After almost a year since construction began on McGuinness Boulevard, community members with the Make McGuinness Safe organization say it's working to improve safety—at least for half of the corridor.
Chris Roberti rides his bike along McGuinness Boulevard every day.
He takes his daughter to school, where Matthew Jensen – who was killed in a hit-and-run on the boulevard in 2021 — once taught.
Riding there was not always an option for Roberti.
"I would never ride my bike here,” said Roberti. “I would never walk on here. Often, I wouldn't even cross if I didn't have to."
McGuinness Boulevard was designed nearly 70 years ago as a connector between the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and the Long Island Expressway. After several years of planning and input from the community —- a redesign was finally constructed in 2024.
"They're making improvements in the south section pretty regularly and it's wonderful,” said Roberti. “The north has remained untouched."
DOT transformed the southern parts of the boulevard into two traffic lanes, a protected bike lane and even a parking lane. However, the promise to have that same redesign throughout the entire stretch of McGuinness, has yet to be fulfilled.
Residents blame Mayor Eric Adams, and say he abandoned the plan.
"Everyone, from our council members to our assembly members to our senators, to our congressman to the public advocate,” said Roberti. “Everybody except Mayor Adams is in support of it. The DOT is in support of it."
City Hall provided the following statement in response:
“The Department of Transportation is currently monitoring project performance along McGuinness Boulevard, as the agency does with every street redesign. Based on data gathered from this monitoring phase, we will make any adjustments as seen fit.”
According to DOT data, since 2011 three people have been killed along the corridor.
January of this year saw 75% fewer injuries than this time last year — which members of Make McGuinness Safe say they credit to the DOT’s partial redesign.
“It was a strange compromise,” said Roberti. “And the compromise seemed to be compromising our safety. It's incomplete and it's dangerous."
Make McGuinness Safe advocates are hopeful that the next mayor in office will be committed to keeping the plan intact and make sure another life is not lost there.
