After so many years of advocacy, we couldn’t be more excited about the progress of our local greenways. Right now the Department of Parks is listening to you about what to build, so we need your help to ensure the greenways are designed right.

Peck Park Greenway – Horace Harding Expressway to Fresh Meadows Lane

In a recent article we described the project and listed some of our suggestions, including: removing the mid-block crossings from the plan, adding stop signs at Fresh Meadows Lane, putting a traffic light at 188th Street, adding sidewalk extensions at 58th Avenue, and routing the greenway to go on the “outfield” side of all baseball fields to avoid conflicts. Others had the great idea to add a pump track to give kids something to do, similar to what is being built at Gwen Ifill park in Southern Queens (seen here on page 32).

Unfortunately since so few people came to the live public comment session, much of the time was taken up by someone who wanted to DECREASE the safety along the route, arguing against traffic lights at a dangerous 5-way stop-sign intersection where members of our group have personally seen a young cyclist get run over.

Luckily you and your friends can submit your comments online right now, and help advocate for the modern infrastructure to keep our kids safe. We were told this greenway is estimated to be built in the next 3 years, so we need to move quick to have it built correctly. Submit your comments here for the Kissena Corridor East (Peck Park) section: https://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/capital-project-tracker/project/10878

Queens Waterfront Greenway – Fort Totten to Gantry Plaza State Park

After years of public comment, the Queens Waterfront Greenway finally has a designated route. Do you want to see what it is? Register for the open houses here so you’ll be the first person to see the designs (tell them we sent you). Each workshop will share the design of the full route.

• Thursday, May 28 from 6-8pm at Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement
• Wednesday, June 3 from 6-8pm at Louis Amstrong House Museum
• Tuesday, June 9 from 6-8pm at Glow Cultural Center  

Kissena Park Greenway – Fresh Meadow Lane to Main Street

Recently the Department of Parks brought the next phases of the Kissena Park/Kissena Corridor Park West design to the Parks Committee of Community Board 7 Queens (our group had presented a similar plan to the same committee in 2017). The project was widely viewed as a positive addition to our community, with a few requests for safety improvements, wider paths, and a built-in bike counter.

The first part of the plan (the bathrooms near the velodrome) are being built this year, but unfortunately the paths are not scheduled to be built until possibly 2033. We appreciate the effort it takes to build an amazing project like this, but hope that our elected officials and administrators do what they can to speed up the process.

Botanical Gardens Greenway – Main Street to College Point Boulevard

Although one of the shorter sections, this link is the of the most dangerous in the entire greenway. Without any plan, this will be a major barrier between the entire greenway and Flushing Meadows-Corrona Park. We hope that you’ll join us in our continued advocating to fill in this vital connection. The people of Eastern Queens deserve safe access to one of the largest parks in New York City.

Councilmember Sandra Ung has done amazing work in developing the funding for so much of the greenway. We feel confident that the community support she’s seeing will help her fill in this gap by the Botanical Gardens and finally connect the Eastern Queens Greenway to Western Queens.