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]
Thanks, morralkan, for underscoring my point. You make it too easy.
If anyone shoots from the gut, tybur6, it is you and also some of your close buddies here. You believe that you are the keepers of the flame and, like all true zealots demand that all bow and scrape before your supposed vast intellect. You apparently believe any and all stats that come out of the mouth of the emperor and Sadik-Khan. One would normally expect someone with your incredible intellect to be more questioning.
Of course you are correct about one thing: I absolutely detest the emperor and Khan. He is entirely untrustworthy and she is a self-absorbed, righteous piece of crap. My personal feelings for them are based upon their attitudes and their deceptions. I don’t think the emperor has done much, if anything, to improve the city I’ve lived in all my life, except perhaps for the 311 system. But, if you like, go ahead and drink from their pitcher of kool-aid.
RE Gibson Dunn and Bush; a former partner of Gibson, Ted Olson, one of the pre-eminent litigators in the country, was closely related to the Bush administration (his wife, Barbara later died in 9/11 and worked for the administration). Here in the city, a Gibson Partner, Randy Mastro, was former deputy mayor under Guiliani, and has been involved in several high profile public lawsuits. About a decade ago, he represented, unsuccessfully, the land owners affected/opposed to the creation of the Highline.
No, the natural rights comment wasn’t related to driving, just to your comment on positive liberty.
Didn’t mean to set off this debate about the meaning of the word ‘right’, I was trying to use it in its colloquial sense rather than to refer just to natural rights.
Technically the correct term would be to ‘restict an entitlement’, but that term would have gotten me jumped all over from people making puns on the other connotation of entitlement.
Yes, and thank you for the Hobbes commentary. I am aware of him too.
Seriously though, what is the practical import of the new bike lanes. I don’t know about statistical studies, but as a driver, a jogger and pedestrian, my experience with the revised traffic flows on 9th Avenue, 8th Avenue and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan, as well as Kent Avenue in BK, is one of major improvements. Everything seems more saner and more relaxed. Please walk down 8th Avenue or 9th Avenue in Manhattan and tell me that isn’t a major improvement. Second Avenue is often a shit show on weekends, but with the dedicated turning lanes, I feel that the traffic flow has been greatly improved. Kent Avenue has gone from a Mad Max Death Race 2000 type road to a rather pleasant place to jog. These things actually work!!!
Life is better with these bike lanes with dedicated turning lanes, not just for bikers, but drivers and pedestrians, as well. I don’t think this is simply a game of he said/she said, there is a right answer.
Dedicated bike lanes and traffic calming practices are the way of the future. Less stress, fewer accidents and less pollution. What is not to like?
etson — My intention was not to be patronizing. But you can’t possibly be suggesting that natural rights applies to the usage of the roads!?
These are the inalienable rights that are “self-evident” and not based on conventions, customs and laws. EVERYTHING related to the usage of our streets is related to conventions, customs and laws (i.e., legal rights). Pedestrians don’t walk in the street and cars don’t drive on the sidewalk. That does not find it basis in natural rights! That’s absurd!
Regardless, Hobbes rejected natural rights alone because life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” He said we have a moral obligation to form a political and civil society… to avoid the “war of all against all.”
THESE are the liberties we are talking about… the ones of civil society and the check-and-balances places on the Negative Liberty of the individual.
nothing makes me want to get a new bike and find someplace in windsor terrace to ride it to more than these entitled and self-absorbed people! i don’t think that hainline lady could sound more spoiled and condescending if she tried. ugh.
I hear quite a bit about bikes hitting pedestrians, but have yet to actually see it happen, although I don’t doubt that it does, because anybody with eyes can see that some bikers are reckless riders. On the other hand, I did recently see a pedestrian/bike accident on Broadway and Spring and it was caused by the pedestrian. Some old guy was riding his bike perfectly legally on Spring Street and just past the interesection with Broadway some idiot looking at his phone or otherwise not paying attention jaywalked right into this old guy’s path. The old guy, seeing the impending accident, attempted to avoid the pedestrian and very nearly did avoid him. The end result was that the old guy fell off his bike due to his efforts to not hit the pedestrian and the pedestrian was fine. I’d also add that based on my observations, the worst bike offenders tend to be restaurant delivery guys and messengers. They have been a menace since before the bike lanes and since they generally disregard the bike lanes, I don’t see how their behavior is relevant to this debate.
“The impact on bike lanes, particularly this particularly one, seem negligible to me when I drive. I just don’t see that they make it that much longer for me to get where I am going.”
rich people who live on PPW can’t double park to unload their cars.
that’s ALL it’s about.
proceed.