Controversial Bayside Bike Lane Debate Resurfaces After Collision

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — A driver was exiting the Cross Island Expressway, heading towards Northern Boulevard in Bayside on Tuesday night, when they made a turn into the cement wall of a protected bike lane, police said.

Later, neighbors heard about the crash from a local Facebook page, where one resident posted a trio of nondescript blurry photos of the car atop the cement barrier. “Another victim at the famous location,” they commented.

Many locals were able to identify the location by those descriptors alone, with dozens taking to the comments to say they weren’t surprised to hear there’d been another accident at Cross Island Expressway and Northern Boulevard.

The intersection in question has been the subject of controversy for years, with pedestrians and drivers alike decrying its danger.

Years of controversy

By many accounts the controversy dates back to 2016, when Michael Schenkman, a 78-year-old cyclist, was fatally hit by a driver at the intersection.

Schenkman’s death reignited calls for a protected bike lane between 223rd Street and Douglaston Parkway on Northern Boulevard.

"I believe this should have been addressed 20 years ago or more,” Schenkman’s son, Peter, told NY1, adding that a protected bike lane could have saved his father’s life.

"Please, please let's enact some cyclist protection so no other family has to go through what my family went through," he said.

And, in the summer of 2017, that’s what the Department of Transportation did, getting to work on a two-way, barrier-protected bike lane along the westbound side of the corridor in what was once a lane of traffic.

The bike lane has been the subject of controversy ever since then.

Shortly after construction began, community board members, who initially approved the DOT’s plan, rejected the transportation agency’s proposal in lieu of their own at an emergency meeting that quickly turned heated, QNS reported.

“We need to move forward with a plan, before more people die,” one public attendee called out at the meeting, claiming that bike-lane critics were just trying to delay a life-saving infrastructure measure, despite critics’ claims otherwise.

The fighting was moot, since the DOT ultimately ignored the board’s plan, forging ahead with their own.

Critical neighbors continued to oppose the bike lane even after it had been standing for more than a year; some residents staged protests and threatened to sue the city, reports show.

Most opponents believe that in lieu of eliminating a lane of traffic, the sidewalk should be expanded to create a pedestrian and cyclist pathway — per the community board’s revised proposal.

Bernie Haber, a retired engineer who devised that proposal and has been among the most vocal bike lane opponents, said that the barrier's most glaring safety issue is at the Cross Island Parkway and Northern Boulevard intersection.

“[The bike lane barrier is] right in front of the entrance and two exists. It’s very dangerous,” he told QNS. “Any highway engineer would never design something like this. Why this was put that way, I don’t know.”

Collision data

The intersection is, notably, an area with many crashes, but the community doesn’t agree what is causing the accidents.

While some neighbors predictably blame the bike lane, officials, including Captain John Portalatin, commander of the neighborhood’s 111th Precinct, blamed inattentive drivers.

In the first six months of 2021, there were 21 collisions at the Cross Island Parkway and Northern Boulevard intersection, almost all of which were caused by driver inattention or distraction, police records show.

The collisions injured eight people, half of whom were on bikes, according to police records.

That data doesn't take into account any collisions in July and Aug., including the accident this week.

The most recent accident

The most recent collision at the intersection surfaced all of the existing debates about the bike lane, with over 70 neighbors commenting on the Facebook thread about the crash.

Some suggested that maybe the driver didn’t know the area, or got confused because it was a rainy, dark night.

Others blamed the barrier’s design, writing that it should be covered in reflective tape or a “flashing sign that says DO NOT DRIVE UP ON THE BARRIER,” as one put it.

“Although I don’t understand how people cannot see this, it must be removed! Too many accidents have occurred,” wrote one person, echoing comments calling for the bike-lane’s removal.

Others, however, blamed the driver’s behavior, debating whether they had been speeding or texting.

“Maybe take your noses and fingers away from your phones while driving or one day you may be the one in the photo,” wrote one.

“[People] either aren’t paying attention or going way too fast to react,” speculated another.

The police, on the other hand, did not provide more information about what happened.

“A vehicle was towed from the location on Aug. 10 at approximately 9:45 p.m.,” a spokesperson confirmed to Patch. “That is the information that is available.”