« Supply and Demand Falling in Lockstep The Views from 16 Court Street »

January 15, 2009

Kent Avenue Bike Lane Issue Reaching Boiling Point

kent-ave-bike-lane-0109.jpgEmotions are running high in Williamsburg over the future of some recently installed bike lanes along Kent Avenue. Some residents claim that the lanes make it unreasonably difficult to do things like drop off their kids, while bike activists point to the safety and environmental benefits. Things came to a head at the CB1 meeting this week, reports Gothamist, after a pro-bike-lane board member was ousted by the chair of the executive committee. More.




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:15 AM | Comments (31)
Categories: Streets, Williamsburg

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/7982

Comments

I am generally pro bike. I think the lanes are good, but what was done on Kent Avenue, really is unfair. Its NO STOPPING on both sides of the street. It means you can't legally even drop off a passenger(forget on loading supplies). I think DOT proposed making it no standing which does mean you can drop off passengers but not unload anything. Technically you can't even open your trunk to take out luggage or groceries. Personally I would like to see two bike lanes on one side(set off by protection for the bikes-i.e. jersey barriers and full parking on the other side(this is what there is on Tillary between Brooklyn Bridge and Cadman Plaza West).
This upgrades the bike lane, protects the bikers and means parking and drop off space on one side....

its too bad reason doesn't prevail.

Posted by: smeyer418 at January 15, 2009 10:34 AM

Why do people feel they have the right to drive up to any building and stop to drop off someone? What's wrong with stopping/parking elsewhere and walking your kid to the school? Or even not using a car at all?

Posted by: cmu at January 15, 2009 10:48 AM

I'm glad there aren't any of these in bed Stuy and people can literally park in front of their homes 9 times out of 10.

cmu...why should someone have to go look for a parking space just to unload someone or something??

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at January 15, 2009 10:55 AM

"Why do people feel they have the right to drive up to any building and stop to drop off someone? What's wrong with stopping/parking elsewhere and walking your kid to the school? Or even not using a car at all?"

Because that is how ground transportation works on planet earth.

Frankly, if you cannot do this, the neighborhood becomes significantly less desirable for a large group of the populace (e.g., anyone who isn't young, single, and healthy).

Posted by: northsloperenter at January 15, 2009 10:56 AM

afraid to touch the real issue here, BS? I don't blame you. :)

Posted by: greenwood slope at January 15, 2009 10:58 AM

quote:

Some residents claim that the lanes make it unreasonably difficult to do things like drop off their kids,

i think it's gross when people think they have a right to defecate on the curbs :(

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at January 15, 2009 10:58 AM

Wait a minute - didn't the hasidics want this lane taken out because hot hipster ass was rollin thru?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 15, 2009 11:01 AM

dirty hipster....please don't introduce race or religion into any of these discussions. christopher is a newbie and we don't want to scare him away.

"hot hipster ass" is an oxymoron, both female and even more so, male!!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at January 15, 2009 11:06 AM

Ok, can you legally stop on 8th Ave, that one-way car sewer, to drop off your kids or gramma? No. Do people do it all the time? Yes. Would I be terminally pissed off if I were driving/biking behind someone who does this? No. But then I don't worry about breaking laws like this either, and I accept the consequences if caught.

So why is there not an outcry about too many "car lanes" on 8th?

Posted by: cmu at January 15, 2009 11:10 AM

Who stops on Kent Ave to drop off their kids or unload cars? This makes no sense. The buildings going up most of them are not finished, and will have I assume parking. Bike people are kind of lame, but the argument for the cars, there is no reason to stop on Kent Ave, is even lamer.

Posted by: billyboomer at January 15, 2009 11:12 AM

you know either people are just ignorant or don't want to listen. When you move from your building you moving van stops in front. It can't in no stopping zones when its on BOTH sides of the street. I don't believe its no stopping on both sides of the street on 8th avenue. trucks delivering are getting ticketed. You don't want people dropping their child a coulpe of blocks away and walking them---they can't find parking anyway and get ticketed(I have been ticketed like this-pleading not guilty doen't help). The CITY picks up the kids on the school buses. They aren't supposed to stop in no stopping zones although they CAN stop in the middle of the street and block traffic(you ever wonder why the do this people don't obey the do not pass rule for school buses.) There is NO reason why both can't be accommodated. There hasn't been a bicycle lane there before. Some places don't have sufficient mass transit...and its not about to be increased. I don't care about the Hassid's sensitivity to people who aren't "properly" dressed but there are ligemiate concerns that weren't thought thru when the bike lanes and no stopping signs suddenly appeared. I have abike lane on my block but it hasn't caused parking problems and we live with it and the bikers in relative harmony(except that I sometimes am almost hit by bikers going through the lights and going the wrong way. I hit a biclist once because he was coming the wrong way and I was watching the pedestrians crossing and when I moved and checked he move so quickly into my side I couldn't stop(he wasn't hurt i wasn't moving that quickly)....so its not just a one way street....

Posted by: smeyer418 at January 15, 2009 11:24 AM

I ride all over the city, and avoid bike lanes as much as possible, simply because they're a great place to get doored when they're not blocked by double-parked vehicles.

Bike lanes serve no purpose other than to infuriate non-cyclists. Bicycles are vehicles, and can and should use the same lanes as any other vehicle. The small number of bicyclists simply doesn't warrant having exclusive use of that much street space.

Posted by: Sparafucile at January 15, 2009 11:27 AM

We had this discussion once before I remember. I know cmu is very green thinking, but we need a huge dose of life in the city reality. Things are tough enough to get done and smeyer wrote clearly why. I think bikes are great, but they aren't for everyone, too many bikers don't follow the rules, and bike lanes aren't well planned at this point.

Posted by: bxgrl at January 15, 2009 11:45 AM

I find this whole thing terribly entertaining. The cities two sacred cows going to battle with each other. And daveinbedstuy wins, hipsters are all incredibly ugly and I wouldn't want them in my neighborhood either.

Posted by: Bklyn Fire Alarm Guy at January 15, 2009 11:51 AM

"hot hipster ass" is an oxymoron, both female and even more so, male!!!!"

Sorry Dave - There's nothing I find more appealing then a girl with choppy bangs and a full tattoo sleeve. To each his own!


"Who stops on Kent Ave to drop off their kids or unload cars? This makes no sense. The buildings going up most of them are not finished, and will have I assume parking. Bike people are kind of lame, but the argument for the cars, there is no reason to stop on Kent Ave, is even lamer. "

I think the issue is on Kent, south of the Williamsburg bridge where Kent has more retail and residences.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 15, 2009 12:10 PM

"I find this whole thing terribly entertaining. The cities two sacred cows going to battle with each other. And daveinbedstuy wins, hipsters are all incredibly ugly and I wouldn't want them in my neighborhood either."

Hey Man, that really hurts.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 15, 2009 12:14 PM

Yes, bxgrl, but my point is that there may be a level of hysteria here.

On Carroll St where Berkeley-Carroll school is, there's a 3-4 car zone no parking for the school. It's waay not enough. Inevitably, btw 8:15 and 8:40, there'll be a line of double parked cars while parents bid a 30-second fond farewell to their kids, thereby completely stopping traffic.

I have NEVER seen any ticketing, nor do I completely think there should be. If you're stupid enough to drive onto Carroll from 6th Av at this time, you deserve to cool your heels a while.

So if the city is ticketing for brief stops in no-parking zones when schools are letting in or out, take THAT up with the city.

On the other hand, I have much more sympathy for stores and their loading problems.

Posted by: cmu at January 15, 2009 12:38 PM

Well, to keep things evenly hated, I've never seen a good looking hipster OR Hasidic guy; certainly not a hot one, ever, ever, ever.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at January 15, 2009 12:39 PM

south of bridge is a dead zone. no retail, a few residential blds, navy yard, dead zone.

Posted by: billyboomer at January 15, 2009 12:41 PM

Interesting billyboomer - i'll admit i never go down there but from all this fuss i assumed it was a booming street down there. then this all does seem really silly.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 15, 2009 12:53 PM

The meeting this week was mainly about the firing of the transportation committee chair, not directly about the greenway/bike lanes. A lot of people spoke in support of the chair (and the bike lanes), but the board isn't changing its support for the greenway. (The Board hasn't done a good job of making that clear, though.)

The current bike lanes are a precursor to a future greenway; the CB endorsed the greenway proposal, but never took a position on the interim bike lane arrangement. DOT made a royal mess of the bike lane implementation, and the CB is on record noting the problems with the implementation, and asking DOT to address those problems. The Toro imbroglio was a result of a letter sent out by the board chairman, which some took as a reversal of position on bike lanes.

The two biggest issues are residential parking south of Broadway and businesses along the entire Kent Ave. route. The parking is really only an issue at Schaefer Landing - there is no parking/standing in front of the building, and there is very little side street parking in the immediate vicinity (there is a lot of parking a block or two away, and DOT has been adding more). There is a parking garage on site, but a lot of residents in the affordable units can't afford that. Those residents also are not allowed to use the building's off-street driveway unless they have a garage space.

(There was also a problem for a private girls' school at South 9th - DOT has added a bus loading zone in front of that. Problem solved.)

For businesses, the hardship is much more immediate - and economic. Technically, trucks can't stop to make deliveries, and customers can't stop to make pick ups. DOT has added some side street loading areas, which is some help. But for a business that takes delivery of equipment that is weighed in tons, its nowhere near ideal. There are businesses (both stores and fabricators) all up and down the east side of Kent, many of whom have driveways that they can no longer park in front. There is going to be a lot more retail once the new developments come on line (from North 3 to the north).

Basically, DOT promised to do all sorts of things to ameliorate these problems. They just never told anyone that they'd get around to ameliorating the problem AFTER they had installed the bike lanes.

Posted by: WBer at January 15, 2009 1:33 PM

"I've never seen a good looking hipster OR Hasidic guy; certainly not a hot one, ever, ever, ever."

agree, and oddly, i've often mistaken one for the other, both ways. seen vintage-clothing clad bearded guys i thought were hipsters, but then noticed their tzitzit (prayer strings). seen black suit long haired bearded guys in 'hipster' bars that were just regular, uh, hipsters.

either way, bushy beards = ugly.

Posted by: goldie at January 15, 2009 1:52 PM

Hipsters and Hasidic= CULTS

Posted by: billyboomer at January 15, 2009 2:33 PM

at one point i had 3 indie music loving hipster chicks working for me, and swear to god they were all hot hot hot. all of them worked out and had long hair and were straight up gorgeous.

i see beautiful people walking around wburg, i think you guys are nuts anyway though.

i do think that hipster is a played out stereotype. there are just a lot of people that simply do not wear suits to work in williamsburg, but they still work.

Posted by: wine lover at January 15, 2009 2:47 PM

Like me!

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 15, 2009 2:52 PM

There are definitely some attractive Hasidic ladies in Crown Heights. Not all, but some.

Posted by: East New York at January 15, 2009 2:54 PM

wine.lover, indeed there are definitely attractive 'hipster' women, and on average they are way more attractive than the guys.

by the way, no self-respecting person actually refers to themself as a 'hipster'. its like referring to yourself as being really cool. got that Dirty_Hipster?

Posted by: goldie at January 15, 2009 2:55 PM

I'm not serious. Got that "goldie"

Good god nobody is any fun today.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 15, 2009 3:04 PM

CMU
"there's a 3-4 car zone no parking for the school."You can Legally stop and drop someone off in a no parking(not a no stopping or standing) zone. As long as you remain in your car you can do anything you want there unless told to move, so someone stopping and dropping someone off doesn't have a problem.

The no STOPPING zone is a problem because you can't even legally drop someone off. The city has been more aggressive in enforcing this. The problem arises for trucks making deliveries who ARE ticket and when the put up the signs those that were legally parked before the signs went up were then ticketed because they didn't move the cars.

It does seem to me that a compromise that will work for most, not all people can and should be worked out. You can't please everyone....

Posted by: smeyer418 at January 15, 2009 3:10 PM

ah, irony. i see. very hipsterish.

Posted by: goldie at January 15, 2009 3:19 PM

Ironic, or is it?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at January 15, 2009 3:38 PM

Post a comment

Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.

Latest Restaurant Additions