Queens judge temporarily halts Flushing Main Street busway

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

By David Brand

A Queens Supreme Court justice temporarily blocked implementation of a bus-only route along a section of Main Street in Flushing Friday as opponents sue to prevent the plan altogether.

Justice Kevin Kerrigan issued a temporary restraining order barring the New York City Department of Transportation from installing signs or painting the roadway to delineate the bus-only route until late December as he considers an Article 78 lawsuit filed by a coalition of business leaders who oppose the plan. The TRO will last until Dec. 21.

City work crews began preparing the busway along a 0.3-mile stretch of Main Street earlier this month. Under the plan announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio in June, cars will be banned from traveling the length of Main Street between Northern Boulevard and Sanford Avenue. Vehicles that turn onto Main Street will be permitted to travel one block before making the first available turn.

The Flushing business leaders are represented by attorney Randall Eng, a former appellate judge and Queens Supreme Court administrative judge, who said banning cars from parking and traveling along Main Street will hurt businesses already affected by the COVID pandemic.

“This is a particularly inopportune time for something like this to be implemented,” Eng said Friday. “Businesses are just beginning to recover. All that is at risk if access to the Main Street business district is compromised in some way.”

Plan supporters, however, say the busway would actually boost business by allowing more people to travel along the congested roadway and patronize the stores and restaurants. 

“We need to use every tool we have to bring these businesses back, whether it’s making Downtown Flushing more accessible to buses, walking or bicycles. We need all of it,” Transportation Alternatives Queens organizer Juan Restrepo told the Eagle in July. 

Mitch Schwartz, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office, said the busway will serve 150,000 commuters per day and facilitate travel to and from Flushing, particularly for the majority of residents who do not own cars.

“Mass transit is the future of this city. It’s the key to fighting climate change and it’ll be the engine of our long-term economic recovery,” Schwartz said.

Additional reporting by Rachel Vick.