Politics Trump Sanity in Bedford Bike Lane Battle
If you’re looking for a sign of the Hasidic community’s political clout in this town, look no further than the removal of 14 blocks of bike lanes on Bedford Avenue in South Williamsburg yesterday. As reported on both Gothamist and StreetsBlog, DOT was out sandblasting off the white lines that used to protect bikers on…
If you’re looking for a sign of the Hasidic community’s political clout in this town, look no further than the removal of 14 blocks of bike lanes on Bedford Avenue in South Williamsburg yesterday. As reported on both Gothamist and StreetsBlog, DOT was out sandblasting off the white lines that used to protect bikers on this central thoroughfare through North Brooklyn. As you may recall, the matter first reared its head last summer when some members of the local Hasidic community protested the bike lane on the grounds that some of the bicyclists who frequented it were too scantily clad; another argument floated against the bike lane had to do with “the large number of schools, stores and religious institutions.” StreetsBlog notes that the Mayor reportedly cut several deals with the leaders of the Hasidic community to gain their support. Circumstantially it looks like this was one of them.
City To Remove 14 Blocks Of Bike Lanes On Bedford Ave. [Gothamist]
DOT Sandblasts 14 Blocks of Bike Lane [StreetsBlog]
Photo by Elizabeth Press
I was under the impression these were removed because they re-routed Kent Ave for cyclists.
Bivouac…save yourself the hassle of being arrested for indecent exposure and just wear a pair of these:
http://tinyurl.com/yj5mgaj
I am going to ride my bike through that neighborhood buck naked every day until the bring the bike lanes back. Trust me, nobody wants that.
Getting rid of a bike lane doesn’t stop people from biking down any given street, scantily clad or over dressed. This is stupid.
I think we need another clown costumed critical mass through South Williamsburg.
jfb, if you cycle as I do, slowly and calmly, you’d never break a sweat except for maybe a few weeks of over 85 deg weather.
Now I think we need a nearly-nude protest.
Why should bikers get special lanes???
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 2, 2009 10:39 AM
I tend to agree. This ain’t Denmark. Car owners pay an extra fee each year to be able to park in the street and gasoline taxes to build and maintain roads. Bikers currently pay no such tax for road use. On busy streets where the lanes currently are I definitely see a safety problem. I don’t know what these cyclists do for a living but I know I can’t walk into work dripping with sweat from a bike ride. To me bike riding is something pleasurable to be done along the waterfront, in a park or on a residential side street.
As a member of the “tribe” I have to lament for a moment the unfortunate insularity of the Hasidic community and all of the bad karma it brings to the public notion of Judaism in NYC.
I suspect there’ll be a huge price to pay by the Hasidic community in terms of even more ugly hipster skin showing in the months to come.
Payback!!!