(Haven't been there on my bike in a few months.)

Bicyclists can do a lot to educate motorists not to park in the bike lane or open doors into them. However folks should bear in mind that it is illegal to leave things under people's windshields.

There were only two vehicles blocking the lane the whole way (two miles). It was really pleasant biking. I especially like the bike box on Bleecker and Broadway.

I've been taking that route for years (without turning on Lafayette), and to have the same route now with bike facilities is like an early Christmas present. Thank you, DOT!

YES!!! i would, once again, go further by saying that ALL of houston street is a better route! i also want to point out, yes, AGAIN, that the DOT (and a number of individuals and agencies) sold bikers', pedestrians' and livable streets advocates' rights to a SAfE HOUSTON st down the proverbial river. no, i am not giving up on the real problem here - houston sreet.

hey, while they are at it, why doesn't the city rename houston st to the "i-love-robert-moses-run-over-the-bikers-and-pedestrians speedway" and place mose's likeness in each intersection?

Steve: Bleecker Street is wider in some areas and some sections are straighter in some places than others. The bike lane may be more successful in some stretches than others. The turn at Sixth is definitely a trouble spot.

Originally this as intended as a safer alternative to Houston Street. As a local area resident, I find Houston Street, at least traveling East between Sixth Avenue and LaGuardia Place/ West Broadway, to be a safer route than the current Bleecker Street Bike lane. Maybe this will change with the addition of logos on Bleecker or the return of east bound traffic on Houston..

Anecdotal, but try part of my evening commute some weekday around 5pm: down Broadway from Columbus Circle to Union Square. Stick to the bike lane (except in Times and Herald Squares, where there's none) and I PROMISE you that you will not get more than one full block without having to weave into a car lane because of various hazards, mostly double-parkers. I absolutely feel more vulnerable doing that than staying in straight line in a car lane--WHERE I CAN BE SEEN. I don't feel "plain stupid" staying in a car lane, and I'm NOT the fastest cyclist, on my lumbering mountain bike.

Of course not all these Avenues host the same behavior, but other anecdotal evidence is my morning commute, up 1st Ave. There's no bike lane on that stretch, and, well, I don't see much double parking at all.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I rode out to Flushing. I saw that 34th Ave. had a class II lane, so I took it. Amazingly, there was the same amount of bike lane double-parking as in my evening commute! About every other block! So into and out of the car lane I wove...

Now, maybe my opinion comes from how the vast majority of my miles are commuting, on big Avenues. Maybe I wouldn't be so adamant if I rode on local streets more. But for adults on big Avenues in present-day conditions, I'll continue to recommend riding in the car lane, visibly, as safer.

Incidentally, here's a year old picture of how effective bike lanes are at preventing double parking:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10798592@N08/2073246818/

Also, Steve, I do agree that "This is NYC, people ignore rules if they can get away with it."

And that's why I still think this would work on one-way avenues:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10798592@N08/1414440531/
(check out the larger view to see what the lane markings say)

Is Curbed's lux condo real estate agent demo representative of the average New Yorker? Is it not little and solipsistic and smug?

I stopped going to Curbed a while ago because the comments section is almost completely filled with angry, venomous, anonymous ranting. Not just about Streetsbloggish issues -- but about everything.

So, thanks for the suggestion but I think I'm going to pass. There is almost nothing in the Curbed comments section that is worth reading.

It is completely realistic for those moving at ~5 MPH to ride in a painted lane in the door zone. They can identify and respond to the dooring hazard in time to avoid a serious injury, and they will expereince fewer conflicts with motorists eager to travel faster.

And dart, I don' see how the bike lane is relevant to in the "in and out" issue. I rode home tonight up Third Ave. and I was constantly moving in and out around the double-parked cars and cabs picking up and dropping off passengers. If there is even 10% less double-parking on a street with a bike lane than one without (and I think it is significantly better than that), then there is 10% less in-and-out. The only way around the in-and-out problem (aside from physically separated lanes) is to ride up the middle of the road, which is just plain stupid for all but the fastest and most skilled bicyclists to do on a 3-5 lane one-way roadway.

Glennq is right that enforcement can help, though it is by no means a panacea. The TEA who write the summonses need to be told that they can give a car two violations if it is double-parked in the bike lane, one for double parking and one for blocking the bike lane. I think drivers would get the idea pretty quick and start double parking opposite, rather than in the bike lane.

Stacy, just because some motorists ignore the painted lanes (in particular, when they are new and not fully installed with decals), that's no reason to declare the lanes a failure. This is NYC, people ignore rules if they can get away with it. When you're disembarking from a subway car onto a crowded platform and people trying to enter are preventing you from exiting, what do you do? Stay on the subway and miss your stop because you are afraid to ask them, motion them or even push them aside? Is there a reason to take a fundamentally different approach when someone is crowding your space on the road?

And Just Curious, Curbed is entertaining and can be a good source of info but 90%+ of the commenters there are just nasty idiots, not "average New Yorkers." If you think the quality of dialogue on Curbed is superior to what you find here, by all means go and don't come back.

You blog away here day after day in your little solipsistic world and just don't get it.

Read what others think about you, and stop blaming everyone else, smug in your self-righteousness.

The safest way to ride is in a predictable, steady, straight line.

Change the law so that cyclists aren't compellled to stick to the lane, but rather, they're just for people who feel more comfortable in them.

I appreciate the point about "kids, seniors and beginners." Let bike lanes be only for them, and for anyone who doesn't feel safe taking a lane. But when you do take a lane, mostly the worst they can do is honk, and I'm telling you, they don't honk any more than when you try to stick to bike lanes.

The logos aren't painted yet but the lane seemed to be ignored by cyclists and motorists alike. There were a couple of tractor trailer delivery trucks blocking the lane, and several cyclists riding on the right side of the street. I guess I'm not the only one with this preference.

Bike lanes on the left may be more common but there are some, like Van Dam Street and Pike Slip, in Manhattan, or Henry Street, in Brooklyn Heights, which are on the right.