A major fight is brewing in Queens over a massive bike lane that critics say will turn part of the borough’s suburbs into another bustling urban neighborhood — and could serve as a new frontier for scooter bandits .

Outrage came to a head at Thursday’s Department of Transportation public workshop on the 16-mile Queens Waterfront Greenway project, which descended into chaos as verbal and physical arguments broke out between supporters and opponents.

“We’re not Williamsburg, we’re not Astoria,” one longtime eastern Queens resident told the Post at the workshop.

“I don’t want to sound like an old man saying ‘get off my lawn,’ but I live here to have some peace and quiet and get away from it all,” the resident added.

“Where are we going to put our cars?” » another intervened. “If the people in the area don’t want it, it shouldn’t happen. »

The DOT’s greenway plan — aimed at expanding park and waterfront access to borough residents underserved by public transportation — was called “unsustainable” by City Councilmember Vickie Paladino , which alleges the project would eat up residential parking spaces and create hazards for vehicles. in industrial zones and even favor a “highway” for moped criminals.

“We (already) have people getting robbed, stores getting robbed… when you connect us to Astoria, you give them a highway where the cops can’t move them,” she said. declared. “If (the DOT) did something like that, it would just remove all the barriers we have left to keep us the way we are.”

There were also concerns that the greenway would make it easier for moped bandits to access isolated neighborhoods like Whitestone and Beechhurst, Paladino said.

“There is no room for this fantasy that they live in,” she said, calling the project “impractical” because there is little space to build given the homes and businesses already existing at the water’s edge, as well as the narrow residential streets of the neighborhood. neighborhoods like Malba.

A DOT representative told the Post that any final proposal for the greenway “will be made with respect for existing property rights.”

The agency added that there is no data linking greenways to increased crime and that “all street redesigns are coordinated with emergency responders.”

Crimes like theft, grand larceny and burglary are actually down in the NYPD’s 109th Precinct – which encompasses College Point, Whitestone and Beechhurst – by 1.6%, 4.8% and 26. 3% year over year, according to police data.

Despite the latest figures, some residents are still hesitant to cause more trouble in the neighborhood. area with little public transport traffic – and high automobile density of Queens.

“People here are calmer. It’s not as crazy,” said Luis Perez, who has lived in Whitestone, near Powell’s Cove Park, for about four years. Perez said he wouldn’t want a bike path through Whitestone and prefers the isolation of the neighborhood.

“I lived in Elmhurst before,” he said. “A lot of people are walking around and smoking, it’s very bad. Coming here, it’s totally different: at night, it’s very quiet.

Paladino herself left Thursday’s public workshop early (later calling the meeting “absolute chaos” in a video posted on), and the DOT postponed similar workshop scheduled for this week until a code of conduct can be developed “to ensure decorum and respect for all participants.”

The hubbub erupted almost as soon as the workshop began, with Paladino then rising in a chair to address the crowd as the chaos intensified.

“It was supposed to be a public hearing,” she said, despite the DOT’s publicity. public workshops since September.

“People came here thinking they were going to be able to spend two minutes on the mic and express their feelings… whether it was for or against,” Paladino added in the X video.

“There were a lot of plants,” she said wrote later. “That was the goal: they wanted to organize a fake meeting with only their activists and no real members of the community so they could fabricate consent. »

A DOT representative told the Post that the agency “succeeded in gathering a wide variety of comments during our third workshop in Douglaston” and “will always work to ensure that we host respectful and inclusive meetings as we develop this historic extension of the greenway”. -in collaboration with local residents.

The Paladino neighborhood is one of five “early action corridors” that DOT has identified in recent years to provide easier access to low- and moderate-income communities with little green space outside of Manhattan.

“A waterfront greenway in Queens will better connect residents to the East River and Long Island Sound with new bike paths and pedestrian spaces, creating welcoming areas for cyclists as well as families needing safer streets to walk with their children on,” a DOT representative said. told the Post before the meeting.

A final plan is expected in mid-2026, once more community feedback is collected, the DOT said.

“As far as safe spaces for kids to ride bikes, we have a lot of them,” Paladino added. “If it’s kids jumping on their bikes to go to Whitestone Park or the waterfront, it’s already there… We don’t have kids getting hit by cars here. »

The council member added that College Point is a heavily commercial and industrial area “with narrow streets and limited parking,” and that a bike path through one of the busiest parts of the neighborhood would be “disastrous.”

Some cyclists say the area is dangerous as it exists today for people traveling on two wheels.

“Biking on Northern Boulevard is terrifying,” one commenter wrote in their plea for a greenway.

“It’s a great place to ride, but the trails are dirt and not always safe for cyclists,” said one Powell’s Cove park user. “It would be great to enjoy the beautiful views.”

“I’m a cyclist, I go to Queensborough Community College at least four times a week,” Luca Castilho, 20, who lives with his parents in the Paladino neighborhood, told the Post during the workshop.

The liberal arts major said that while a greenway wouldn’t be necessary for experienced cyclists, it would be a great addition for older or less experienced cyclists looking for a quiet, scenic ride in Queens.

“I’ve noticed that the bike path I use to go to school is getting busier every year,” he added. “I was surprised by the opposition to my view and that they think they will be harmed by what is going to change.”

There have been 31 cyclists and 107 pedestrians injured following accidents in the town since last September, according to city ​​dataand 145 cyclists and 449 pedestrians injured as a result of accidents over the past five years.

The number of bicycle trips on city bridges has exploded, according to DOT data cited by the Queens Daily Eaglewith bicycle ridership on the Queensboro Bridge up 19 percent year over year; On the Pulaski Bridge, ridership increased 26 percent during the same period.

Sheryl Kleven, a member of the civic association A Better College Point, told the Post that the arguments against the greenway are not new: She has pushed for pedestrian access to the waterfront in the neighborhood for 40 years.

“(Right now) they’re all private condos, with a lot of businesses sprinkled throughout,” Kleven said of the waterfront buildings. “Pedestrian and bicycle access to the waterfront would be a dream.”

“Having something like this, it would not only be good for our neighborhood,” added Mirjana Karcic, another member of the College Point civic association, “but also a huge improvement for Queens.”