McGuinness Boulevard to be redesigned with two protected bike lanes, after all
Greenpoint’s notoriously dangerous McGuinness Boulevard will receive its originally planned safety upgrades, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Saturday. The city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) will move forward with its plan to install protected bike lanes along the entirety of McGuinness Boulevard, extending existing protected lanes between Meeker and Calyer Streets up to the Pulaski Bridge. The move fulfills a campaign pledge Mamdani made in August to complete the original project and follows a corruption scandal under former Mayor Eric Adams, in which the redesign was scaled back amid allegations that a neighborhood film production company bribed a senior administration official, as Gothamist reported.
“New Yorkers deserve to feel safe when they’re traveling with their families and loved ones on city streets — and McGuinness Boulevard should be designed to stitch Greenpoint together, not divide it in half,” NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said.
“We are moving swiftly to finish the redesign of McGuinness Boulevard because we know too many lives have already been lost on this street — and that this project was altered against the best interests of New Yorkers. This is just the beginning, and we look forward to doubling down to aggressively deliver on our bus and street safety agenda and restore faith in our community engagement process.”
A critical corridor and major cycling connection between Brooklyn and Queens, McGuinness Boulevard carries over 4,000 daily riders during the summer months and is known for its dangerous conditions for cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike.
The project will target the southern portion of the boulevard, which has seen one death and more than 150 traffic-related injuries from January through July 2024, according to NYC Crash Mapper.
Once complete, the corridor will feature one travel lane, one protected bike lane, and one vehicular parking and loading lane in each direction, Mamdani said. The mayor added that the redesign will shorten crossing distances, calm turning vehicles, and reduce reckless driving. He noted that similar designs across the city have lowered traffic deaths and serious injuries by 30 percent, according to a press release.
The initiative’s newest iteration is reminiscent of the original “road diet” plan first announced under Adams in May 2023, which aimed to remove a traffic lane in each direction while adding bike lanes in both directions protected by parked cars. Greenpoint residents and street safety groups spent years advocating for the plan, and their efforts intensified in 2021 after teacher Matthew Jensen died in a hit-and-run.
While the plan was backed by the local community board and street safety advocates, some residents and elected officials opposed it, arguing it would worsen congestion and hurt local businesses.
In August 2024, Adams sided with the opposition and scaled back the original design, citing “community concerns.” Broadway Stages, a prominent Greenpoint film production company owned by the Argento family, an Adams donor, led opposition to the redesign. The revised plan preserved the same number of traffic lanes but removed the protected bike lanes.
Adams’ plans to alter the design remained unclear until August 2025, when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accused Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Adams’ former chief adviser, of accepting $2,500 in cash, free catering at Gracie Mansion valued at $10,000, and a brief appearance on the television show “Godfather of Harlem” in exchange for using her influence to alter the McGuinness Boulevard redesign on behalf of the Argentos. The case is ongoing.
Mamdani’s decision to move forward with the original plan fulfills a campaign pledge he made in August, when he held a rally on the boulevard. The mayor has also framed the move as a rebuke of Adams’ willingness to prioritize “moneyed interests” over public safety, according to Gothamist.
“For too long, critical street safety projects have been delayed or shelved because of political considerations and backroom deal-making rather than the needs of New Yorkers. Those days are over,” Mamdani said.
“New Yorkers deserve to be safe no matter how they commute — whether they bike, walk, or drive. That’s why, as one of my first acts as Mayor, my administration is committing to restarting implementation of parking-protected bike lanes on McGuinness Boulevard and complete its redesign.”
The mayor said the project can begin as soon as “the weather warms.”
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