One Year Later: Why Hasn’t DOT Fixed the Real Flaws on the (Mostly) Great Crescent Street Bike Lane?
UPDATE: Streetsblog published a version of this post on November 16, 2021.
The Good
and The Bad
The two way Crescent Street bike lane in Astoria has been a game-changer. Not just for our neighborhood but for the entire city. By creating the spine of a bike network through the center of our neighborhood, we have seen that the demand for better bike infrastructure in Astoria is strong. It also shows us the possibilities of what we can do quickly and easily on streets throughout the city to make them safer for all users and build out a well-used bike transportation network at the same time.
That said, the Crescent Street bike lane’s real flaws and “okay but not actually enough” treatments in spots coupled with a stubborn, negligent refusal from those in charge to admit the flaws and fix them — make clear the deficiencies of the current administration’s protected bike lanes.
In advocacy, there is regularly a tension between “fight to keep/celebrate this (not) good (enough) thing” and “be honest about real flaws and demand dangers be fixed” — especially when nuance, complexity, and grayness (ie “not black or white”) are more apt to be used cynically by opponents or those in power to undermine our goals than they are to advance our agenda. Social media algorithms (and human nature) only exacerbate this tension and further skew incentives away from living within the contradictions. But here we are. “Biking in NYC is amazing and everyone should do it!” and “Biking in NYC is dangerous and needs to be made safe!” can be both true.
One year ago today, 35 year old father, husband, delivery worker, immigrant from Mexico and Queens resident Alfredo Cabrera Linconia was killed on the job, when the driver of a semi-truck with an (illegal) 53’ trailer made an (illegal) right turn and ran him over. While Alfredo was not biking in the Crescent bike lane at the time of his death, the design of the new bike lane did likely help cause his death: by removing parking on both sides but not installing any concrete or sturdy barriers, DOT purposefully made a wider street, which permitted and even incentivized the oversize truck/trailer driver to make the turn from Astoria Boulevard into the bike lane on Crescent.
For weeks before Alfredo’s death, we had been sounding the alarm that portions of the new Crescent Street bike lane weren’t actually all that well protected and were too porous to cars and trucks. The two or three blocks at each end by the bridges were not separated from moving traffic by parked cars and the flimsy flex posts DOT chose to install did almost nothing. Those of us who rode on it saw daily evidence that drivers viewed the new bike lane as space available to them — behavior allowed if not encouraged by DOT’s deficient design and materials. We even organized our elected officials to write to DOT to demand it finish the job and make it fully protected.
But then-DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg wrote back to the elected officials denying them the requested safety upgrades, advising she and the agency were satisfied with the current design and would take a wait-and-see approach. Tragically we didn’t have to wait and see very long: less than a week after she sent her letter, Alfredo would be killed on one of the exact blocks where we had requested safety upgrades but which she had just personally refused.
A few years back I confronted Mayor Bill de Blasio at a Town Hall, asking why folks had to die for streets to receive safety upgrades. He snapped at me: “I couldn’t disagree more that an administration that has... done Vision Zero is just waiting around for someone to die. I resent that, I think that’s unfair.” But in fact, it wasn’t until AFTER Alfredo died that NYC DOT did an about-face and decided to give the bike lane in the exact spot where he died a (minor) design and safety upgrade.
Apparently NYC DOT finally decided that widely spaced flex posts were wholly insufficient at keeping out cars and trucks and replaced them with heavier duty and more tightly placed Qwick Curbs. I guess someone dying while you are busy “monitoring conditions” isn’t the greatest? They didn’t install them all the way to the crosswalk though, which means they’re still allowing dangerous, wide turns from trucks and other large vehicles.
Nov. 12, 2020
May 15, 2021
This post-death about-face leaves me asking: if NYC DOT engineers have decided that flex posts are not safe enough for the Crescent bike lane at Astoria Boulevard where Alfredo died, why do they still think they are safe at other blocks? Why weren’t all remaining ineffective flex posts (from Hoyt Ave S to Newtown Ave and from 38th Ave to 40th Ave) replaced with something more robust? Why does it, yet again, feel like someone has to die for these clearly needed changes to be made?
Not to mention, why was the “safety upgrade” just more plastic posts that also get quickly damaged by cars? Why does concrete or metal bollards never enter the list of options? Not even after someone’s death which has inherently proved your design and materials faulty?
Here we are today, one year after Alfredo’s death: former Commissioner Trottenberg is gone (having been very well rewarded with a big promotion down in DC) but we’re still stuck with inadequate protection on exactly the blocks where it’s needed most. Zero systematic safety improvements were made along the corridor and only a few spot treatments were added—qwick curbs in three very small stretches.
Now, this is something to be resentful about, Bill.
As I wrote earlier, the tension between “Wow!!! Over 2,000 people rode in this bike lane today! This is AMAZING! Thank you and please keep more coming like this!” and “We’ve already lost one person due to unsafe street conditions… so why do many of these blocks remain completely unprotected? Why does NYC DOT continue to abandon these 2,000+ daily riders, unnecessarily risking more lives?” is real and exists within me and within so many who choose to organize or advocate for safe street improvements. I’m sure these contradictions even live within most of the fine folks who are employed at NYC DOT.
In just under two months time, we will have a new mayor (who didn’t sign Zohran’s pledge to improve Crescent) and a new DOT Commissioner. Most likely, street policies will remain almost exactly the same, with small feints made to increase mode share and safety for New Yorkers biking and walking but ultimately the car (and its need for endless level of service and parking spots) will remain king of the road. But that doesn’t have to be the case: the Crescent Street bike lane offers us a road map. We know how to fix it, how to make it even better, and how to replicate its successes in other neighborhoods. We know how to protect riders like Alfredo. It’s up to us if we do.
