PPW Bike Lane Kerfuffle: Volume MCDVI (Apx)
There’s a feature about the city’s bike wars in the latest New York mag entitled “Not Quite Copenhagen,” and the Prospect Park West imbroglio plays a very prominent role. What’s learned? Bike-lane foe Louise Hainline has “an expensive spy camera” to document the bike lane traffic because she’s intent on debunking city stats about how…
There’s a feature about the city’s bike wars in the latest New York mag entitled “Not Quite Copenhagen,” and the Prospect Park West imbroglio plays a very prominent role. What’s learned? Bike-lane foe Louise Hainline has “an expensive spy camera” to document the bike lane traffic because she’s intent on debunking city stats about how much usage it gets and says the characterization of her and others who oppose the lane—”that we’re a bunch of old, crotchety rich people that don’t understand that they deserve to have a bike lane on our street”—is incorrect. Then there’s Aaron Naparstek, creator of Streetsblog and co-founder of Park Slope Neighbors, who says this about the firm working pro bono on the suit against the lane: “It’s crazy. Gibson Dunn is the law firm that represented George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore in 2000. Now they’re working to get rid of a bike lane. Think about that.” Meanwhile, former transportation commissioner Iris Weinshall’s support opposition to the lane is also called questioned: “‘Clearly, if the lawsuit was to succeed, [Weinshall] could say, ‘See, I was reasonable after all,’ says Andrew Vesselinovitch, who served as the New York City ‘bike czar’ under Weinshall before leaving the DOT in protest in 2006. To Weinshall’s critics, she is waging a personal vendetta” against current commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. Following the publication of the article, the city defended its bike lane program and said the majority of New Yorkers support the lanes.
Not Quite Copenhagen [NY Mag]
Gibson Dunn is also representing the plaintiffs in the suit to overturn Proposition 8 in California. Indeed, it’s Ted Olson himself of Bush v. Gore fame and Bush’s Solictor General who is leading the fight for marriage equality. Gibson Dunn’s New York office also litigated against the proposed West Side Stadium. It’s a law firm like any other big one; it has clients whose interests it represents. Moreover, to whom a specific partner chooses to donate legal services is up to that partner. Evidently, this is an issue of interest to him and to a number of other residents. You may not like the effect of the landmarks or environmental laws here, but they exist, and they are used all the time by all kinds of folks to try to block all kinds of land-use plans (AY included). I don’t know if the suit is a winner or a loser, but I’ve yet to see an analysis of the claims by anyone who actually knows the law; all I’ve see here is bloviating by pro-lane and anti-lane partisans.
You haven’t demonstrated any intelligence, tybur6, but you constantly accuse me and anyone else who dares to disagree with you of lack thereof. That’s why I point it out. You seem to be adept at throwing out curses (zinka’s pretty good at that also); it’s your stock in trade. If you and your band of merry men/women want to question the intellect of others, then you should hardly expect not to have your own inadequacies pointed out. I’ll go head to head with you on intellect any day of the week.
As to the douchebag comments, I was only responding to your and zinka’s use of the term. It’s pretty clear that you and your gang cannot even recognize that you are “special snowflakes.”
“In short… hush your pie hole.” How clever you are! Of course, you still haven’t refuted any of the factual arguments I’ve made, obviously because you can’t.
** The Three Recurring Themes of Morralkan **
Belittling Intellect (without providing evidence of his own):
* Speaks very well for your minimal intellect.
* You went from quoting intellectuals beyond your grasp to…
* and you won’t have to strain your brain too much
* Your mental powers, aside from quote intellectuals’ names, seem to be very limited.
* One would normally expect someone with your incredible intellect to be more questioning.
* I beg your forgiveness, BoerumHillScott, and hope to aspire to your elevated level.
* you continue to demonstrate that you possess VERY limited intellectual firepower. You probably weren’t even a start pupil in the special ed classes you attended all those years. I don’t know if you are a biking hipster. So far, your comments only evidence your stupidity.
* Resorting to curses is a sign of limited intelligence, tybur6 .. and yours is certainly limited!
Douche/Vagina Comments:
* You probably do need a douche, industrial strength.
* Give me your address and I send you a case of Summer’s Eve.
Special Snowflake Dismissal:
* you probably belong to the generation whose parents told them that the world revolved around them and that everyone is special, in his own way.
* Of course, since mommy and daddy brought you up to believe that you are special and privileged,
* But I forgot; the world revolves around YOU, dirty_hipster.
* You and your fellow bicycling zealots are not the center of the universe, though your parents probably told you that you were.
* But as long as YOU are happy, that’s all that counts.
morralkan — you spend at least a third of your comments writing variations on the theme “You have a limited intellect.” However, there’s not a whole lot of evidence of how your intellect is superior…. if anyone provides you information or presents a counter argument, your retort is “your minimal intellect” etc. And usually followed by something either unconvincing, off-topic, anti-intellectual, or emotion/gut-based.
In short… hush your pie hole.
zinka, as usual the only thing you can contribute is name-calling. Speaks very well for your minimal intellect. Give me your address and I send you a case of Summer’s Eve.
jaguar, i see that kind of thing, almost DAILY.. i work right there. it’s a mess.. traffic wise, pedestrians, and a LOT of people riding bikes. total clusterfuck. basically the area IS a crowded giant mall… no one pays attention to cars or bikes!
*rob*
Noklissa — the north side of Union Square is most absolutely a shining example of how this stuff works!! Traffic flow has been improved (by CUTTING TRAFFIC LANES… ahem) and safety/enjoyment for ALL has increased like crazy.
Jaquar, apart from your earlier use of the *C* word (come on, man, really?) I agree with your every word here.
Dirty,Tybur, Zinka and Grand Pa summed this all up beautifully with a big red bow. This seems to me nothing but a bunch of nothing. Anything that cuts down on double parking, traffic, cyclist deaths and accidents and pollution is a good thing in my book. And per Sadik Khan, she may be the biggest pain in ass the city has going, but she gets shit done — without a bunch of whining, delays or ultimately deleterious compromises.
The streets around my apartment in the Union Square area have been utterly transformed by this program. It is a delight, and I personally couldn’t care LESS about her personality or attitude. She’s got ovum and she’s changing this city for the better. The MUCH better.
There was some article somewhere about Copenhagen and the city’s goal to be CO2 neutral by 2025, in which a guy involved in the implementation of that plan gently stated for an American city to do the same there needed to be less NIMBY-ism here. People of Copenhagen are okay with tons of windmills everywhere to generate power, but here, the otherwise liberal and progressive Kennedy family were vocal NIMBY opponents of what will be (it did get approved) the very first offshore wind farm in the USA. Because it ruined their views.