Nearly two months after a nurse was killed by a hit-and-run driver, a notoriously dangerous stretch of Third Avenue in Sunset Park is set for a major redesign. On Wednesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that the Department of Transportation will overhaul a 2.1-mile stretch of the avenue next year, from 62nd to 20th Streets, with pedestrian islands, improved intersections, and protected bike lanes. The plan responds to years of calls from Sunset Park residents for street safety improvements following multiple fatal traffic incidents, demands that failed to move forward under former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.
Third Avenue currently has six to eight lanes for vehicle traffic, along with parking lanes on both sides of the street. Under the redesign, the roadway will be reduced to four car lanes, with a barrier-protected bike lane added in each direction. Parking lanes on both sides will remain.
New pedestrian islands and curb extensions will be added at intersections to make crossing the avenue safer. In some sections, including between 32nd and 37th Streets, the avenue is roughly 150 feet wide, about half the length of a football field. Mamdani said the redesign will cut that distance by up to half.
The first phase of work will target the corridor’s most dangerous section, between 62nd and 43rd Streets, starting next year. It will also add bike lanes on 60th Street between Second and Fourth Avenues. DOT officials say work on the remaining stretch, from 43rd to 20th Streets, will begin in 2028.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Council Member Alexa Aviles said Third Avenue was once the “heart” of Sunset Park, tracing growing safety concerns to the construction of the Gowanus Expressway under Robert Moses beginning in the late 1930s.
“Since the implementation of this infrastructure, for decades, Third Avenue has been a source of tremendous fear and grief in our community,” Aviles said. “We have experienced devastating heartbreak and traffic violence, including the loss of so many community members.”
Aviles also said the plan takes input from local business owners into account. Previously, businesses along the corridor expressed concerns about the potential impact of a protected bike lane in front of their storefronts.
“We know that these changes will balance safety, access, and community needs,” she added. “We’re so excited to see the full project come to fruition.”
Over the last decade, 17 people have been killed in crashes along this stretch of Third Avenue, more than half of them pedestrians or cyclists, according to Gothamist. In 2025, two elderly pedestrians were killed by hit-and-run drivers, and in 2020, Clara Kang, a nurse at NYU Langone, was killed by a motorcyclist while riding her bike on the avenue.
In response, officials lowered the roadway’s speed limit to 25 mph but did not pursue a broader redesign. Although the DOT under former Mayor Eric Adams presented the local community board with several redesign plans, the administration never moved forward with any of them.
Two months ago, another fatal hit-and-run killed Jiayi Zheng, another NYU Langone nurse, reigniting calls for an urgent redesign of Third Avenue and putting pressure on Mamdani. The driver responsible for Zheng’s death has not been found, and no arrests have been made.
Earlier this month, the push for a redesign gained momentum when more than 270 Sunset Park residents signed a public letter demanding immediate safety improvements and a timeline for the long-delayed project, according to Patch.
On October 18, community members and elected officials held a “safety walk” from Martin Luther Playground to 60th Street, calling for better lighting, high-visibility crosswalks, and curb extensions.
The street safety project is another initiative that Mamdani’s administration has revived after it stalled or was scrapped under Adams. Other examples include redesigns of Greenpoint’s McGuinness Boulevard, Manhattan’s Madison Avenue, and Astoria’s 31st Street.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Mamdani said the project complements his administration’s Vision Zero plan, released last month. The plan builds on the original initiative’s goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries and outlines 100 policy goals for the next decade.
“This work is part of our larger commitment to building a New York City where traffic deaths are no longer part of daily life,” Mamdani said. “Where dangerous drivers are no longer allowed to speed with impunity. Where the same business-as-usual approach that has killed too many of our fellow New Yorkers is no longer treated as normal.”
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