Brooklyn Spoke

Image via Gothamist

The bike lane debate is now such a central part of the city’s cultural fabric that no less a “real” New Yorker than Woody Allen has been asked to chime in on the subject:

New York has changed for the better in some obvious ways, like the dropping of the crime rate and people don’t squeegee my windshield when I come to a stoplight. On the other hand, uncontrolled bike riders are a great hazard, and the wonderful idea of more and more people having bikes in New York will turn sour as people become alienated because so much of it is out of control. That will be a pity.

If only New York could go back to the Halcyon days of the late 1970s:

Welcome to Copenhagen, NY.  Here’s an ad for One Brooklyn Bridge Park, the condo development right near Pier 6.

Via Baltimore Spokes. (No relation.)

Apparently, this was shot on location in New York City.

Photo via Sheepshead Bites

“How do I park? I don’t care about the bikers on the sidewalk or cars passing – how do I park without the front tires of my car going into the bike lane?  There’s no way to park there without going to that curb, and you’re going to run over a person on a bike.” – Theresa Scavo, Community Board 15 Chairperson

I don’t know enough about Emmons Avenue and the proposal for a Class II bike lane there to say whether or not its a good idea, but I do know that thinking of solutions that protect the elderly, children, and others from bikes on the sidewalk probably is, even if you don’t care about the bike riders themselves.

I also know it’s the job of a Community Board Chair to create a welcoming environment for members of the community to participate.  Scavo agrees, at least in a message on the CB15 website:

As Chairwoman of the Board, I want to encourage participation in this most worthwhile endeavor. Our Community rises or falls on our ability to unite behind issues like crime prevention, education, zoning, and other factors which make our neighborhood so special.

So what is it about bike lanes that made Scavo forget this message?  Even at the height of the PPW madness, I never remember anyone on CB6 essentially telling even the most hysterical bike lane critics, “I don’t care about you.”

If this is the tone set at the top of CB15, reading about the wider tone in Sheepshead Bay is not surprising.

The bike lane proposal was made public by City Councilman Lew Fidler after receiving the suggestion earlier in the year from constituent Lenny M. (Lenny asked to not have his last name published, fearing harassment from ferocious bike lane opponents).

Emphasis mine.

“Maybe we didn’t get flying cars because we realized that flying cars are stupid. People can’t control cars on the ground as it is. Does anybody think it’s a good idea to put them in the sky? Sure, Twitter is pretty stupid, but I’ll take that over a Buick falling on my head any day. Plus, it turns out that we already had something as amazing as a flying car, and it’s called a “bicycle,” which is why more and more people are riding them now even though they’ve been around since the days of child labor. Sometimes all that rooting around in the ass of history actually yields some useful finds.”- BikeSnob, who’s released some real gems lately. One of the best daily reads out there.

The card I posted earlier was Borough Hall’s internal holiday card.  The image above is from the card the BP’s office sent out to a wider audience, and I must say it’s a nice celebration of everything that makes Brooklyn Brooklyn.  Plus, the nod to current events is a great touch.  It’s amazing what a difference there is between Marty Markowitz, cheerleader for Brooklyn, and Marty Markowitz, divider of Brooklyn.

Many thanks to the BP’s office for sending me the correction.

The wonderful Clarence Eckerson, Jr. of Streetfilms fame models an “I Bike Brooklyn” button at last week’s Transportation Alternatives members party in a picture taken by the also wonderful Dmitry Gudkov.  I’m hoping to have these buttons available for sale in the new year as a fundraiser for TA and Streetsblog/Streetfilms.  Leave a comment or email me if you’re interested in one.  (They’ll also come in “I Bike PPW” and “I Bike Park Slope” versions, with more neighborhoods to follow, pending interest.)

Don’t worry, you don’t have to wear yours like Clarence does.

Marty Markowitz plays it safe with this year’s holiday card.  As the media and political circus that is the War on Christmas ramps up, perhaps the hyperbolized War on Bike Lanes is finally diminishing.

Part of economic development is being cool, which is invaluable. In fact, that is probably the biggest element to long-term economic success, in attracting businesses and talented individuals. They want to go where it is cool, where it matches their lifestyle. The bike and its relationship to what is cool, mostly through Millennial generation nostalgia, can’t be overlooked. In the same way that Boomers saw James Dean and cars as a form of freedom, I really think my generation and younger, those dependent upon mom or the school bus to drive us everywhere growing up, saw the bike as our independence. – Patrick “Car Free” Kennedy, Dallas, TX.