Queens

Here's a screenshot from a snippet of video taken by an eagle-eyed reader at Northern Boulevard and 82nd Street in Queens. The construction workers who programmed this display look to be unknowingly putting themselves in danger by allowing motorists an extra five miles per hour. They have company at the top: None other than NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly flubbed a question about the city's speed limit while testifying before City Council in 1993.

When New York City played host to the 1939 World's Fair, the most influential attraction in Flushing Meadows was General Motors' Futurama, a miniature vision of a future with highways crisscrossing through cities and mass ownership of the personal automobile. A science fiction vision at the time, it wasn't far off from what ultimately happened.

Clarence files these photos of a dual-purpose street reclamation in Queens.

Elmhurst's elected officials voiced support for transit investment at a town hall hosted by Congressman Joe Crowley and Council Member Daniel Dromm last night.

Many cyclists in Queens feel theirs is the forgotten borough. Though it ranks first in size and second in population, Queens ranks third behind Brooklyn and Manhattan in bike lanes. And the existing bike lanes too rarely link up, cyclists say, discouraging bicycle use for commuting to work or for recreation.

A killer charged with the DWI manslaughter death of a six-year-old child walked out of court Tuesday without spending a day in jail.

Queens community leader Pat Dolan was killed by the driver of a Nissan sedan as she crossed the street last night. Dolan served on Queens Community Board 8, and she was walking to a transportation meeting when she was struck.

Several surveys this year by top polling organizations have found citywide support for bike lanes. And in Park Slope and the Upper West Side, questionnaires put out by local elected officials have shown consistent neighborhood-level approval for new bike infrastructure. Now, another member of the City Council has found widespread enthusiasm for the city's bike lane program among his constituents -- and he doesn't represent the heart of the NYC bike belt.

The Department of City Planning's commitment to rezoning the city along more transit-oriented lines is a critical component of its sustainability agenda. Allowing more people to live and work next to transit means more people will ride transit and fewer will drive.