By Bill Parry
Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to bypass Community Board 4 and go ahead with plans to redesign 111th Street along the western edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The city Department of Transportation plans to reduce the number of traffic lanes and build a two-way protected bike lane to slow traffic. But CB4 tabled the DOT’s latest proposal by a 24-12 vote March 20 that sparked outrage among residents and safe street advocates who packed the VFW post on 108th Street. Critics of the plan wanted more traffic lights, stops signs and crosswalks along the roadway.
The mayor, speaking at town hall meeting Wednesday at IS 61 Leonardo Da Vinci on 50th Avenue in Corona, answered a question from a member of Mujeres en Movimiento, a collective of primarily immigrant Latina mothers, which has advocated and marched for safety improvements on 111th Street since City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeleand (D-East Elmhurst) funded the redesign with $2.7 million is 2013.
“I’m comfortable that the right thing to do is move ahead with our efforts to protect people on 111th Street,” de Blasio said. “We will continue always to work with community leaders and community boards as we go along. But this plan is ready to move so we’re going to move it.”
It is not the first time de Blasio has ignored CB4 and pushed ahead on a major project. Last May the board voted to allow the second phase of the Queens Boulevard reconstruction project, but without the protected bike lanes. The mayor ordered the DOT to install them anyway.
“I respect those who disagree with us, but in the end the safety of our neighbors and our children is the most fundamental responsibility we have in this work,” de Blasio said after making the Queens Boulevard decision.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
