The Department of Transportation has indefinitely postponed a virtual workshop for the planned 16-mile Queens Waterfront Greenway in order to establish a code of conduct after an in-person workshop in Douglaston last month was disrupted by a clash between Council Member Vickie Paladino and a number of greenway activists.
The DOT’s Oct. 24 community planning workshop at the Alley Pond Environmental Center in Douglaston, aimed at gathering public input on the far eastern segment of the newly proposed 16-mile Queens Waterfront Greenway project, but was disrupted when a number of frustrated local residents voiced their opposition to the plan. The DOT had set up the meeting as a workshop, which is set up for design purposes, not to debate the need for the project.
DOT workshops are organized to collect community feedback and are generally not set up like public forums, with participants often split into small groups to comment on specific segments of proposals. Workshops also generally include a small portion at the beginning of the event, where a DOT official provides an overview of the project.
However, Paladino urged her constituents to attend the workshop and voice their concerns, promoting the workshop as a public hearing that allowed individuals to address their concerns to the audience at large. A number of her supporters allegedly became confrontational when they were not allowed to speak during the overview portion of the project, causing an angry back-and-forth between those in favor of the project and those against it.
Paladino eventually led her supporters out of the meeting midway through the workshop portion of the event.
Paladino said in a statement that the workshop format was “absurd,” adding that it was understandable that some of her constituents became confrontational when they were not given the chance to address the audience directly. She argued that those in opposition to the greenway were ignored by “arrogant and entitled” supporters of the project, stating that many of those in favor of the project did not live in the impacted area.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, following the workshop, Paladino also blamed the DOT for ignoring those in opposition to the greenway and accused the Department of not caring about community input.
“What was supposed to be a public hearing turned into a fiasco thanks to activists and lobbyists from outside the district more interested in bullying than listening to the people who actually live here,” Paladino wrote on X.
Those in favor of the greenway, on the other hand, said Paladino and her supporters became confrontational when they were not allowed to speak, accusing a Paladino staffer of “flipping off” a greenway advocate and attempting to have greenway supporters removed from the meeting.
More than 100 people both in favor and in opposition to the planned greenway attended the meeting last month, with Paladino addressing the audience during the overview portion of the evening. She alleged that nobody uses existing bike lanes in the area, drawing angry reactions from members of the audience.
During the workshop segment of the evening, Paladino, frustrated by the lack of public debate on the project, stood on a chair and encouraged anyone in opposition to the greenway to leave the meeting. She voiced her disappointment that attendees were not allowed to address the audience at large.
The DOT subsequently postponed a virtual workshop scheduled for Oct. 29 until a code of conduct could be established for future meetings that ensured “decorum and respect” for all participants.
Tomorrow’s Queens Waterfront Greenway virtual workshop has been postponed.
A code of conduct will be developed to ensure decorum and respect for all participants. https://t.co/tLOKoFRcpO
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) October 28, 2024
A DOT spokesperson said the Fort Totten workshop was the third workshop regarding the Queens Waterfront Greenway plan and said each of the two first workshops followed the same structure, where participants broke off into small groups and offered suggestions about certain elements of the project. The spokesperson added that the DOT clearly communicated this structure to Paladino in the weeks leading up to the Fort Totten event.
Alex Duncan, a transportation advocate and the moderator of the Micromobility Reddit community, accused Paladino of riling up her supporters in the weeks leading up to the workshop, causing disruptive scenes as members of the audience demanded speaking time.
“It is completely unprecedented for these types of meetings,” Duncan said. “The DOT let her speak, which is actually somewhat uncommon in itself, and she immediately started riling up the crowd.”
Duncan argued that Paladino misled her constituents about the nature of the workshop while also alleging that nobody uses bike lanes in the area already, drawing an angry response from the crowd.
He said he noticed a member of Paladino’s staff “flipping off” a woman who was in favor of the greenway, prompting him to approach the staffer. He said the man attempted to have him removed from the meeting despite having no power to do so. A video posted on the MicroMobility Reddit captures some of the confrontation immediately after the “flipping off” incident.
“He was claiming authority for things that he didn’t have, like the power to throw me out of the meeting,” Duncan said. “Then he brought over other staff members to try and have me thrown out, who also didn’t have the power to do so. All of them were aggressive, pushing me, body blocking me and getting in my face saying really threatening, weird stuff.”
Emily Lipstein, a reporter with the transportation site Streetsblog, attended the meeting last month. She said that Paladino had repeatedly informed her followers on social media that the workshop would take on a public hearing format in the weeks leading up to the event.
“It seemed like this was her trying to get people to believe that it was going to go down one way, and when it ended up being something different than what they were expecting, it basically made people feel like they’re being silenced,” Lipstein said.
Lipstein added that Paladino told the audience that the greenway would become a “crime highway,” allowing criminals from other neighborhoods to easily travel into her district.
“That makes me chuckle because the phrase is a getaway car,” Lipstein said. “They seem to believe that the second that these recreational paths… are finished criminals are going to be commandeering it and robbing your house and lowering her property values. It very much was all this sense that, ‘we don’t want people coming here. We don’t want it easier for people to come here.'”
Lipstein and Duncan both said the workshop calmed down after Paladino and her supporters walked out roughly 20 minutes into the meeting.
Paladino said in a statement that the workshop treated the project as a “foregone conclusion.” She also said she could not think of any reason for the DOT to develop a code of conduct for an online meeting.
“I suspect the DOT and the activist nonprofits who run these meetings are completely uninterested in hearing from actual community members who are against their project,” Paladino said in a statement. “The format chosen for these ‘workshops’ is absurd and treats the project as a foregone conclusion, designed only to facilitate a kabuki theater for activists, in which they manufacture consent for projects that are deeply unpopular with the regular working people and homeowners who actually live in these neighborhoods.
“When members of the community realized that they were being ignored by arrogant and entitled supporters of the project — most of whom live outside the district — they became understandably agitated and confrontational. Regardless of whether one calls the event a ‘town hall’ or a ‘workshop,’ the expectation is that opposing voices will be heard.”
District 19 turned out in force tonight to tell the bike lobby NO.
What was supposed to be a public hearing turned into a fiasco thanks to activists and lobbyists from outside the district more interested in bullying than listening to the people who actually live here.
Let me… pic.twitter.com/w23rV3gkPL
— Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (@VickieforNYC) October 24, 2024
The Queens Waterfront Greenway aims to create a 16-mile continuous corridor along the Queens waterfront from Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City to Astoria Park along the East River and to Fort Totten following the Long Island Sound.
DOT officials argued at the workshop that several factors, including highways, airports, and industrial roads, have disconnected residents from the waterfront. They also pointed out that over twenty parks in the region are not yet connected by bike lanes despite recent investments from the city council.
“We want to connect those parks and connect residents to the assets that already exist. We want the route we come up with to be continuous, safe and accessible,” said Emma Maniere, a Project Manager at the DOT, who led the presentation.
In a statement following the decision to postpone the virtual workshop, a DOT official said the project would better connect the Queens waterfront for all cyclists and pedestrians.
“This greenway plan could better connect residents in Northeast Queens to the beautiful parks in their neighborhoods through new bike paths and pedestrian spaces, creating welcoming areas for cyclists as well as families in need of safer streets to walk with their children and grandchildren,” the DOT said in a statement. “We successfully captured a wide variety of feedback at our third workshop in Douglaston and we will always strive to ensure we’re hosting respectful, inclusive meetings as we develop this historic greenway expansion hand-in-hand with local residents. ”
Participants at last month’s workshop told DOT officials that pedestrians and cyclists along the Queens waterfront need improved safety. Several participants stated they have been victims of traffic accidents on the waterfront.
Paladino and other opponents of the greenway said on the evening that most people who support the project do not live in the impacted eastern Queens neighborhoods. Paladino also told attendees that the greenway threatens parking spaces in eastern Queens neighborhoods.
Participants who traveled to the workshop from other neighborhoods said they may not live in the area but often travel there for work, recreation, or errands to support the local economy.
“I think it’s ridiculous that Paladino wants to make this a political issue,” said Michael Forcina, a Middle Village resident who heard about the workshop on social media. “It’s about safety and having more access to green spaces.”
Meanwhile, eastern Queens residents who supported the greenway said it would make their commute to work easier and their weekend recreational bike rides and walks safer and more accessible.
