was just a scheduling conflict for the mayor, rather than Hizzoner opposing the project.
"Hopefully the mayor has changed the schedule so he can attend and cut the ribbon," said Jon Orcutt, Director of Advocacy at Bike New York. "It would be terrible if he was doing it for other reasons."
Transportation officials delayed the crucial conversion several times following de Blasio's pronouncement, in order to keep as many of the span's nine car lanes open as possible during an extensive renovation of the 1909 structure's upper deck, so as to avoid relatively minor traffic backups on the Manhattan side.
DOT reps most recently promised to open the south path to walkers after the winter, following a botched earlier opening over the summer — the city even already started installing guard rails on the south path — because one of the roadway panels for the upper deck overhaul got damaged on its way to the bridge.
That work largely wrapped up in recent weeks, so the agency was gung-ho to give cyclists and pedestrians the separate space they deserve on the second-busiest East River bridge for bike traffic — and the only direct link to Queens.
Officials were going to still close the outer path on some nights for finishing touches on the upper deck, and separately create safer pedestrian entrances on the Manhattan and Queens sides, DOT told the people who spoke to Streetsblog.
Heavier mopeds will also hopefully no longer crowd the tight shoulder path, after DOT announced plans to let those vehicles use the roadway on the Queensboro and Brooklyn bridges.
The repurposing of space from cars for pedestrians and cyclists can't come soon enough, now that congestion pricing is in effect. The bridge feeds right into the congestion relief zone at 59th Street, and DOT grouped the project as one of its key efforts to capitalize on the space dividend from having fewer cars downtown.
"The case for it has never been greater with the traffic relief we’ve seen on congestion pricing," Orcutt said.
Update (March 14, 6:58 p.m.): This story has been updated to include comment from City Hall received after initial publication.
