On Fridays The Brian Lehrer Show hosts Mayor Bill de Blasio to answer questions from New Yorkers.  Our own John Kelly called in to ask the Mayor about the delays from the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and the New York City Department of Transportation’s planning of the Kissena Way.  This decade-old greenway project would link the parks in Eastern Queens from Flushing Meadows / Corona Park to the Long Island border.  Although the project already has neighborhood, political, and community board support, there have been years of delays.  Currently, we’re waiting for an estimate for how much the design estimate would cost.  When asked how long we should be waiting for an estimate of an estimate, the Mayor responded:

“That’s great, John, I appreciate your question, and I don’t know the state of play of that estimate, but I think the important thing is for us to get an answer and make a decision.  I think New Yorkers appreciate straight talk, if you will, and appreciate straight-up discussions of the issues, so I will find out, and Brian, we can raise it on an upcoming show what the timeline is for getting that estimate so we can make that decision, up or down.”

You can listen to the original conversation here, starting shortly after the 16 minute mark.

The Eastern Queens Greenway will follow up with the Mayor’s office and will work to resolve this long-overdue issue as soon as possible.  We’ll let you know the progress at every step of the way.

If you’d like to join us in building the historic Kissena Way infrastructure, move the Motor Parkway East bills through the House and Senate, or make Utopia Parkway a complete street for our kids, come join us at our Monday night meeting.  We’d love to hear your ideas so we can help you improve the neighborhood too.

As usual, our meeting will be held on the 3rd Monday of the month at 7:30 PM at the:

Flushing Quaker Meeting House
137-16 Northern Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11354

We hope to see you there.