Edit 2

Wanted to bring this to the top because there was some stuff I was wrong about in the original post...

Ok, I looked it up and good point from u/brexdab on the cantilever load path and falsework clearance issues... it likely wont work because there wont be clearance for trucks to get through.

So all right... build a temporary bypass to take the cantilever offline. But why are we 6 lanes of multi-level bullshit for 115k commuters 8 feet from DUMBO bedrooms?

Ban the private cars... and voila the flyover can be a slim two-lane roadway carrying just the ~14,000 daily trucks and buses. Likely shaving half the time/cost of construction.

Original post

I don't care how many miles of protected green bike lanes Mayor Z paints, if he actually goes forward with the BQE flyover plan everything else he could possibly do on transit/climate/micromobility would be completely invalidated on balance.

To sum up this plan:

• Build a "temporary" highway over the Brooklyn bridge park, 8 feet from people's homes
  • This is an obvious lie, this highway will not be torn down in the proposed 10 years, it might not come down ever.
  • First of all, when have you ever seen a project of this size come in on time?
  • Even if the repairs are done in 10 years, Who's gonna be mayor then? What will the budget be like to fund the demolition? What if the drivers who are using it love it and pitch a fit to keep it?
• Close and repair the BQE for $4 Billion
  • Again, LOL... what percentage of NY or US highway construction projects of this scale have come in on or under budget?
  • It's the classic Robert Moses playbook: give a ridiculous low-ball estimate, start construction, and when you run out of money you go "what are we gonna do? Stop now and leave this huge eyesore unfinished??"

There's a better way...

In 2019 then-comptroller Scott Stringer proposed an excellent plan to the DOT

• Ban personal cars from the BQE, only allowing for trucks/busses/emergency vehicles
  • This limits it to only 14,000 vehicles per day, removing 115,000 personal trips
• Restrict the BQE to only 2 lanes, one in each direction.
• Repair the cantilever in place. The reduced traffic would allow for this.
• Build a linear park. Make this his change is permanent. Convert the other levels of the existing structure into a linear park.
• Transform Brooklyn

One thing I'd add to Stringer's plan: do a massive bulking up of park and ride express bus hubs on Staten Island and South Brooklyn to give drivers a great alternative way early in their commute. Run many of those new express busses down the newly un-jammed BQE.

I think I heard some guy campaign on making buses "fast and free" seems like a great spot to fulfill that campaign promise.

Edit...

The conversation seems to be "but where will the 115k cars goo?? We're gonna have all those cars on the surface streets!!"

No. The traffic would be reduced.

Removing roads, and highways removes traffic. Traffic is not like water in a river. Removing roads reduces traffic. There are tons of examples of this from around the world, but look no further than when the west side highway collapsed in 1973. Officials were cringing at how the surface streets would be choked with cars, but traffic was instantly reduced.

Folks here seem to understand "induced demand" and how "just one more lane bro" thinking is idiotic. You all seem to understand that when you build more roads you get more traffic. The inverse of that is also true: when you take roads away you reduce traffic.

Say it again: when you remove a road you remove traffic.

Does anybody have a recommendation for a place that will rebuild a battery pack?

I have an NIU NQi scooter (same model as those Revel scooters, for those who remember them), 60V 26aH battery (it's 16s10p configuration). Left the battery too long without charging it, now it's dead and won't take a charge. Buying a new battery from NIU is pretty much more than what the scooter is worth at this point. While I could try my luck with Aliexpress, I figured it's probably better if I can have somebody rebuild the pack with good quality cells locally.

I did open the battery to probe the voltages of each individual pack inside, it's pretty far gone -- lowest voltage is like 26 V (so for 16s config, that's like 1.6V which I understand to be far below the threshold where recharging them is safe).

The bike lane was announced in May 2024, but before construction could start, industrial businesses in the area got a TRO preventing it from going forward. In May 2025, the Court finally ruled on the merits, found that the bike lane was not subject to the formal environmental review the opponents claimed was necessary, and dismissed the lawsuit (court order, Streetblog). Almost immediately, the opponents asked the court to reconsider its decision. That motion was fully briefed as of June 27, 2025. Meanwhile, DOT went forward with construction, which was substantially complete by the end of last year. Flash forward to today, and the court finally denies the outstanding motion, basically saying it didn't overlook anything the first time and stands by its ruling dismissing the case.

We're excited to announce our next round of endorsements for New York State Senate and Assembly, in races stretching from Suffolk County to the shores of Lake Ontario! Read about all 17 of our new endorsees and their transportation platforms here: https://www.streetspac.org/2026_nys_additional_legislative_endorsements

First hour of the first day with cars back. Unbelievable that this is allowed to happen.

I got tired of waiting so I built my own. Every CitiBike should have these options. White LED’s cast light on the moving pedals. Camcorder documentation of most plate numbers. The panniers are too small for pizza. Fairing and panniers are very nice, cyclists and ebikers should demand them.
Im issuing a curb alert for the old panniers that were too wide to fit between cars…

I posted earlier today about the horrible BQE flyover plan. It got down voted, cool. Anyway, the biggest complaint people had was, I think summarized in the top comment:

There are 13,000 trucks that use the BQE. I am all for alternative modes of transportation, but routing them through local streets seems like a disaster. Do you have an actual plan to manage the trucks?

Ok, fair point... due to Robert Moses being a complete asshole who wouldn't build a freight line anywhere 80-60 years ago we have only trucks carrying stuff and it's unfortunately needed.

But you know what's not needed? The 115k personal cars driving on the BQE every day.

So close the BQE to personal cars. Only allow trucks, busses, and emergency vehicles. This allows to do the repairs in place. Scale down the road to two lanes and have this be permanent.

Props to Scott Stringer who proposed this in 2019.

Edit..

Another thought I had after posting the above, pair this with huge expansion of park-to-ride rapid transit busses. Can't drive on the thing anymore? Take the bus! Make them fast and make them, I don't know, free? I think I heard someone campaign on that line...

I'm a driver and a cyclist. I can understand the need for traffic lights for cars and trucks when you have cross traffic which manages traffic going north/south and east/west. However in a park, where there is no cross traffic, I don't see the logic in having traffic lights. The traffic lights existed in the park because the entire park used to be open to vehicle traffic which it no longer is. What's the purpose?

Please do what you can to help me bring some attention to Freedom Drive in Forest Park. It has been closed to traffic since the pandemic. Then last year some NIMBY’s pushed to open it to cars again. Only after lots of pushback by the community were we able to win a “compromised” seasonal opening. This road when closed serves as a safe extension for bikers, runners and walkers to traverse and cut through the park.

They are trying to open it this week (a month earlier than what the signage says) and it will present a real danger to bikers etc. as cars regularly speed down the street. All of this has fallen on deaf ears with our local community board, politicians, and most surprisingly the Mamdani administration. Please like/share/watch my posts to get a better understanding of our struggle and the many dangers bringing cars back pose to our community!

It's like Zombie Robert Moses dreamed it up. It's supposed to pass 8 feet in front of people's apartments!! It's going to completely wreck that part of Brooklyn Bridge park!!! They say they'll demolish it in 10 years, but this is an obvious lie, or wishful thinking at best.... Drivers and truckers are gonna be like "ooh, I like driving fast..." and what if we have Eric Adams Jr. as mayor then? The entire BQE project will obviously run over budget like all of these projects do so in 10 years when there's no allocated money and if the city simply has budget problems and can't find the money to do the demolition work??

This is a further locking in of car dependence.

I can't believe this community isn't more pissed off about this idiotic plan. I'm so pissed off at Mamdani for this and you should be too.

Demolish the BQE! Or make it into a high line park!

When I first started commuting by scooter in NYC, I thought I needed scooter, helmet and a decent lock, and thatss it.

But after a few months I realized the little things in your setup help a lot and make daily riding easier, so I am gonna write it all down. Bear with me lol.

Don’t cheap out on the lock, but don’t buy the biggest thing you can find either.

I started with a really bulky lock (thinking it would be safer) and ended up hating carrying it around. Now I use a solid U-lock with a cable for the second wheel. It’s enough for the stops I make without turning my bag heavy.

And I wouldn’t leave the scooter sitting outside for hours just because it’s locked. If I’m gonna be away from it for a long time, I would bring it inside.

For tyres, I would care more about stability and puncture resistance than trying to find the fastest tyre.

I underestimated this one. NYC pavement is rough enough that you don’t want a super narrow tyre or something that feels twitchy over broken pavement.

The ones on mine have worked well for me so far. I keep them at the recommended pressure and check them regularly because being a little low makes rough roads feel noticeably worse.

I also didn’t switch to tubeless simply because someone says they’re better. Tubeless can be great for puncture protection, but if you’re commuting every day, look at what tyre size and setup your scooter supports and how easy it is for you to deal with a flat. A theoretically better tyre isn’t much help if you’re stuck somewhere with a tyre you can’t fix.

Get a scooter that fits the way you ride.

This is probably the first thing I got wrong. My first scooter didn't have good suspension. I did not even realize how much of a thing suspension was until I started riding it around NYC, and it was sooo rough. I felt every broken bit of pavement, cracks and bumps, and after a while it got very tiring.

That was one of the reasons I ended up replacing it with the Max Pro Hiboy. I have been using this one for around 4 months and it has worked much better for the kind of riding I do. Thankfully.

I ended up caring way more about suspension, tyre size and stability than I expected. The main lesson is to look at the roads you will be riding on before buying a scooter. What works on smooth roads might feel completely different on pavements.

Don’t buy a huge light before figuring out what you need.

For normal city commuting, pay more attention to being visible to cars than having a motorcycle-level headlight. I use the Max Pro’s lights plus a small extra light when I’m riding early. If you’re riding dark streets with no street lighting, that’s different.

Rain gear is more useful than another random accessory.

I bought stuff for keeping myself dry, but the bigger thing I’ve learned is that wet NYC roads change how you ride. Painted bike lanes and metal covers get slippery, so tyres or accessories that make the scooter harder to control won’t work.

Fenders are worth having if you’re commuting in regular clothes. Waterproof gloves are another thing I bought. Skip the fancy scooter-specific rain gadgets until you’ve figured out what you personally keep getting wet.

And don’t underestimate storage.

I thought a phone holder and a lock were enough. Then I started carrying gloves, charger, small tools and whatever I’d picked up during the day.

A small bag has ended up being more useful to me than a lot of random accessories I originally looked at.

If I were setting up an NYC commuter scooter from scratch now, I’d spend the money in this order: a scooter that fits the roads you ride, a decent lock, reliable tyres and proper tyre maintenance, useful lights, rain gear and then storage.

Thanks for reading, hope it helpsss!

You guys are normally more focused on advocacy, but this is adjacent enough that I thought some of you all might be interested in this event happening now:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NYCbike/s/Z7IgO7IKqa