Firefighters Flex Union Muscle In Bid To Keep Deadly Astoria Corridor Unsafe - Streetsblog New York City

DOT began installing bike lanes and traffic calming on 31st Street on May 12 after earlier legal action required the agency to halt for failing to document consultations with other city agencies, including FDNY. The mayor expanded the project to cover the whole neighborhood and DOT completed required bureaucratic steps. A coalition of 31st Street businesses continues to challenge the redesign in court, accusing DOT of contempt of a December ruling that halted the first six-block version. Opposition is supported by firefighters who have shown force at community board meetings and submitted claims that DOT did not contact local firehouses about the 2026 iteration. Court filings state DOT allowed two local firehouses to comment in March and dispute claims that the redesign would hinder firefighting.

"DOT began installing bike lanes and traffic calming on 31st Street on May 12, months after a Queens judge ordered the agency to halt, in part because it had failed to document its consultations about the project with other city agencies, including FDNY. Mayor Mamdani then expanded the length of the project to encompass the whole neighborhood, and DOT got its bureaucratic ducks in order."

"But a coalition of 31st Street businesses continues to fight the bike lane in court. This week, the group accused DOT of acting in contempt of Judge Cheree Buggs's December ruling ordering it to halt installation of the first incarnation of the bike lane project, which only ran six blocks from 36th Avenue to Newtown Avenue."

"That opposition has been buffeted by firefighters who work in the area, who made a show of force at a recent community board meeting. The firefighters from FDNY Battalion 46, Engine 312 rolled up to the meeting in FDNY trucks and uniforms, but left before the public comment section - leaving it to union reps to express opposition to the project."

"NYPD and DOT data identify 31st Street as one of the most dangerous corridors in Queens. As part of the latest attempt to keep the street unsafe, opponents submitted to the court a letter from the Uniformed Firefighters Association accusing DOT of not contacting local FDNY firehouses about the 2026 iteration of the project. But DOT did give two local firehouses the ability to comment on the project in March, according to the city's court filings."

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