The inevitable backlash to last week’s report from the DOT that the Prospect Park West bike lane is a big success has finally arrived. That there video above from CBS2 shows Borough Prez Marty Markowitz disputing the DOT’s claims; Streetsblog fires back: “Marty seems to have either lost the ability to distinguish truth from fiction, or his stubbornness is just all-consuming and he’s ceased to care about his public credibility.” Gothamist, meanwhile, has a quote from Markowitz in which the BP says that “we need an outside study—not one conducted by the DOT but perhaps by the NYPD—to get an impartial analysis of the Prospect Park West reconfiguration.” And, last but not least, the Brooklyn Paper is quick to print claims about how a conspiracy theory not imagined by Markowitz may be afoot: “One day after the Department of Transportation announced last week that the lane has improved safety for drivers and cyclists, two members of the city’s old guard — former Sanitation Commissioner Norman Steisel and former Transportation boss Iris Weinshall — struck back, claiming that the agency fudged numbers to make the lane appear more successful than it is.”
Markowitz on PPW Data: It’s a Vast Biking Conspiracy [Streetsblog]
Markowitz Says Activist Cyclists Distorted PPW Study [Gothamist]
Former Officials Slam City for Lying on Prospect Park West [BK Paper]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Oh yeah, and re “screw up PPW”: In what universe can you argue that PPW is now screwed up? Traffic moves smoothly, there’s a safe place to bike… sounds like a pretty much ideal street to me!

  2. “PPW was hardly a speedway”

    Ha ha ha. People drove like complete maniacs on that street.

    “I’m not sure what you would consider a reasonable speed limit. Perhaps 10 or 15 mph?”

    Straw man, anyone? I’d much rather have cars driving 25-30mph than 40mph in a dense residential area. Can you seriously argue the opposite?

    “there are some of us around here who actually like to see beautiful things”

    Five lanes of asphalt aren’t beautiful. Safety is beautiful.

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