Mamdani Orders Overhaul of Brooklyn's Third Avenue After Nurse's Death

New York City officials announced plans this week for a major redesign of Third Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, following the death of a nurse killed by a hit-and-run driver two months ago. Jiayi Zheng, 28, was struck and killed at 55th Street while walking home from a shift at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn. Her killer has not been found, and no arrests have been made, according to the NYPD. The city's transportation department says it will overhaul 2.1 miles of the corridor, which runs beneath the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, cutting the number of car lanes from as many as eight down to four and adding protected bike lanes in both directions. New pedestrian islands will also shorten crossings on a roadway officials describe as roughly 50 yards wide in places. Street parking will remain. Work on the stretch from 62nd to 43rd Streets, plus new bike lanes on 60th Street, is set to begin next year, with the remainder of the corridor to 20th Street following in 2028. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration says it's reviving redesign plans that stalled under former Mayor Eric Adams. City data shows 17 deaths on the corridor over the past decade, including another NYU Langone nurse killed while biking in 2020.