Metropolis Corridor is taking part in with hearth.
The Mamdani administration is rolling out bike lanes in Queens that fuming Bravest say flagrantly ignore security considerations and put residents at risk.
At a heated neighborhood board assembly Tuesday night time, about 20 FDNY members packed the room to attempt to throw chilly water on town Division of Transportation’s protected-bike-lane plan for thirty first Road in Astoria.
The bike lanes can have the curb on one facet of them and a protecting concrete median on the opposite. A row of automobile parking areas will then be subsequent to the median, pushing firetrucks even additional into the road if a blaze erupts within the space.
The firetrucks might be so removed from the sidewalk that their ladders received’t be capable to attain third‑ground home windows and above, the firefighters stated.
“Placing bike lanes in that space goes to jeopardize the lives of residents dwelling alongside thirty first Road as a result of our ladders is not going to attain the third ground,” stated Astoria firefighter Mike Schreibner, additionally an avid bicycle owner.
“We will be unable to place our ladders as much as rescue individuals above.”
Regardless of the firefighters’ flare‑up, the board gave the venture a inexperienced mild, and the DOT insisted Thursday it had cleared the plan with FDNY headquarters, which consulted native firehouses because the regulation requires.
“DOT labored in shut collaboration with our companions at FDNY, together with on all legally required consultations to advance this redesign,” a DOT rep stated.
A Fireplace Division consultant added, “The FDNY reviewed and signed off on DOT’s proposal for thirty first Road in accordance with the authorized course of.”
However union leaders stated Metropolis Corridor is utilizing smoke and mirrors to get the bike lanes put in.
“No hearth officer in any of the affected firehouses has been notified by DOT of the revised plan,” stated Michael Tracey, vp of the Uniformed Firefighters Officers Affiliation.
Bobby Eustace, the legislative director for the Uniformed Firefighters Affiliation, stated FDNY leaders will do no matter Metropolis Corridor needs because the commissioner is appointed by the mayor.
“The commissioners are youngsters of the mayor — they won’t disagree with him,” Eustace stated. “They aren’t civil servants anymore. They’re appointees. So that you’re not getting an sincere reply out of them.”
He stated DOT’s flagrant disregard for hearth security has gotten out of hand.
“The DOT is just like the KGB. They’re in a position to run free, and nobody is ready to verify them. They do no matter they need,” Eustace stated.
“We’re being pushed to the purpose the place there’s going to be blood on the fingers of DOT in the event that they preserve this up,” he stated.
Queens Metropolis Councilwoman Joann Ariola sponsored Native Legislation 6 that stipulates native firehouses ought to sign-off on bikes lanes.
“Native firefighters are the individuals who know the streets finest,” she stated. “It’s thoughts‑boggling to me that the administration and the DOT are persevering with to place public security apart in pursuit of their anti‑automobile agenda.”
The battle is a repeat after final 12 months when Queens Supreme Court docket Justice Chereé Buggs torched an earlier thirty first Road redesign, ruling DOT acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” by barreling forward with protected bike lanes with out proof it had conferred with native firehouses.
The town is interesting that ruling.
“That is completely thoughts‑boggling how town can come again with the identical plan and say that it’s secure after a choose dominated in opposition to it,” fumed Joe Mirabella, president of the thirty first Road Enterprise Affiliation, which sued over DOT’s first bike lane scheme on thirty first Road.
He stated his group of mother‑and‑pop retailers and neighborhood residents can’t match the authorized muscle and funding of town within the ongoing dispute.
“We’re not some bunch of companies or mega‑property homeowners,” Mirabella stated. “It’s price us some huge cash to deliver this into court docket. We received and now town refiling. Sidestepping the ruling simply reveals how little they care in regards to the affect that is having on us.”
