Cyclist Death's Spurs Astoria Pols' Plea For More Protected Bike Lanes

ASTORIA, QUEENS — After a 62-year-old woman lost her life while biking in Astoria last month, several lawmakers requested the Department of Transportation to add protected bike lanes to the neighborhood.

Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, and City Council Member Tiffany Cabán held a press conference on Friday afternoon and demanded a north-south bike lane and an east-west protected bike lane in Astoria by September 2023.

The request comes after Tamara Chuchi Kao was fatally struck by the driver of a cement truck while riding a Citi Bike eastbound on 24th Avenue in Astoria.

“This is not an accident, this is a policy failure,” said Gonzalez, who represents the 59th Senate District, during the press conference. “We shouldn't be losing any more of our neighbors.”

Gonzalez said that over 98 percent of bike lanes in Council District 22 are unprotected.

The calls for protected bike lanes echos previous requests to make roads for cyclists and pedestrians safer. The city recorded more than 200 deaths involving vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists, including Xing Long Lin, a delivery worker killed by a driver on 35th Street in 2021.