Mayor Adams must finally open a pedestrian walkway on the Queensboro Bridge's south outer roadway, local politicians demanded, after weeks of Hizzoner suddenly putting the kibosh on the plans citing the need for a "briefing" on a plan that has been around his entire mayoralty.
Lawmakers weren't buying the Adams administration's excuses, calling the delay "deeply concerning," according to a letter to City Hall and Department of Transportation leadership.
"The reasons given for this delay are not satisfactory, as all communications from the DOT have indicated that the project is complete and ready to open to the public," the seven electeds, including state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D–Queens) wrote on Tuesday.
"Any further delays to this project that is otherwise ready to open will unnecessarily put at risk the thousands of New Yorkers who cycle and walk the current shared path every day," continued the letter, which was also signed by Sens. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) and Kristen Gonzalez (D–Queens); Assembly Members Zohran Mamdami (D–Queens) and Alex Bores (D–Manhattan); and Council Members Julie Won (D–Queens) and Julie Menin (D–Menin).
DOT had planned on March 16 to finally cut the ribbon on the dedicated pedestrian path, at last protecting people on foot, who currently have to squeeze into the less-than-10-foot north outer roadway with cyclists in both directions. The Queensboro is one of the city's busiest bridges for cyclists.
But the mayor's office intervened and called off the plan — even though there was a press release ready to go, the Times reported, and electeds had been told to set aside the hours for a media event.
DOT officials claimed at a Council hearing the following week that there was still work remaining to be completed, but the bridge path looks finished with its new pedestrian markings and safety fence.
The following week the narrative shifted, when Hizzoner told reporters that he, along with his new car-first Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, needed to get the full details on the project, which has been in the works since at least 2017.
"This has not been delayed. I was never briefed. This is a major project that's going to impact movement and traffic. You brief the mayor," Adams told reporters last month. "When I'm briefed on this and I make sure that we have community input on how the traffic's going to impact, then we will move forward. That is how it operates."
It's unclear when this briefing will happen and what the next steps are — even to city insiders. And it's unclear what additional community input is needed, as the plan was presented to affected community boards in 2021.
Of course, anyone paying attention knows that cyclists and pedestrians have been forced into the bridge's crash-prone north outer roadway for years.
Collisions have continued as Adams procrastinates, which will only become more likely as the weather warms up.
Former-Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to address this river-spanning bottleneck in 2021, when he promised to give people walking their own path on the southern shoulder by closing that strip to cars. But under de Blasio and Adams, DOT has pushed back the project repeatedly for fear of creating some more traffic backups in Manhattan during a separate rehab of the old bridge's upper deck.
Advocates with Transportation Alternatives plan to hold a "people's ribbon-cutting" on Saturday morning, April 12, in protest. The group plans to march across the south outer roadway.
A spokesperson for City Hall doubled down on the mayor's last minute interference in the long-awaited project, and confirmed that the mayor has yet to receive his special briefing.
"As Mayor Adams has said, this is a major project that – as the elected officials who wrote this letter themselves note – will impact several communities and two boroughs worth of traffic," City Hall Deputy Press Secretary Allison Maser said in a statement. "The mayor therefore must be provided a full briefing on how the agency plans to roll this out smoothly and ensure New Yorkers can continue to get to where they need to go efficiently. We will respond to the letter.”
