Austin Street Car-Free Proposal Grips Business Leader Opposition

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — As residents vouch for segments of the heavily-trafficked Austin Street to be pedestrianized, the leading voice of a collective of Forest Hills businesses considered the other side of the coin.

Leslie Brown, president of the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce, argued that redesigning segments of the street to be car-free would be detrimental to the businesses that rely on the roadway.

“The businesses of Austin Street and the businesses on surrounding streets want, need and cannot exist with out parking,” Brown said. “The patrons of Austin Street want, need and would in many cases not be able to come to the street if they could not park.”

The response comes after the Forest Hills and Rego Park community board voted on a resolution requesting the Department of Transportation study a possible redesign on Austin street as a first step for higher pedestrian safety and lower car congestion.

"Neighbors for a Safer Austin Street," a group of Forest Hills residents, started a petition asking for the city department to increase pedestrian space. The transportation, public transit, and street safety committee in Community Board 6 later adopted and backed up the request.

If the resolution is adopted, DOT would look at the possibility of widening sidewalks on Austin Street, adding more outdoor seating areas, and making a one-way conversion westbound of the street.

But Brown believes the redesign would hurt Forest Hills businesses if construction takes place and restaurants install more outdoor seating.

“The sidewalks have worked for almost 100 years,” she said. “Ripping up sidewalks, changing the flow and causing months of business disruption and possibly leading to businesses closing just does not seem necessary.”

The president of the conglomerate of businesses said that not all restaurants want outdoor space because they don’t want to lose parking spots.

She also argued that the congestion on the street is manageable if you take into consideration that Forest Hills is an urban neighborhood.

“If you want the quietness of a rural street maybe NYC is not the place for you,” she said.

A Facebook poll on a Forest Hills group started on Friday gauged how residents in the neighborhood were feeling about the redesign.

With over 800 votes, 49 percent of those who voted opposed the proposition to pedestrianize Austin Street, while 46 percent were in favor of pedestrianizing at least some segments. About 5 percent of voters were undecided.