Comments on: DOT Wipes 14 Blocks of Bike Lane Off Bedford Avenue

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 04 May 2011 14:51:00 +0000

Twice I’ve run through here in the NYC Marathon, and the residents still don’t give a f. Literally 40,000 people are RUNNING en masse down the street and they’ll just wander out into the street with a baby carriage and three kids, no look. As if nothing out of the ordinary is happening. The mental ability to wall ones self off from the world is really unparalleled.

By: Ian Turner

Ian Turner — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:48:38 +0000

Kaja, reply ? rise. I like to give trolls a score so that if they study hard then maybe someday they can do something like this or this. When you take trolling to the world level, then you get Jonathan Swift, which in my opinion is a good thing for society.

By: Kaja

Kaja — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:39:05 +0000

And yet, you replied!

By: Ian Turner

Ian Turner — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:16:31 +0000

I rate this troll 0 out of 5 points. If you want to get a rise, you’ll need some more subtlety, especially on moderated forums such as this one.

By: SUV

SUV — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:21:55 +0000

I have a great idea for all you fucking people and your fucking bikes. Pick up your shit and go back where ever the fuck you came from.No one wants this bike lanes, no one uses them is waste of my tax dollars. Yea I have a business and pay taxes. SO GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY CITY. Watch out for the BIG black SUV. This money making city not a bike riding city

By: Mychele

Mychele — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:32:28 +0000

So what happened? This is a fascinating issue & I’m dying to know if the Critical Mass actually occurred, what happened, and how a huge multicultural biking community stands up to a small one that isn’t supposed to use cars on the sabbath day but seems addicted to them all other days to the point of developing a hatred of bikes! And the clothing issue!
OMD!
It’s NYC for heaven’s sake, not Kansas!!

By: Johnny

Johnny — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:39:43 +0000

I am irate about this whole situtation. We all know that this wouldn’t be happening in another community. The reason why this is an issue is because the community is Hasidic. We must raise our voices against these fanatics, who want to tell others how to live their lives. We also know that the bike lanes don’t present a “safety issue,” like the Hasidics claim. Do you remember when the Hasidics first started to complaint during the summer? Well, if you remember correctly, it wasn’t becuase of a “safety issue,” they didn’t approve of the way the cyclists dress. Who the HELL are they to tell people how to dress? I am thankful that I don’t use this bike lane, but I am willing to join the protest…this is an injustices! As I said previously, the DOT wouldn’t be entertaining this type of nonsense from another community. We need the bike lanes, not because we want to get back at the Hasidics, but because it’s a SAFETY ISSUE. People, let’s organize and fight for our rights!!!

By: khal spencer

khal spencer — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:28:11 +0000

If or when these bike lanes get permanently repainted, get them out of the door zone!

By: Stacy

Stacy — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:34:20 +0000

According to Gothamist tipsters two goiyem were arrested around 4am this morning for trying to repaint the Bedford Avenue Bike Lane.

http://gothamist.com/2009/12/07/sources_cops_nab_men_trying_to_repa.php

By: Mellow Yellow

Mellow Yellow — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:38:25 +0000

Brooklyn Critical Mass THIS Friday the 11th!!

The perfect opportunity to assert our right to all streets, painted with lines and stencils or not. Let’s show them just how many of us there are. Lets show them the power of a community that is mobile, diverse, and transcends parcels of land that can be zoned, sold, or “represented” by elected officials.

Meet 7pm at Grand Army Plaza or at Williamsburg Bridge. The latter might be preferable, as the increasingly hostile 78th precinct has been showing up in force at the G.A.P. Bring lights and bells to avoid getting Nyp’d.

Love your BiKeLaYN!

By: David_K

David_K — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:56:39 +0000

I saw those DIY lanes too. I’m gratified and intrigued to hear (Baruch’s comment above) that people in the hasidic community pitched in. That’s great news — anyone have info on that aspect of the story?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:17:58 +0000

Whoever painted the bike lane back:

THANK YOU!!!

I was literally grinning from the moment I crossed Flushing Ave, all the way across the bridge!

In addition to the DIY paint job, I noticed some new stenciling and real DOT paint for the dashed lines which mark the bike lane through the intersection.

Are we getting our dignity and safety back for real?

By: baruch

baruch — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:03:07 +0000

according to what people tell me, the bike lane was painted back on by a coalition of concerned bicyclists and hasidim.

By: mike

mike — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:41:57 +0000

@al dente: The Mayor is retreating on some environmental initiatives and you’re happy? What is wrong with you?

By: al dente

al dente — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:49:53 +0000

I love it…..all you bikers and green people who supported EMPEROR BLOOMBERG are now getting screwed. LOL

His latest flip flop is dropping support for green initiatives in large buildings (his real estate buddies were against it)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/science/earth/05bloomberg.html?_r=1&hp

By: Gwin

Gwin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:51:47 +0000

Chris — it may not provide 100% hard evidence, but check out the link in Mike Epstein’s post above for complaints from the Hasidim (which include the attire issue).

By: Chris Mcnally

Chris Mcnally — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:33:06 +0000

I don’t know that there is any evidence that Hasids had the bike lane removed, let alone that it had anything to do with the way cyclists dress. I hope this article can be updated with some hard facts rather than all these rumors.

I think Bedford ave from St Marks to Flushing is the most awful bike lane ever. Who wants to ride on such a wide road which allows vehicles, especially very large trucks to speed at 45 miles per hour? With the double parking, you have to be quick or lucky to get around without stopping and waiting for a break in traffic. I never feel safe on Bedford.

The part that was closed is slightly calmer than the section to the south. The Bedford Stuyvesant section is a painted bike lane with a buffer zone. The closed section is more narrow, it is still two lanes going one way, which I think encourages competitive driving and speeding. The bike lane is/was more marginal, closer to parked cars and narrower. I don’t think it was a good place for a bike lane anyway and DOT may be doing us a favor by removing it to divert traffic to calmer streets.

By: Corvus

Corvus — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:40:03 +0000

So when is the Lady Godiva protest?

By: J

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:48:15 +0000

Many bike lanes have come and gone over the years. Some of the first bike lanes were installed in June 1977 on the grounds of JFK airport. These have long since disappeared. The Sixth Avenue lane was installed in July 1977 and originally stretched from 8th Street up to 59th Street. The section between 42nd & 59th has also long since disappeared.

I’m not a fan of the process or the policy, but there is some precedent.

By: Steve Faust

Steve Faust — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:56:01 +0000

The insularity and disdain for outsiders of the Williamsburg Hasidim is nothing new. I lived in the Marcy Projects at Nostrand Ave (Lee Ave) and Flushing in 1950 and even then, the shtetl started just beyond Flushing Ave and ended at Division Ave. Over the past 60 years, things have gotten more intense there, more kids, more cars, but the boundary and the attitude is the same.

Removing the bike lane will change little, there will still be the vans and school buses randomly double parked in the same places, forcing traffic into a grand slalom. Only now drivers will be even less understanding when cyclists have to move out and take a lane to pass.

Kent Ave is absolutely not the viable daily detour route for Willy B bound bike traffic. The added distance down Flushing and back up hill on Division or Broadway or South 5th, plus the 2 turns onto and off of Kent Ave add up to a major safety problem. All this extra distance is extra exposure versus continuing to ride the shorter distance along Bedford, even without a marked bike lane. Flushing has heavy traffic. Kent Ave at the BQE has chaotic traffic and a major crash risk site.
(Has anyone seen the total car crash statistics for Bedford’s intersections versus the Flushing-Kent-Division detour, particularly Kent at the BQE?)

Does anyone remember Ed Koch’s ill-fated plan to ban bicycles from Midtown avenues, allegedly for the safety of cyclists? One of the viable arguments against it was the added cyclist exposure traveling east & west, with added intersections, put cyclists at greater crash risk than using the center avenues.

The suggested alternate detour route is far more hazardous. Bad design.