The latest streets and transportation news from Streetsblog NYC.

Good morning on a blissfully crisp Tuesday morning.

Yesterday’s big news was the announcement of Mayor Mamdani’s plan to rehab the deteriorating BQE over ten years starting in 2030. But Mamdani’s new $4 billion plan to rebuild the BQE’s aging “triple cantilever” stretch would effectively lock in the car and truck conveyor for generations, critics charged.

“Every single time we dump a lot of money into a long-term solution… we’re dooming everybody else to live with that highway for that long — or longer,” said Cindy McLaughlin, a longtime community activist and co-founder of Off-Ramp NYC, which advocates for removing the city’s many highways.

Instead, McLaughlin’s organization has proposed the city replace the “mid-century relic” with transit and public park space, which would cost a fraction of rebuilding it for cars and trucks. Removing the noisy eyesore would also unlock space for development of sorely needed housing in the Five Boroughs, as Erik Engquist, a columnist at the real estate publication The Real Deal recently suggested.

Highway removal projects have succeeded in cities across the country and globe. In Seoul, officials replaced the Cheonggyecheon highway with a river and park. In Seattle, officials removed the Alaska Way Viaduct and 90,000 daily car trips “just disappeared.” In the Netherlands, the Dutch reverted the Catharijnebaan from a highway back to a canal.

Mamdani, who promised to make city streets “the envy of the world” when he took office, won’t match that ambition with the BQE. Instead, he plans to maintain the status quo of a highway that runs 130,000 cars and trucks per day through dense neighborhoods, spewing pollution and unleashing congestion and traffic violence onto local streets.

You can read more from Kevin Duggan at the link below — and be sure to check out today’s headlines for some news on our much-discussed Mamdani-o-meter.

Talking Headways Podcast: New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies
Talking Headways Podcast: New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies
By Jeff Wood
September 4, 2026
“Strong reforms are necessary if we’re going to have public transit agencies that are successful,” says this week’s guest.
Cop Left Pedestrian To Die After Hit-and-Run — And Told His Pals To Lie About It: DA
Cop Left Pedestrian To Die After Hit-and-Run — And Told His Pals To Lie About It: DA
By Sammy Sussman
September 3, 2026
A cop drove recklessly, struck a woman, lied about it, and got his friends to lie about it, Queens prosecutors say.
Nine People Were Killed By Hit-And-Run Drivers In August
Nine People Were Killed By Hit-And-Run Drivers In August
By Sammy Sussman
August 31, 2026
The latest victim? Nurse Jiaya Zheng, who was struck mere blocks from the medical center where she worked … and was taken before she died.
This Week: Streetsblog Is In Repose
This Week: Streetsblog Is In Repose
By Streetsblog Editorial Board
August 31, 2026
Here’s important information for readers while Streetsblog’s staff undertake four days of professional development and cocktails.
‘Insulting’! To Avoid Disrupting Car Traffic On The FDR, DOT Forces Parks To Scale Back Greenway Fix
‘Insulting’! To Avoid Disrupting Car Traffic On The FDR, DOT Forces Parks To Scale Back Greenway Fix
By Kevin Duggan
August 29, 2026
Plenty of money to fix the BQE, but not to fix a vital greenway on the East Side.
Illegal E-Motos Still Being Shipped To NYC Despite Mamdani Cease-And-Desist Deadline
Illegal E-Motos Still Being Shipped To NYC Despite Mamdani Cease-And-Desist Deadline
By Sophia Lebowitz
August 28, 2026
Massive online retailers Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist are defying a Mamdani order to stop selling dangerous and illegal e-motos.
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