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You mention that Grand Concourse has a car free Sundays. You might also note that Grand Concourse has bike lanes, which are slated to be lengthened in an effort to increase safety on the thoroughfare. There is no engineering reason the same can’t be done on Queens Boulevard. This is purely a question of political will to make this street safe for all users.
Posted by Jacob
on August 1st, 2008 at 9:52 am -
Ride your bikes in the parks where you are supposed to ride them instead of on the street where you are interfering with transit.
Posted by Johnny
on August 1st, 2008 at 4:09 pm -
Johnny — I’m not a bike rider, but I think it’s safe to say that many bike riders don’t ride merely for recreation or exercise, but to get from place to place — in other words, as transportation.
Bikers don’t interfere with transit; bikes ARE transit! And as someone who drives instead of riding a bike, I would rather see bikers in a bike lane, safely out of swerving distance of my car.
Posted by rachelblue
on August 2nd, 2008 at 11:01 am -
I guess we are talking about two different roads then Rachel. I ride down Queens Blvd. constantly and I NEVER see a bicycle, other than the insane delivery people who could care less about bike lanes anyhow. I see no need to add a lane and INCREASE congestion and this critical artery into Manhattan so that a tiny minority of individuals may indulge their hobby.
Posted by Johnny
on August 2nd, 2008 at 12:56 pm -
Johnny,
I cannot afford a car. I take the train, the bus, and my bike, and I walk. Unless you’re going to buy me a car and pay for my gas, don’t have the gall to call my life a hobby.
Posted by D
on August 3rd, 2008 at 3:29 am -
I never asked you to take a car. Keep taking the train or other mass transit. Sheesh.
Posted by Johnny
on August 3rd, 2008 at 7:00 pm -
Johnny’s comment lacks respect when he says ‘insane delivery people’. Is it because they ride their bikes? You won’t call someone who delivers pizza or newspaper on a car “insane”. Oh no, because they’re riding a car and having/driving a car means you’re superior than the bikers. No wonder, biker accidents are treated so disrespectively by the police and some newspaper reporters. Like Johnny, they think only messengers and delivery people ride bikes, and their life is not worth any respect. My son Asif was riding his bike on his way from work as a paraprofessional, but some reporters portrayed him as a “messenger”! Because he was “riding his bike” and carrying a backpack on him. Also, you must keep your eyes open when you drive or ride on Q.B. There are a lot of bicyclists on this road. I didn’t see them before because I didn’t look for them. After my son’s accident, I’ve been looking for them, and surprised to see so many people ride on this boulevard. I want see all bikers can ride safely and we should have a bike lane on Queens Boulevard. Please sign the petition for a bike lane on Queens Blvd. Go to http://www.ipetitions.com/peti.....boulevard/.
Posted by Lizi Rahman
on August 5th, 2008 at 11:02 am -
Lizi’s comment demonstrates a clear lack of intelligence when she accuses me of lack of respect based on my earlier post about insane delivery people on bicycles. Do you actually live in Forest Hills Lizi, because your inane comment makes me think that you don’t. I can’t count the number of times where I have been nearly run down while WALKING by some crazed delivery guy on a bike. I’ve never had that experience with a delivery vehicle. Maybe the city should license bicycle riders and require registration of bicycles. Cops should also ticket bicyclists who don’t respect traffic laws as well something I NEVER see.
Posted by Johnny
on August 5th, 2008 at 12:23 pm -
Johnny, may I ask what you’re doing on Queens Blvd? You sound like a car driver, but in one of your posts you state that you “ride down Queens Blvd. constantly”. Are you really a cyclist?? Or are you the bloke I see every day on roller-skates?? I’m on Queens Blvd every day, riding my bike to and from work. If you’re there constantly, let me know how to recognize you and I’ll give you a friendly wave as I pass by. I’m sorry if some cyclists have bothered you while you were walking. Maybe you should go for a walk in the park where you’re supposed to walk, instead of on the street where you’re interfering with deliveries.
Posted by Traff
on August 5th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
“Queens Boulevard, twisting boulevard…”
Posted by Mickie T on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
“Secretive and rich, a little scary
Queens Boulevard, tempting boulevard
Waiting there to swallow the unwary”
The Transportation Alternatives press conference on improving safety and creating a bike lane on Queens Boulevard, held Sunday, July 27, was short, sharp and to the point: there is no reason why Queens Boulevard must remain an infamous “Boulevard of Death.” I’d say at about 40 people, including City Council Member James Gennaro, came to support the Rahman family and TransAlt. And I wasn’t the only one who raised an eyebrow or nodded knowingly during the two small but screeching near-misses between cars that occurred during the event.
Asif Rahman’s ghost bike
The press conference took place at the spot where Asif Rahman was run over by a truck in February of this year. This area is directly across the boulevard from The Queens Place mall and the popular Georgia Diner, an area that is in great need of better accommodations for pedestrians and cyclists. You can watch an excellent short video of the press conference, and hear excerpts from Asif’s mother and sister. Note the sign for Forest Hills to the left of the microphones!!
Photo: Forest City
The event got widespread local coverage on The Daily News, amNY, metro, Fox5News and NBC. I’ve also been following the whole bike lane issue the last couple of months in the local blogosphere and in the neighborhood papers, and I’ve noticed some consistent themes in the comments.
- People who ride bicycles on NYC streets, especially those who actually use QB, are thrilled and excited.
- People who know victims of car accidents (pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers) praise efforts to make major thoroughfares safer and calmer.
- Nearly all the other comments say, “why bother? It’s only going to cost money, cause more accidents and not solve the problem. As long as bicyclists and pedestrians continue to ignore traffic rules and the right of way of cars, they’ll continue to be killed. The victims were too old, too slow or too foolish.”
The resignation, absolute certainty of failure, and blaming of the victim is so classic New York, it could have been written by a Norman Mailer. I once read that New Yorkers are experts at presenting opinion as fact, and it shows. The comment about bike lanes being the cause of more accidents really takes the cake. I’d like to see that data!
And, by the way, have you noticed that folks who post anti-bike comments, who rail against reckless, foolish and lawless pedestrians and cyclists, usually have screen names like “Ninety5rpm” or “race-car-driver?” Here’s a tip, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: those screen names aren’t exactly helping your cause. Next time, try posting as “I
TurnSignals” or “Never-pass-on-the-right,” and I’ll take you a little more seriously.
The press conference
Transportation Alternative’s Deputy Director Noah Budnick (below) introduced the campaign to make Queens Boulevard a “complete street” - meaning a street with “human-friendly signal timing, bike lanes…streets that are sensitive to the needs of all road users.” Despite a welcome reduction in fatalities in recent years, approximately 100 bicyclists and pedestrians are struck on QB each year.
Asif’s mother, Lizi, and sister, Moumita, spoke very movingly. They described Asif’s love of bicycling, poetry and community involvement. Before the crash, they had never really taken a look at Queens Boulevard. Once they saw the crash site and the rest of QB, they were astounded that no bicycle safety measures exist on the road. The historical lack of concern for bike safety on QB is shocking, and the pedestrian safety measures made in 2001 should not be the end of improvements. How many more people need to die on Queens Boulevard before changes are made, they asked.
Councilmember James F. Gennaro (D) (Fresh Meadows) represents the area where the Rahmans live, and has joined them every step of the way in this endeavor. He held up his bike helmet (see below) and said that he wears one whenever he bikes, but a helmet will do nothing to save you when you’re run over by a truck. As Lizi Rahman affirmed later, when her son’s body was found, “Asif’s head and face didn’t have a scratch,” painting a horrifying and sad image of what must have happened.
Councilmember Gennaro’s staff distributed a letter he wrote to the Bloomberg Administration, co-signed by Council Members John Liu and Eric Gioia, calling for a improved safety and a bicycle lane on Queens Boulevard.
Gennaro also echoed what others have said - Let’s face it. Cyclists will continue to use Queens Bouelvard. Bicyclists use QB for the same reasons cars do: it is the most direct way to get into Manhattan. Especially with current gas prices, popular concern about the environment, and improved bike lanes throughout the rest of the city, the number of recreational and commuter cyclists in Queens will only increase. Yet, despite it’s infamous moniker of “The Boulevard of Death”, Queens Boulevard was not included whatsoever in the Mayor’s 2006 3-year, 200-mile plan for safer bicycling in NYC
Queens Boulevard is, at some areas, twelve lanes wide, and is treated by many drivers as a highway. Similar thoroughfares in other boroughs (such as Eastern Parkway) have been improved and beautified. Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn has had a separated, protected off-street biking and walking lane since 1894. Even the Grand Concourse in the Bronx - possibly the second most dangerous road of its kind in NYC - enjoyed years of car-free Sundays until 1996, and revived in 2006.
Ocean Parkway, arial view (www.nycbikemaps.com)
Ocean Parkway (www.nycbikemaps.com)
Shouldn’t a modern, cosmopolitan society in 2008 be motivated to make changes to a street called “The Boulevard of Death?”
“Queens Boulevard, ruthless boulevard
Destination for the stony-hearted
Queens Boulevard, lethal boulevard
Everyone’s forgotten how they started
Here on Queens Boulevard!”
Pardon my taking license with another Broadway musical, but I couldn’t resist.
(apologies to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Christopher Hampton.)
