NYC is doing some really cool stuff and trying to create a bike-friendly city. Unfortunately not everyone loves it. Gothamist has the story of two anti-bike lane protests coming up. The first, organized by Leslie Sicklick, is against the new east side bike lanes because they will remove parking and turn lanes and "cause traffic."
Do you know how many merchants are losing business due to the bike lanes? Just look at First Ave. below 14th St. Many families come into the city to shop and eat from the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island who use cars not bicycles.
Drivers are angry with the loss of parking spaces and the elimination of turns in Manhattan, making drivers go out of their way, causing traffic. Loss of lanes for drivers causes more traffic nightmares. Also, there are people in the East Village who feel bikers are being rewarded for bad behavior — because it’s true.
The other opponent is significantly more worrisome. It's Senator Schumer's wife and she (and others) is opposed to the bike lanes on the west side of Brooklyn. They also make traffic worse and endanger pedestrians, according to protestors.
Yeah, coz all those cars in NYC have no effect on traffic.
Posted by: SJE | October 15, 2010 at 11:47 AM
I don't have any sympathy with the protesters if they're just reactionary cagers. On the other hand, I agree that bike lanes are useless in practice. Government almost always puts them in the door zone or on roads where they're likely to be driven or parked on.
Posted by: Ian Cooper | October 17, 2010 at 11:02 PM