Newly built bike paths in the industrial Queens neighborhood are already helping safety and connectivity for cyclists who must navigate the area's wide-open streets — all while dodging illegal 53-foot trucks and suffering from noxious fumes along Newtown Creek.
A new protected bike lane on Review Avenue, between the Kosciuszko and Greenpoint Avenue bridges, is the result of a decade long community campaign to improve micro-mobility infrastructure in the area. Other proposed improvements on nearby Starr and Borden avenues and Van Dam Street have not yet been completed.
Streetsblog biked the route during this week's blistering heatwave (interns, amirite?) and here's what we found:
Eyes on the street
Ever since the bike path on the Kosciuszko Bridge opened in 2019, there's been an influx of cyclists into industrial Blissville — especially those wanting to head west towards Long Island City. Previously, those brave-hearted bikers could use the protected bike lane on the east side of Laurel Hill Boulevard before being dumped unceremoniously on Review Avenue, where they'd be in the mix with the big rigs.
Now, that PBL on Laurel Hill leads — indirectly, alas — to the newly painted, two-way protected bike lane on Review Avenue between Laurel Hill Boulevard and Greenpoint Avenue. It's weird that the DOT put a protected bike lane on the east side of Laurel Hill Boulevard yet didn't pair it to the new bike lane on the stretch that turns into Review Avenue — cyclists have to stop and cross the intersection at 56th Road which is a bit harrowing, but DOT is adding bulbouts.
After surviving the intersection, cyclists end up on the section of Laurel Hill Boulevard bordering Calvary Cemetery, where the DOT is finishing up a two-way bike lane that will be protected by Jersey barriers still to come.
Laurel Hill Boulevard eventually turns into Review, where the two-way lane is finished and protected by a row of parked cars that used to be partially on the sidewalk, eliminating a problem for pedestrians. Check out the before-and-after snaps:
The design is consistent all the way to Greenpoint Avenue.
Tom Mituzas, a life-long Blissville resident and secretary of the Blissville Civic Association, is already noticing the improvement.
“Cars parked on the street [are] respecting the boundaries,” said Mituzas. “We’re happy to see that.”
Other improvements
At Greenpoint Avenue, Review opens into a hectic six-way intersection at the Queens opening to the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge. Here, the DOT has vague plans to put in curb extensions, better crosswalks and bike lanes during the coming weeks. The bike lane on Review ends at the intersection, only to return unprotected and strictly northbound about a block later.
If cyclists turn right onto north-eastbound Greenpoint Avenue, they're greeted with a meager, unprotected lane amid a stream of trucks and parked cars on both sides. The city plans to build a protected lane in the opposite direction in the coming weeks, but will not change the north-eastbound painted lane — leaving cyclists to fend for themselves.
Meanwhile, southbound Van Dam Street offers cyclists no real protection (save for two parked cars) even though the DOT presentation calls it "protected."
Fortunately, DOT said that changes are "ongoing" in the area, so it's possible Van Dam will improve. Cyclists will appreciate it, but the driver of Jeep Wrangler, whom Streetsblog spotted using the bike path to cut around traffic, won't.
Nearby on one-way Starr Avenue, the DOT added a painted bike lane between Borden Avenue and Van Dam Street. Streetsblog spotted many vehicles, including an FDNY pickup truck, park in the new lane.
Further north, Borden Avenue remains a free-for-all and plunges unprotected cyclists and pedestrians into a truck-ridden corridor. According to its initial plan, the city will install a protected bike lane there in 2025, but no work has begun.
How did we get here?
The Review Avenue bike lane is a needed win for the residents of Blissville.
The community-led campaign for the project began in 2017, but intensified after the deaths of cyclists Robert Spencer, 53, and Mario Valenzuela, 14, on Borden Avenue just two years later. The DOT said that from 2019 to 2023, crashes in the area injured 34 pedestrians and cyclists and placed the project site in the top third most dangerous in Queens.
The neighborhood is increasingly residential, but is mostly still zoned for manufacturing. As a result, the area is filled with large vehicles that speed down the wide streets and double park to load materials.
The bike lane puts Review Avenue on a road diet to slow down those massive vehicles, the largest of which are illegal, but are often spotted by locals.
Ironically, the narrower roadway is being cited by opponents as a safety threat.
“Now when we have to unload in the middle of the street, we might get hit,” said Alex, a worker at LeNoble Lumber on Review Avenue. “It’s a pain in the neck now.”
LeNoble Lumber had actually sued the DOT last October, arguing not only that the narrower roadway was unsafe, but also that the project swiped parking spaces that their workers filled all day.
Last month, a judge dismissed the case — paving the way for DOT to begin construction.
"This project addresses critical safety needs for everyone by making it easier for pedestrians to cross, reducing instances of speeding, and better protecting cyclists on a highly traveled route between Brooklyn and Western Queens," wrote DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone in an email to Streetsblog. "We have been conducting years of outreach and have worked closely with residents and local businesses to develop a design that will work for everyone."
What are they saying?
Cyclists are already putting the new pathway to use.
"The old street was very dangerous,” said Leszak Swierkowski, a daily bike commuter, adding that the new path is “definitely” safer because he's no longer competing with trucks and cars for road space.
Mituzas, who led the fight, is so joyful that he might just go for a bike ride.
“We’re delighted to see that portion of the Blissville greenway project has been completed,” he said. “Already, I have seen cyclists use the path which now connects the Kosciuszko Bridge, the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge and Borden Avenue.”
Mituzas said nearby residents are already rethinking their daily commutes and now opt to come through the new bike path, which sits next to Calvary Cemetery.
"There’s a few people who live in Sunnyside, I know they would always traverse Greenpoint Avenue,” he said. “They’ve adjusted their route because they feel Review is safer. It’s a great experience for them and they feel much safer than on Greenpoint Avenue.”
The one thing he’d like more of? “Trees,” he said, pointing out that the area surrounding Newtown Creek is the hottest in the city this week.
