[ASTORIA, DECEMBER 8] On December 5, 2025, the New York State Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling for public safety and community rights by annulling DOT’s misguided plan to reconfigure 31st Street in Astoria with protected bike lanes. Justice Chereé A. Buggs ruled in favor of a coalition of plaintiffs that included local small businesses, property owners, people with disabilities, and St. Demetrios School, ordering the Department of Transportation (DOT) to halt construction immediately and restore the street to its original condition within 30 days.
“The 31st Street Business Association is pleased with the court’s ruling, which helps protect the Astoria community from a dangerous plan that would have made our streets and our community less safe,” said Joseph Mirabella, President of the Association. “We are eager to participate in a genuinely collaborative process with DOT to improve street safety for everyone: including pedestrians, older adults, young children, people living with disabilities, public transit users, cyclists, and motorists. We have made numerous suggestions to DOT, all of which have been ignored in favor of a one-size-fits-all panacea of bike lanes. It is our hope that this ruling will make real partnerships between DOT and our city’s communities—all of whom deserve safe streets—possible.”
The Court’s decision confirms what the 31 st Street Business Association has said for months: DOT’s project was arbitrary and capricious, procedurally flawed, and highly likely to create more hazards for Astoria residents.
“The record reads,” Justice Buggs wrote, “as though DOT began with a programmatic commitment to install a north-south parking-protected bike lane in Western Queens, chose 31 st Street…and then defended that choice with generalized safety statistics and limited block-by-block curb regulation changes, rather than starting from the full set of on-the-ground constraints…and working forward to a design that maximizes safety for all users.”
Among the community members hailing the decision are the families of St. Demetrios School. The Court criticized the DOT for failing to protect St. Demetrios students who would have been forced to cross an active bike lane during drop-off and pick-up times, noting the agency offered no reasoned explanation for rejecting safer alternatives.
"We are relieved that the Court recognized that children’s safety cannot be sacrificed to a clumsy street redesign plan that was created without our input" said one school parent. “Still, it remains alarming that DOT tried to push through a plan that would jeopardize children just to meet an annual mileage goal. Luckily, this ruling restores the priority of our community by putting the safety of our children first."
The Court also heavily criticized DOT’s failure to heed the warnings of the FDNY. The Court noted that the FDNY explicitly warned that the project would "restrict deployment of hydraulic outriggers of ladder apparatus" and "present a severe risk to life and safety."
The decision stated that the Court “is not required to accept, without scrutiny, a record in which one expert agency repeatedly warns that a design will materially degrade fire-safety performance, while [DOT] responds with general assurances but no concrete rebuttal.”
Holding DOT accountable for a rushed and irregular process, Justice Buggs ruled that the agency violated the Administrative Code by failing to certify required consultations with FDNY, the Department of Small Business Services, and the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. "The Court provided a roadmap for the future. DOT failed to comply with legal procedures, ignored the community’s concerns, and paid no heed to the unique characteristics of 31st Street, while invoking vague statistics, all in an effort to justify a protected bicycle lane that would create a host of problems and potential safety" said Hartley Bernstein, counsel for the Petitioners. “If safety is truly the priority, DOT and the City should work with all affected community members to devise a balanced plan that accomplishes that goal while preserving the integrity and culture of the area."
Per the Court’s order, the DOT must restore 31st Street to its previous traffic markings and parking regulations within 30 days. The 31st Street Business Association remains committed to real safety improvements but insists they be developed through genuine collaboration, not unilateral mandates that do not heed the voices of all local stakeholders.
The 31st Street Business Association advances policies that protect the safety of our community while supporting the strength and sustainability of small businesses. We work to ensure that street and neighborhood decisions promote a safe, accessible environment where local merchants can thrive and residents, workers, and visitors can move confidently through our corridor.