CM Tiffany Cabán, Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, and NYC Bike and Brew Hold an Emergency Rally and Protest Ride Calling on the City to Protect 31st Street Safety Project

31st Street is one of the most dangerous roads in Queens. Over the last five years, nearly 200 New Yorkers have been injured along the corridor, and one has been killed.

Eight people on bikes have been killed in Queens so far this year, already more than in any other year in recorded history.

QUEENS, NY — Following last week’s judicial decision, Council Member Tiffany Cabán, Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, NYC Bike & Brew, and community advocates gathered tonight at Athens Square in Astoria for an emergency rally, protest ride, and die-in to demand that the City save the 31st Street safety project.

“Removing life-saving improvements now could undermine decades of legal precedent affirming the City’s authority to redesign streets for safety,” said Ben Furnas, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “We have a crisis in Queens, and the City needs every tool at its disposal to save lives and prevent crashes. We won’t back down until the street safety project is finished and protected on 31st Street and every New Yorker across the five boroughs has the safe streets we deserve.” 

31st Street is a Vision Zero Priority Corridor that has received minimal safety interventions. Over the last five years, nearly 200 people have been injured on the proposed span of the bike lane, and one person has been killed. This year has also been especially deadly for bike riders in Queens; more bike riders have been killed in the World’s Borough this year than any other on record. 

“We stand here, united in our grief, to speak up, to advocate for life-saving traffic measures in the hopes that no more families will suffer as we have. My dad, Kim Huntington, was senselessly killed by a reckless truck driver in 2019,” said Julie Huntington, Families for Safe Streets member. “I bear the pain of his loss every day. I was also hit by a car on this very street by a southbound motorist making a left turn on 31st Street from 31st Avenue.”

Decades of data show that protected bike lanes reduce speeding and prevent crashes. Protected bike lanes make streets safer for everyone — reducing deaths and serious injuries by 29% for pedestrians and 39% for senior pedestrians. Recently, a similar redesign in the Bronx led to a 41% reduction in injuries to motor vehicle occupants and a 10% drop in overall traffic injuries citywide.

Read TA’s statement from last week’s ruling.

"The proposed stretch of 31st Street is among the most dangerous corridors in Queens and demands immediate change," said Laura Kavanaugh,  34th commissioner of the New York City Fire Department. “Over the last five years, nearly 200 New Yorkers have been injured along the corridor, and one has been killed. The FDNY's paramount responsibility is saving lives, and any street design decision must meet a strict standard for emergency access. But FDNY's life-saving mission is vast, and it includes scraping people off the street and cutting them out of cars, at more than twice the rate of death and injury as those from fires. Using FDNY as a procedural obstruction not only misrepresents FDNY's lifesaving mission, but it wrongly lays the blame for overdue critical safety upgrades at their feet. New Yorkers demand safe streets, and it is clear that DOT and FDNY worked in this case to provide them. I urge the City to appeal this ruling immediately."

“This ruling is profoundly disappointing and deeply dangerous for our community. Removing a protected bike lane on one of the most hazardous corridors in Queens is terrible news for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike. I look forward to working with the City, local businesses, and residents to find a path forward that prioritizes safety for everyone,” said Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas.

“We deserve streets that protect us — not rulings that put our lives at risk,” said City Council Member Tiffany Cában. “Almost 200 people have been injured on 31st Street in five years. Slashing proven safety measures in the face of this danger is unacceptable. This project would save lives. It would make our neighborhood safer for every person who walks, bikes, takes the bus, or drives. Astoria has waited too long for basic protections. My office will continue to fight for street safety on 31st Street and every street.”