Revenge of the Bedford Bike Lane Activists
Angered over the city’s backroom deal with Hasidic community leaders to remove a 14-block stretch of bicycle lane on Bedford Avenue in South Williamsburg, a group of bike lane proponents took matters into their own hands early Monday morning. Interestingly, a post on StreetsBlog claims that the renegade painters included some members of the Hasidic…
Angered over the city’s backroom deal with Hasidic community leaders to remove a 14-block stretch of bicycle lane on Bedford Avenue in South Williamsburg, a group of bike lane proponents took matters into their own hands early Monday morning. Interestingly, a post on StreetsBlog claims that the renegade painters included some members of the Hasidic community. “Scores of people in the Hasidic community are actually pissed about this bike lane being eradicated at the behest of traditionalists,” said Baruch Herzfeld, a local bike-shop operator and cycling advocate with ties to both the Jewish and secular groups in the area. “These members of the community may not want to ‘come out’ as bike warriors just yet, but they’re promising continuous action until the bike lane returns.”
Hipsters Caught Repainting Bedford Bike Lane [NY Post]
Video: Repainting the Bedford Avenue Bike Lane [NY Daily News]
Guerrilla Stripers Paint Back Bedford Bike Lane [StreetsBlog]
Men Arrested Trying To Repaint Bedford Bike Lane [Gothamist]
“Can you deny that they got preferential treatment because of their religious views and clout?”
If they got preferential treatment, it was 100% because of clout.
“Hasidic community has got nothing on the Christian fundamentalists trying to turn the clock back on women’s rights to 1709”
Care to elaborate?
bxgrl, an attack, however intemperate and broad, on the Hasids is no different than similar comments on landlords, tenants or trust-fundees.
Can you deny that they got preferential treatment because of their religious views and clout?
“Hasids encouraged hipsters to move into their neighborhood? I think you mean “real estate brokers,” not Hasids”
There is/was a shitton of Hasidic landlords on the Northside who either
A) Benefit from ‘hipsters’ by collecting rent
B) Benefited long ago by selling their properties to hack developers
I guess that was fine – until the ‘hipsters’ became mobile and went south of Broadway.
havelc- Hasids encouraged hipsters to move into their neighborhood? I think you mean “real estate brokers,” not Hasids. As for anyone profiting off of anyone else, are you implying that the Hasidic businesses have no right to make a profit (as opposed to Goldman-Sachs or General Motors?).
Meantime you might have fun on the B’way Triangle thread. I’ve already said my piece re Al Vann- I’m thinking you could add something to that discussion 🙂
Well said havelc. Oh, the mention of any ‘back room deal’ is so effective in getting my ire up
petebklyn – what are you talking about???it’s peds who always use bike path on manhattan bridge. why would we (cyclists) opt to walk stairs when we can take a ramp?
I would have more sympathy for the Hasids in this particular situation (I personally think fixed gear bikes should be banned as in Berlin because they encourage unsafe riding) if everyone I knew who lived in Williamsburg wasn’t paying outlandish rent for a vermin-infested apartment owned by Hasidic landlords.
As Confucious said: When you encourage hipsters to move into your neighborhood and profit off of them, you cannot be surprised when they demand a bike lane.
I don’t like how postmodern deconstructionists are misapplying the biochem research of Rupert Sheldrake to mean things it doesn’t with regards to physics– but as those people aren’t making backroom deals to remove bike lanes, I have no beef with them in reference to this particular article.
Bxgirl– When Christian fundamentalists remove a bike lane, I’ll criticize them on a message board about bike lanes.
quote:
more power to them – they feel they were wronged and instead of bitching and moaning on a blog all day they are doing something about it.
they are still bitching and moaning about it on their myspace pages tho :-/
but i do agree with you.
*rob*