Which Historic Charm?

One of the most common arguments against the Prospect Park West bike lane is that it clashes with the historic charm of the grand boulevard.  Carol Linn and Lois Carswell, two Prospect Park West residents, testified to this aesthetic desecration at Thursday’s City Council hearing on bicycles.  It comes up in almost any news item about the subject.

Via Eric McClure of Prospect Park Neighbors, comes this picture of Bartel Pritchard Square from 1915.  There is a trolley line running along Prospect Park West and no car parking on at least the one side of the streets visible in this picture.  To be fair, there are no bikes in the picture either, but I’d be willing to sacrifice the current bike lane if Linn, Carswell, and Normal Steisel would back up their belief in historic charm by eliminating cars and returning a streetcar to Prospect Park West.  What could be more historic than that?