Heights Board Said Citi Bike Did Not Follow Process

Citi Bike asked Community Board 2 in Brooklyn Heights, Downtown, Dumbo and Cobble Hill not to take a position on the bike share program, and only 30 people, mostly cyclists and not homeowners, attended its presentation, according to the board’s district manager, Robert Perris, The New York Post reported. By that time, the locations of the racks had already been chosen, he said. Usually the Department of Transportation asks the board to vote on its proposals, but the bike share program was presented more as a fait accompli. The DOT “did not do enough to engage the public” about rack locations, which have proved controversial in the Heights, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and elsewhere, with one building suing the City over placement. “We were instructed that they did not want us to vote on bike share,” Perris said. “To me, that seems to indicate a kind of bunker mentality…The DOT brings a lot of initiatives to our board — bike lanes, bike corrals, modifications to the traffic pattern, pedestrian plazas — in almost every single case, we’re asked to take a position.” A DOT spokesman said the allegations were false and the department held 400 public meetings about the program.
Furor Over Cycle No-Vote [NY Post]
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