Op-Ed | Cut-through traffic is clogging residential streets; here’s what we can do about it

The streets of Jamaica, Queens cater to private cars. For decades, elected officials have justified prioritizing this infrastructure, even in residential areas, by claiming our community is dependent on cars. Traditional residential neighborhoods across the city—quiet places where you can walk to the store, meet neighbors, or learn to ride a bike—have been slowly transformed into corridors that mostly facilitate more and more driving. Jamaica residents are told we don’t need safe bike lanes, short crosswalks, fast buses, or tree-shaded sidewalks because that’s not how people in this neighborhood get around. But the numbers tell a different story.

It turns out most of the drivers in my neighborhood—more than half!—aren’t residents, or visiting a resident or a local business; they’re just c