Trump’s secretary of transportation takes aim at Queensboro Bridge
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy criticized the city’s plan to open a pedestrian lane on the Queensboro Bridge this week. Eagle file photo by Ryan schwach
By Ryan Schwach
President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy took aim on Thursday at the new Queensboro Bridge pedestrian lane, which will open this weekend after years of delays.
In a post on X, Duffy criticized the long-awaited pedestrian crossing, which is expected to open on May 18.
The pathway for pedestrians is designed to ease traffic on the north side of the bridge, which for years has seen an increasing number of cyclists and pedestrians crowd into the narrow crossing. The new pedestrian path has been built on the south side of the bridge, in a lane that was previously open to drivers.
“New York’s war on the working class continues,” Duffy wrote. “NYC’s mayor just removed a vehicle lane on the Queensboro Bridge. These decisions only further squeeze hard-working Americans who have to drive to work.”
It’s not the first time changes to New York City streets have provoked the ire of the transportation secretary.
Duffy earlier this year attempted to shut down congestion pricing, making similar claims about the toll program’s impact on drivers.
Mayor Eric Adams announced the long-awaited opening of the Queensboro Bridge pedestrian lane last week after delaying its opening for months. Adams claimed that he didn’t want to open the path until he had a full understanding of how it would impact drivers.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards shot back at Duffy in a post of his own, calling on the nation’s top transportation official to address the ongoing air traffic controller crisis at Newark Airport instead.
“Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?” he wrote. “Something like, I don’t know, addressing the air traffic controller crisis.”
“You don’t know the first thing about our bridges or the safety of our people,” he continued. “Stay in your lane, literally.”
