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Transit advocates to canvas Sunnyside/Woodside businesses to support protected bike lanes on 43rd Avenue

Online flyer for the canvassing event

Aug. 15, 2017 By Nathaly Pesantez

Transit advocates will spend Saturday afternoon canvassing Sunnyside and Woodside businesses in an attempt to gain their support in asking the city to install protected bike lanes on 43rd Avenue.

The event, organized by the Transportation Alternatives Queens Volunteer Committee, will begin at 2:00 p.m. at Skillman Avenue and 52nd Street, where volunteers will enter businesses down 43rd Avenue until 5:00 p.m.

Juan Restrepo, a spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives, said that they conducted a canvassing event on Skillman Avenue last weekend that was successful, with over 30 letters of support collected in two hours from businesses.

“They were truly receptive,” Restrepo said, noting that a great majority of Skillman businesses are food-service related, and have an interest in keeping store fronts and employees who most use bicycles—delivery drivers—safe.

For Saturday’s event, volunteers will have letters with pre-filled safety suggestions, including curb extensions, parking-protected bike lanes, and daylighting on 43rd Avenue, and will encourage businesses to sign the letters in support, which will then be given to Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer and Community Board 2, Restrepo said.

Skillman Avenue and 43rd Avenue have been a point of focus among transit advocates and community leaders alike, especially after the death of Gelasio Reyes, a 32-year-old man, at the intersection of 43rd avenue and 39th Street in April, which inspired a July petition calling for protected bike lanes on the two avenues that has already amassed over 670 signatures.

For more information, see the Facebook page for the event.

 

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75 Comments

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Mathew.

There should be Facebook page where we can upload these recklessly driving bicycles, so there will be action against them.

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Petula Ant

Sure let’s create a community website where everyone can post images and videos of cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians breaking the laws.

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JohnSnow.

I’m on 34th avenue and there is more than 20 blocks bike lane bike lane goes from there I saw many times bikers disobeying the traffic lights and running over pedestrians. I near travers park I agree there should be more fines for those bikers who disobey the law.

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Anonymous

Taking more driving lanes on Skillman and 43rd Avenues for protected bike lanes is chaotic and crazy. Having four (incl. Queens Blvd) adjacent avenues with protected bike lanes makes the neighborhood impossible to navigate for both drivers and pedestrians. Protected bike lanes and “daylighting” take away many parking spaces and ruin local businesses. No local business would support this but TA with their “pre-filled” survey answers will lie and say that they do.

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Anonymous

Taking more driving lanes on Skillman and 43rd Avenues for protected bike lanes is chaotic and crazy. Having four adjacent avenues (including Queens Boulevard) with protected bike lanes makes the whole neighborhood impossible to navigate for both drivers and pedestrians. This, as well as so called “daylighting” takes away even more parking spaces ruining local businesses. No local business supports this but TA will say they do.

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Anonymous

This Transportation Alternatives “survey” on Saturday of Skillman Avenue & 43rd Avenue is self serving, a Transportation Alternatives specialty, with “pre-filled safety suggestions”. The results of their survey are thus pre-determined in their favor. Transportation Alternatives is a lobbying and propaganda organization for bikers. Who funds this organization? How much do they donate to politicians who allow this chaos to be on our streets.

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Causal Observer

This world is going to hell if the level of intelligence is reflected in this thread.

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Anonymous

Bikers seem to think they alone among everyone else using public thoroughfares deserve to travel from point A to point B with no inconveniences. Drivers of every kind of vehicle have to slowdown and stop and merge, and wait and put on the brakes and get out of the way all the time. Pedestrians, too. Why don’t bikers realize this and join the throngs in a realistic way. Slow down! Stop at lights and stop signs. Merge. Stop for obstacles. Don’t ride between cars it is so unnerving!

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Petula Ant

This is a gross generalization. Do you see all of the comments on here from other bikers posting constructive comments supporting regulation of bikers? There are a lot of badly behaving bikers and there are also a lot of badly behaving drivers. As a driver I don’t want to be lumped with motorists who drive dangerously. There are lots of law abiding bikers that we don’t seem to notice. I’ve heard a lot of bike riders also complaining that they feel unsafe from cars but also badly behaving bicyclists. The solution isn’t to ban one mode or another; the solution is to stop the bad behavior and enforce the laws on both sides.

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Anonymous

The majority of cyclist are jerks and ride their bikes recklessly and get violent if you say anything to them

I’m sorry for this man’s death though

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Annoyed both driver and bicycle rider!

Bike owners should have license plates and insurance. When bike owners can be identified, then they HAVE to be responsible for how and where they operate their vehicles.If they want to share the road,they must also share the responsibilities of the road. Most of the time because there is no way to identify the rider or bike, the bike rider behaves badly.

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Anonymous

Ha ha. Remember the garden crowd chanting ” BEAT YOUR WIFE POTVIN, BEAT YOUR WIFE” TOO FUNNY! Poor Mrs potvin though. He got off with a slap on the wrist. Today he would have been locked up

Roxy

How about Protected Pedestrian Paths on sidewalks? We’re constantly under threat not only from bikes, but also skateboards, scooters, and other fast-moving devices.

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Kieran the Irish leprechaun, lucky charms

Enough already. What’s next protected dog lanes. Your nuts

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Petula Ant

We should have protected dog lines may be protected lizard lines as well. first and foremost; however, we need to have separate walking text lanes and walking lanes.

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ann

Everyone on the road needs to be safe as possible.

When accidents happen, it’s best to find a way to prevent them.

Protected lanes do that (with no impact on cars or traffic)

Good thing to support.

Angry at bikers? Not very productive use of energy.

Type amen

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Mythoughts

If there were protected bike lanes I would bike to work instead of taking the 7 train. I bet I’m not the only one. This is one more strategy to address train overcrowding.

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Mr bicycle

And remember, I am ………..?????????????????????????????????????? MR.BICYCLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Mr bicycle

Sorry checked out by accident. I think Skillman and 43ave are good for bikes but the blvd is a disaster. Sometimes I see bikes in the car lanes. The bikes should be registered too. I would do it on my bike in a minute. I feel it’s safer for us bike people. Plus we’d be insured in case of an accident. Also city of my could make money on tickets ,fines,registration, it’s good all around

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Mr bicycle

The problem is bikes don’t belong on roads designed for cars. Bikes don’t belong on main roads with heavy traffic. Its like putting a cat in the middle of the highway. I ride a bike but never on queens blvd or any road that is similar to the blvd. Too dangerous. Bikes belong on streets like in Whitestone, bayside, mid village, 30th ave in woodside/jaxhgts/e.elmhurst. Nice, low traffic, slow tree lined street. Not the blvd of death. I mean, the qb transformation was just a waste of money. You may see a bike every 2 hrs. Just a waste. What about winter? Just not well thought out for the motorist or the cyclist.

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Anonymous

“The problem is bikes don’t belong on roads designed for cars.” NO. The road design is the problem. The problem is that too much public space is dedicated to automobile traffic. Tax payers subsidize car ownership and forfeit space that should be useful to pedestrians, cyclists, etc. It’s absurd that people don’t see this.

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Anonymous

Again. Your anger drives people away. It is not absurd that most people don’t share your point of view. You are too stubborn to realize that. Step back and let someone with a handle on their temper do the talking. You are making enemies.

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Petula Ant

This is exactly right. The problem is folks like Robert Moses believe that road should be designed only for cars. Now the roads need to be re-designed to handle multiple forms of transportation.

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ann

A totally disinterested surveyed, with pre-formatted responses, collected by rabid bike advocates. How persuasive. This should be done by a neutral group. And why focus exclusively on business? This ‘survey’ is totally worthless.

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Leon Pincus

Perhaps if the cyclists obeyed traffic rules like stopping at red lights and stop signs and stayed in the bike lanes there would be no need for discussion…There also should be a law making it mandatory for delivery riders to wear reflective safety vests..Careless and reckless cyclists are the real issue

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Bart Stone

Yes! Bike advocates are always asking for more and more protection as if cars are the problem. But as an everyday driver, I see it all the time – a lot of guys on bikes don’t follow the rules of the road at all. They race through red lights and then get pissed that you didn’t see them coming. Seems they think they always have the right of way. Scariest part of my commute is where the bike lanes are in queens. You gotta check regular car traffic, be mindful of pedestrians, oh and be aware of guys on bikes zooming through intersections from your blindsides doing 30 mph. It puts drivers in an impossible situation. How about bike people need to go way slower to protect themselves and others. I think speed limits for bikes would be a good idea.

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Anonymous

So don’t drive if it’s such a problem for you. The roads belong to everyone, not just the minority car owners.

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Anonymous

You are so very rude and make compromising to come up with a solution for everyone nearly impossible. Your nasty attitude goads people who want to share the road with you to start regretting their decision. Clean up your anger. No one is out to kill you.

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Cars Kill

“I think speed limits for bikes would be a good idea.”

They already exist, they are the same as the speed limits for all vehicles. You must have a lot of olympian cyclists in your neighborhood if they are regularly going faster than 30MPH!

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Petula Ant

This is the exact kind of comment that makes all of us drivers looks so terrible. You are an ungrateful selfish ignoramus.

You clearly have never tried to ride a bike or maybe even walk in your own neighborhood or from one neighborhood to another.

As a driver I am embarrassed and ashamed of you.

What’s remarkable is you have no empathy whatsoever and not enough insight to realize that the comments expressing your fears and frustrations with having to drive on busy congested roads with multiple forms of transportation are the same fears and frustrations that the users of the other transportation forms have as well.

Now just imagine pedestrians and bicyclists having your same fears and frustrations but multiplied exponentially because a 2,000 pound hunk of metal driven wrecklessly. That’s a seriously dangerous weapon.

I am a driver and I understand this. The solution is not to just point fingers and constantly blame. It’s imperative to recognize the fact that there are people on both sides that break the law and don’t follow road rules. If we all obey the law and no one road wrecklessy accidents would still happen and the fact that a car is a serious weapon when up against pedestians and cyclists means we need workable solutions to make it safe for everyone. This wand compromises. That means autos may have to drive slower and we’ll have to be more alert than we’ve become accustomed to, and bikers will also have to slow down and ride single file and respect thier fellow cyclists and wear bright clothes at night and have lights on their bikes. It also means and more consistent law enforcement for all parties, but most of all a realization that we are not living in Robert Moses’s NY anymore. The grand experience that of the car over all else was a failure. Now it’s time to try a different approach: shared roads with alternative forms of transportation. Our roads can’t handle more cars and it is unrealistic to think otherwise. It’s not sustainable.

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Anonymous

You have a very narrow view of this issue. Careless and reckless CAR DRIVERS are the real issue.

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BartStone

Fair enough, I see the issue from behind the wheel. And I’m aware there are plenty of bad drivers out there, I deal with them all the time – by driving defensively. I just find it crazy that many bikers aren’t defensive and they are so vulnerable. They aught to ride slower and be more cautious, a lot of people don’t know bike rules (they weren’t a thing back in the day) and yet bikers zip by and break important rules all the time as if they own the road. In the end, I think both motorists and bikers need to better understand what’s expected of them.

http://blog.esurance.com/bike-lanes-what-are-the-rules-exactly/

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Anonymous

I agree with you. A big part of the problem is that mainstream cycling in NYC is relatively new. A few years ago, only messengers or people with a death wish would dare bike on city streets. But this is changing, and that’s a good thing. Now we need attitudes (cyclists, drivers, pedestrians, cops, EVERYONE), infrastructure and law enforcement to catch up.

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Anonymous

Protected bike lanes on these streets are long overdue. The speeding and double parking is out of control. This will help a lot to make Skillman and 43rd calmer and safer, and ultimately make Sunnyside more livable.

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Anonymous

A lot of businesses depend on double parking. And believe it or not cars also have to stop and wait or go around double parked vehicles. It isn’t all about you.

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Anonymous

It is so different for a car to be forced to go around a double parked car and a cyclist to be forced into a lane of traffic to go around a double parked car. And as for businesses relying on double parking, build a protected bike lane and none of this would be an issue.

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Double Snarking

If your business depends on breaking the law and endangering other’s lives, maybe you should reconsider your business model. A lot of businesses depend on delivery by bicycle as well.

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Let's get chariots

For who, the bike rider of course. We need traffic to flow. No make it easier for bikes. This is typical bike mentality. Worry about bikes , dont worry about anything else. F bikes

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Petula Ant

This is exactly the thinking that gets it so wrong. He’s people think that traffic is only about automobiles. This person is not thinking or understanding that traffic is made up of human beings, bicycles, and automobiles. Traffic is not just one mode of transportation and to think so his head in the sand thinking Mr. Ostrich

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rikki

I don’t see why there shouldn’t be protected lanes. Whatever makes the roads safer is a good thing. I wonder how much sway the petition has to getting this done. It’s a start.

Best of luck. Stay safe out there and don’t text and drive 🙂

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Esrever Etummoc

If those bicyclists reverse commuted there would be no problem! It’s easy. Simple. Just reverse commute, right rikki?

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Matt

i will support the installation of protected bike lanes if the biking community also supports increased ticketing of bicyclists who don’t obey traffic laws (i.e.: running red lights, travelling against traffice, not using bike lane, etc.)

both are excellent uses of my tax dollars. one or the other is not.

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A.Bundy

aint that the truth! now many patrolling cops do you think would ticket them? bike at your own risk. it comes with the nyc territory. if people wanna ride recklessly, then they’ll get hit by a car. it dont get simpler than that.

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Mr bicycle

Your tax dollars mean nothing. Pennies in comparison of what it will cost. Stop typing, your sounding foolish

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Anonymous

Cyclists are jerks. It’s infuriating to watch them zip through red lights, cut off pedestrians in crosswalks, bike on the sidewalk, etc. They should be ticketed more. BUT the much, much more pressing concern is ticketing drivers who CONSTANTLY blow through red lights, go at obnoxious speeds and cut off pedestrians in crosswalks. Cars kill people. And until bike lanes are free and clear of double parked cars, no one has the right to get angry at a cyclist for not using the bike lane. Often it’s for their own safety.

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