The 31st Street Business Association needs your help to protect our community from DOT’s attempt to circumvent a judge’s ruling that stopped an unsafe plan to install bike lanes on 31st Street. The 31st Street Business Association has already spent thousands of dollars bringing this case against DOT and seeing it through to victory. But now, DOT is seeking ways to work around the judge’s clear order so that they can continue this reckless project, with an unprecedented expansion from Ditmars Boulevard to Northern Boulevard in both directions.

The Background: A Hard-Won Victory

When DOT decided to unilaterally impose a poorly conceived redesign on Astoria’s 31st Street, we led the Astoria community in standing up and fighting back. After months of advocacy and thousands of dollars in legal fees, the 31st Street Business Association secured a landmark victory in court that was clear and unambiguous.

The New York Supreme Court’s ruling highlighted "substantive shortcomings" in the DOT’s plan, confirming it was fundamentally ill-conceived and unsafe for 31st Street. The ruling confirmed that DOT was:

• Risking Lives and Safety: FDNY explicitly warned DOT that the project would limit their ability to position ladder trucks and operate at full capacity, presenting a "severe risk to life and safety" for residents and responders. The court found that DOT ignored these warnings.
• Endangering School Children: The project would force the 800 students of St. Demetrios School to cross an active bike and e-bike lane during peak drop-off and pick-up times. The court found that DOT failed to provide any real analysis of how their "solutions"—like rumble strips—would actually protect these children.
• Neglecting Meaningful Analysis: The court found that DOT failed to produce any traffic impact studies, economic assessments, or corridor-specific analysis for the unique challenges of a street with an elevated subway structure.
• Crushing Local Businesses: The court noted that DOT's plan would make back-in loading bays "effectively unusable" and failed to address how sanitation workers could safely collect refuse across a new barrier of parked cars and bike lanes.
• Guilty of Numerous Procedural Failures: The court found DOT violated several New York City laws by failing to follow mandatory consultation and certification rules for major transportation projects.

The Threat: DOT is Seeking to Continue the Project in Spite of the Court’s Ruling

Despite the court’s ruling that their plan is ill-conceived, unsafe, and not suited to 31st Street, DOT is attempting to press forward anyway. They are employing aggressive legal maneuvers designed to work around the court's clear ruling, essentially trying to bypass the legal system to force through a project that has been deemed a danger to the public.

Even worse, the city has decided to suspend criminal penalties for dangerous e-bikers and to instead issue toothless summonses that will be consistently ignored. This means that not only does DOT want to continue to pursue a plan that has been ruled unsafe by a court, it also wants to do it when e-bikes have become an even greater threat to public safety. Astoria won't stand for this, and neither should you.

We have already spent heavily to secure this win. As the city has announced an appeal and a “restart” of the plan, now, we must fund the legal defense necessary to protect it.

A Precedent for All of NYC

This is a precedent-setting case for every neighborhood in New York City. For too long, DOT has prioritized arbitrary bike lane quotas over community needs and the safety of community residents. By supporting this fight, you are helping to:

• Stop DOT Overreach: Hold city agencies accountable to the law and mandatory procedural requirements.
• Demand Genuine Community Engagement: Reject "cosmetic" outreach wherein DOT conducts bogus surveys and agency ignores the overwhelming opposition of residents and small businesses.
• Prioritize Safety Over Quotas: Ensure that street designs are based on real data and the safety of all New Yorkers, not just a "one-size-fits-all" mandate that creates highways for e-bikes and mopeds.

How You Can Help:

The city has bottomless pockets filled with taxpayer money. We rely entirely on the support of neighbors like you. Please donate today to help us continue to hold NYC DOT accountable and ensure that when a court rules, the city actually listens.

Please click here to donate to our legal fund.

All donations are anonymous.

If you are a business owner or resident and would like to get involved, please sign up at this link:

31st Street Business, Parents, and Residents Association sign-up form

In addition, please call or email our local elected officials and tell them that you oppose this plan:

Queens Community Board 1:

718-626-1021 / qn01@cb.nyc.gov

DOT Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia

212-839-2510 / ngarcia@dot.nyc.gov

DOT Deputy Borough Commissioner Jason Banrey

212-839-2510 / jbanrey@dot.nyc.gov

DOT Borough Planner Joe Patti

212-839-2510 / jpatti@dot.nyc.gov

Councilwoman Tiffany Caban

 718-274-4500 / district22@council.nyc.gov

Councilwoman Julie Won

 718-383-9566 / district26@council.nyc.gov

State Senator Kristin Gonzalez

718-765-6674 / gonzalez@nysenate.gov

Assembly Member Diana Moreno

718-545-3889 / morenod@nyassembly.gov