City officials get green light to remove Brooklyn bike lane despite cyclists' objections
It's not often you hear about New York City removing bike lanes, but one in Brooklyn may soon be gone.
Wednesday, a judge sided with the Adams administration in its plan to remove a three-block stretch of protected bike lane along Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg and switch it back to an unprotected bike lane.
A protected bike lane separates cyclists from traffic with a row of parked cars.
When the protected bike lane goes back to its original configuration, parked cars will be along the sidewalk, the bike lane will be next to it, and pedestrian islands will stay in place, so cyclists making a turn will have to go around the islands.
Advocates fear for cyclists' safety
Transportation advocates argue taking away the bike lane puts cyclists in unsafe conditions.
"Inherently, it creates more chaos. When we don't have our infrastructure that actually works for all modes of transportation, it's going to screw up everything," said Michelle Deme, with Transportation Alternatives.
There are more than 600 miles of protected bike lanes citywide.
"I don't really like biking next to cars. It's pretty unpredictable," one cyclist said.
"If someone gets hurt or killed because of these rollbacks, that blame lands squarely in the hands of Mayor Adams and no one else," Deme said.
Protected bike lane put children getting off buses in danger, community members say
Some community members, however, said the bike lane was putting pedestrians in danger.
Rabbi David Niederman, who is among the community leaders fighting for the protected bike lane to be reconfigured, says up to 1,500 kids get picked up and dropped off by buses along that three-block stretch of Bedford Avenue each day.
"It's blocking the visibility, and the children therefore don't see the bikes are coming," Niederman said.
Videos taken over the past several months show collisions between children and cyclists.
"The kids were injured, knocked down, taken to the hospital," Niederman said.
The Adams administration does not yet have a timeline for when these changes will happen but in a statement told CBS News New York, in part, "The families of Williamsburg can now rest assured that their children are safe just steps from their homes."
