Removal of Bedford Avenue Protected Bike Lane Halted After Appeals Court Ruling

by Kirstyn Brendlen

An appellate judge on Tuesday halted the city’s plans to remove part of the protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue.

The decision came in response to an appeal filed by advocacy group Transportation Alternatives and local Baruch Herzfeld, whose lawsuit against the city and Mayor Eric Adams was tossed by a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge last week.

A temporary restraining order issued hours before construction was set to begin on July 15 blocks the city from “removing or modifying the parking-protected bicycle lane on Bedford Avenue between Willoughby Avenue and Flushing Avenue” until a judge issues a decision on the appeal.

“The bulldozers might be ready to destroy the Bedford Avenue safety improvements, but the Adams administration is going to have to spend their night preparing their legal case, not ripping out a critical safety project and central Brooklyn’s only protected bike lane,” said Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Ben Furnas, in a statement. “The fight to save the Bedford Avenue safety improvements continues, and we won’t back down until everyone can get home safely.”

Mayor Eric Adams abruptly announced that he would remove the parking-protected bike lane on a three-block stretch of Bedford Avenue in favor of a non-protected painted lane last month, citing safety issues and community concerns. Advocates and local politicians slammed the decision as dangerous and illegal, and Judge Carolyn Walker-Diallo issued a similar temporary restraining order on June 18. But, last week, Walker-Diallo ended the TRO when she ruled in favor of the Adams administration, saying its decisions for removing the lane were “rational” and that since the parking-protected bike lane would be swapped with a painted bike lane, it counted as a “modification,” not a removal.

Construction was set to begin on the evening of July 15.

“After several dangerous incidents — many of which involved children — the Adams administration listened to the community’s concerns and moved to reconfigure the bike lane to its original model while still maintaining safety measures,” City Hall spokesperson Sophia Askari said in a statement. “Last week’s ruling clearly affirmed that the reconfiguration of this bike lane is fully within our legal authority. This unnecessary appeal will only delay easing the safety concerns plaguing Williamsburg parents. We will revisit this matter in court, where we are confident we will prevail yet again.”

According to StreetsBlog, the city has a week to oppose the order. After that, the judge can decide whether or not to block construction for the duration of the case.

Several children have been hit by cyclists in the bike lane between Flushing and Willoughby avenues since it was installed late last year. Video of several of those incidents shows children exiting buses or cars parked midblock and entering the bike lane between parked cars. Per court documents, the Department of Transportation installed designated bus loading zones in an effort to prevent those incidents, but they were frequently blocked by parked cars or ignored altogether.

Since the bike lane was completed, injuries on Bedford Avenue between Flushing and DeKalb avenues are down 47%, court documents show. DOT believed that removing the protected lane would make the street less safe and could open the city to “potential legal consequences for going back to a known less-safe design,” but Adams opted to move forward anyway.

More than 200 New Yorkers vowed to sue the city if they or a loved one are injured on Bedford Avenue after the removal of the protected bike lane.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

Related Stories

• Court Allows Removal of Bedford Avenue Protected Bike Lane in Bed Stuy
• Judge Halts Removal of Barrier on Bedford Avenue Bike Lane
• With Daylighting, DOT to Redo NYC Intersections to Improve Traffic Safety

Email tips@brownstoner.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on X and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.