Fact Checking The Brooklyn Paper

Natalie O’Neill, “Lane pains! Foes of Prospect Park West cycle path threaten new suit,” The Brooklyn Paper, August 22, 2011:

Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes intends to prove the path was actually a temporary project — an argument that would allow the group to skirt statue of limitations.

Their case was bolstered last month, when Borough President Markowitz swore under oath that Sadik-Khan told him that the lane was merely a “trial” project, not a permanent change.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Bert Bunyan, August 15, 2011:

…petitioners point to no relevant evidence that the bikeway was temporary.  They purport to create an issue of fact by citing the affidavit of the Borough President where he averred that, on March 1, 2010, the Commissioner told him that the bikeway “would be implemented on a trial basis.”  However, the Borough President’s conclusory affidavit is devoid of detail and fails to raise a genuine issue of material fact. Moreover, the Borough President never mentioned in his December 9, 2010 testimony before the City Council’s Committee on Transportation that DOT had characterized the bike lane as temporary.

Emphasis mine.