Comments on: The Williamsburg Bike Lane Flap: Beyond “Hipster vs. Hasid”

By: John

John — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 05:16:45 +0000

DJ Kyosti – So true! They really are Brooklyn Taliban!

By: TOM

TOM — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:42:13 +0000

You would think that they could see our tolerance of eruv border wires hanging from lamp post all over town as cause for more cooperation with the city’s desire to control their traffic problems.

By: DJ Kyosti

DJ Kyosti — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:12:40 +0000

Since when do I need a bike lane to drive through 1870s Vilnius? People rode bikes through the shtetl before the bike lanes and they will continue to do so because Bedford Ave happens to rather perfectly connect North Brooklyn to South Brooklyn and to the various arteries leading to the bridges to Manhattan. Incidentally, one of the things that gives Brooklyn its character are its quaint ethnic enclaves; on the other hand, I suppse the same could have been said about the Balkans. Bottom line: This is America, people can live wherever they want, there is no “right” to a homogenous community, and if these Brooklyn Taliban don’t like other New Yorkers biking through their neighborhood then they need to move because it’s a free country. They’re free to dress as they wish and practice their religion as they wish, but they are not free to impose their religious viewpoints on the public space.

By: biker

biker — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:48:55 +0000

hasids ARE the worst drivers ever. i might stop spitting on windshields and start punching sideview mirrors.

By: Mark Walker

Mark Walker — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:41:51 +0000

Diehipster, please point to the place in my post where I describe either Brooklyn or Queens as a “run down and dangerous place.” And if you can’t find it, stop putting words on my mouth.

By: diehipster

diehipster — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:18:01 +0000

Hey Mark Walker,

Jusr shows how ignorant you tranplants are, especially when you leave comments like yours. The majority of Brooklyn and Queens does not even resemble a run down and dangerous place. Your perception of new york is typical of your kind and maybe THATS where the anger comes from in natives.

By: Mark Walker

Mark Walker — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:18:11 +0000

We saw a lot of the hostility of the brooklyn native during the congestion pricing debate. And here it is again. But without “hipsters,” and their energy and creativity and power and money, New York would be less like Paris and London and more like Newark and Detroit. If that were the case, the native-born gentry wouldn’t be biting and scratching to defend their territory — they’d be dreaming and scheming to move to another place worth living in.

By: brooklyn native

brooklyn native — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:13:07 +0000

I can see why the hacids don’t want bike lanes in their side of wiliamsburg. Its because they want to keep all of you damn hipsters out of their neighborhood. First you hipsters took over the northside and now your moving into greenpoint where I was born and raised. You people need to take your parents trustfunds and go back to wisconsin, or michigain or wherever the hell your from, and stop raising rent prices in our neighborhoods and driving working class people out. Btw, you all look like retards and you get in my way with your stupid bikes while im driving. God I hate you hipsters.

By: Oy Gevalt

Oy Gevalt — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:45:24 +0000

Andy, such a nice boy. I don’t see how anyone would misinterpret what I said, but feh, it’s all good.

By: Andy B from Jersey

Andy B from Jersey — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:28:24 +0000

No worries. But it did kinda’ come off that way.

Peace.

By: Moser

Moser — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:20:32 +0000

It would be better if they were Amish, since then they would be in horse-drawn buggies instead of veering around in huge cars.

By: Oy Gevalt

Oy Gevalt — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:23:09 +0000

Andy B, bubbe, nowhere did I say the Amish were anti bike. Reading comprehension is a wonderful thing. Granted I should have proofread it a little more than what I did (the Talmud comment could have been clearer) I never so much as implied that the Amish didn’t like bikes. In fact, the Mennonites (from which the Amish are derived)produced Floyd Landis. Landis who until his Jack Daniels (?) incident, looked likely to take the American cycling mantle from some schmo named Lance.

I never wear buttons but I got a cool hat
And my homies agree
I really look good in black… fool

By: kuranes

kuranes — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:05:10 +0000

This reminds me of an incident that happened some years ago on my college’s campus. On campus, there are often wacko jesus-is-coming-tomorrow-better-repent-now types yelling at students as they pass. A rather infamous young lady was walking past one of these evangelists wearing a conservative summer dress. The preacher touted her as an example of feminine modesty. In response, she removed the dress and continued walking across the campus.

Great story. Explain to me again why I should have any respect for anyone who attempts to force their own religious/social/whatever beliefs on others?

By: t

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:12:30 +0000

The logic here blows the mind and is very dangerous. If they can oppose lanes because of fears of “modest dress,” couldn’t they then oppose pedestrians for the same reason? Look out, because if these fundamentalists have their way there would be streets that people couldn’t walk down unless they are “properly” dressed. There are some neighborhoods in Israel where that’s exactly the case.

(And I say this as a proud, moderate Jewish person, who doesn’t believe that anyone should force their religious beliefs on anyone, especially in a shared, multi-cultural city.)

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:42:28 +0000

I love reading StreetsBlog, but the current excerpt from Streetsman being shown on the index page suggests that the characterization of bike lanes as fascist and anarchist and other similar negative comments are his viewpoints, while reading the post makes it clear that he was simply referring to comments made by others. I hope that comments I post here don’t get similarly used out of context on the site.

By: Andy B from Jersey

Andy B from Jersey — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:45:03 +0000

I’ve gotta’ correct one thing “Oy Gevalt” said. The Amish love bicycles! When I’ve been out to Lancaster you would see both boys and girls (and possibly women too) riding bicycles and little push scooters to get around. Plus they don’t really care what the “English” do as long as it isn’t directly offensive towards them.

By: Streetsman

Streetsman — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:03:12 +0000

At this point we have read comments that the implementation of bike lanes is both fascist and anarchist. It has been called the pursuit of “hippies like Janette Sadik-Khan” or of “Mayor Mike and his billionaire developers.” Bike lanes are not gay enough for Chelsea, and yet they are too flamboyant for south Williamsburg. Most retailers complain they are bad for business, and in Long Island City, they are a sign of gentrification and privatization.

Anytime you try to add or change anything in New York you face fierce resistance from the community for whatever reason, but mainly because it is change and change has impacts. Whether those perceived impacts are real or imaginary, people will always complain. Fortunately it seems that the DOT is committed to making streets more safely accommodate bicycles regardless of what ridiculous arguments are made against doing so.

By: Oy Gevalt

Oy Gevalt — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:21:25 +0000

Great. Now we’ve got the Jewish versions of the Amish (don’t correct me I don’t care) telling us that cyclists are supposedly bad because we dress “immodestly”. I don’t begrudge them pigtails and silly hats in the middle of summer, but if the sight of a woman cyclist’s shoulders gets them all worked up then they really should go back inside and read the Talmud till what ever impure thought the shocking sight of a nude shoulder leaves their mind.
Yeah, I’m doubting that the clothes are really the issue. Someone’s got an ulterior motive.

By: pedestri-biker

pedestri-biker — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:58:10 +0000

A) 1000+ pound vehicles / Huge stopping distances / 30+ MPH
B) ~200 pound vehicles / Short stopping distances / 15-20 MPH
That’s a tough call.

I’d have to agree the pedestrian behavior in W’burg is fairly atrocious. I never understood why, but I am always aware that I have to keep an extra eye out for people popping out from between cars, crossing against lights, without looking, etc.

By: Archie Bunker

Archie Bunker — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:47:10 +0000

I’d have to agree with Moser on that one. Whenever I catch myself thinking a thought such as: “Wow, these fugin Williamsburg Chasids have to be the worst drivers in Brooklyn,” I step back and remind myself that I’ve had the same exact thought regarding Flatbush West Indians, Carroll Gardens SUV moms, Washington Heights Dominicans, Borough Park Chasids, Bensonhurst Italians with blinged out rims, Pakistani cabbies, anyone with a Puerto Rican flag hanging from their rear view mirror, and all drives of Access-a-Ride buses. With the exception of the Access-a-Ride idiots, who I’m quite certain are the least skilled class of professional drivers in New York City, I think it’s pretty much a wash. No particular ethnic group seems to have a lock on bad driving.