We were happy to hear yesterday (thanks to Gothamist’s exclusive) that the Mamdnai administration is planning a major street safety and bus lane project on the easternmost highway-like stretch of Linden Boulevard – aka “The New Boulevard of Death.”
The roadway is unsafe: there have been two fatalities already this year and 330 injuries between 2019 and 2023, with two fatalities, just between Fountain Avenue and 79th Street. But the Department of Transportation’s design won’t just make it safer, but also help improve bus speeds.
And that’s also urgent. When the DOT first presented a variety of proposals to Brooklyn Community Board 5 in January 2025, bus speeds were as low as 6 miles per hour. By the time the DOT presented its bus lane plan to the same panel on Monday, those buses were bottoming out at 4 miles per hour.
We did ask DOT why it couldn’t find room for a bike lane on a roadway with three lanes in each direction and, like the original Boulevard of Death in Queens, a service road, but the agency said it didn’t want to get over its skis. DOT already installed protected bike lanes on Cozine and Wortman avenues nearby, but also intends to roll out more bike lanes in the future, when Conduit Boulevard is re-imagined.
OK, we won’t be impatient. Here’s hoping that when you bike over there, you won’t become a patient.
In other news: – Speaker Carl Heastie remains the Assembly’s greatest impediment to safe streets. Hell Gate reported that the Bronx Democrat just can’t seem to understand the unique threat posed by drivers who rack up 16 school zone speed-camera tickets in any 12-month period. – ICE is looking for parking spaces. – Bizarre carnage in Queens. – Horrifying carnage in The Bronx. – The feds are starting to provide funds for the Penn Station renovation, though not enough. – Cops seized two vehicles allegedly involved in last week’s fiery rampage in Queens. – There’s a GoFundMe page for the family of Jenny Sánchez, the Ridgewood woman killed by a truck driver last week. – Jalopnik picked up the story about the cop who won’t be charged for driving over a man in Queens. – The Post is the latest outlet to selectively cover an NYU study about brain injuries and e-mobility. – A hit-and-run driver hit a school bus. – Mayor Mamdani is an avid Citi Bike rider.
