Brooklyn Spoke

Via Felix Salmon at Reuters:

This is a chart of the number of bike commuters in New York. It’s known as the NYC Commuter Cycling Indicator, and it comes from surveys taken ten times per year at predetermined points around the city. It doesn’t give a good count of the number of bike commuters in New York, but it gives an excellent idea of the trends: bike commuting has essentially quadrupled in the past decade, and has doubled over the past four years. Which just happen to be the four years during which Janette Sadik-Khan has run the Department of Transportation.

This is important because it shows just how effective strong leadership can be, when combined with a dedication to creating good infrastructure.

If you really want to get excited, imagine what kind of information could be added to this chart one year from now.  The city’s bike share system will bring with it a treasure trove of open data that will start to give a picture of how people move by bike within the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, which is something DOT does not currently measure.

We can’t take anything for granted–the next mayor could be New York’s version of Toronto’s Rob Ford–but in my opinion the toothpaste is out of the tube.  An anti-bike administration may succeed in removing some cycling infrastructure after 2013 rolls around in an effort to appease the NBBLers and other members of the city’s elite motoring class, but such victories will be minor historical hiccups.  Future documentarians who chronicle the rise of cycling in New York City may have to refer to all dates prior to 2007 as BSK, Before Sadik-Khan.

On Wednesday evening a cyclist was hit by a driver at Vanderbilt and Plaza Street.  I have no idea exactly where the incident occured and whether it was closer to Vanderbilt or on Plaza Street itself.   Nevertheless, there was supposed to be a protected bike lane on Plaza Street but it was shelved, some believe, by the “the fallout from Prospect Park West and the political pushback.”

Even Louise Hainline agrees.  Here’s what she said about it last month:

“If we had not done what we’ve been doing with the bike lanes, they probably would have moved ahead,” said Louise Hainline, president of Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes.

The story of the stolen box bike, first picked up by BikeBlogNYC, has a happy ending.  From the mom to these cute kids:

We were coming home from school and on our way to the doctor’s office (my daughter had pneumonia,) when we got a call from a guy named Mike. He said that he saw our post/flyer on a blog and was pretty sure that he saw the bike in Ditmas Park. After a few identifying questions, we were sure that it was our bike that he was viewing with some police officers. We of course had to see the doctor first (priorities, priorities….) so Mike stood guard for almost an hour until we could get there. (Thank you!)

We saw the doctor, and then all three of my children and I jumped in a cab to Ditmas Park. We met Mike, called the police, and waited for over an hour, on the street, in the cold. Mike waited for a long while but then had to go, understandably, and another older gentleman waited with us for 45 minutes or so, lecturing us about stars and planes and such. About an hour and 15 minutes later I called the police again to alert them that all four of us were still waiting, but had moved into the dry cleaning establishment just in front of the bike. We were cold.

About 1/2 hour later the police arrived and after seeing my photographs and bill of sale said, “yeah, since you don’t have proof of purchase with any kind of number on it, I can’t really help you. The burden of proof is on you, and we can only use numbers. I also can’t tell you what to do when I leave here, though, and that doesn’t look like much of a lock.” I asked, point blank if it was illegal to steal your own stuff back to which he replied, “once the lock is cut, the burden of proof is on the other guy.”  Nice.

The police departed, and Mike showed up again, shocked that we were still there, and offered, ultimately to no avail, to help us find some bolt cutters. So, I called my husband, already en route and asked him to bring some bolt cutters to clip, get this, a cheap master lock that the thief had used to secure our precious bike. My hubby arrived just as I had nestled our children safely inside our bike, and in less than a second, we were off, feeling the wind in our hair as we got as far away from Ditmas park as possible! We got our bike bike!

We feel incredibly indebted to the people of Brooklyn. The bloggers who posted and linked, and reposed our story and photos. The random people on the street who showed us their support and kindness. Mike who found it and called us! Darek, the homeless guy on 7th Ave. who was sure we’d get it back and spread the word to all of “his” people. And all the other people who have since shown us their support with excited shouts as we bike past, “you found it!” and “you got it back…that never happens!”  We are so grateful. We’ve learned so much this holiday season about the love and strength of our community. My faith in people has been greatly renewed. THANK YOU. Thank you!

“What works in Denmark, or Colombia, or Bogota, that’s not El Barrio. That’s not East Harlem. That’s not Spanish Harlem.” – Erik Mayor, owner, Milk Burger.

Ever since the first shots of the bikelash were fired over the green paint of the Prospect Park West bike lane, no NIMBY has been able to come up with a more convincing argument than “We will never be Amsterdam.”  So here’s my challenge to the Erik Mayors of New York: stop defining New York by what it is not and start telling us your vision of what New York can be.  Because the status quo just isn’t cutting it any more.

And just a note to Erik Mayor: I think they call them barrios in Colombia and Bogota, too.

Sadik-Khan has been called powermad, but the fact that all she’s really doing with all that power is painting some streets green and putting out some lawn furniture in Times Square is actually a testament to her tremendous restraint. – Bike Snob

Harry Smith’s NBC profile of Janette Sadik-Khan is, in my opinion, a mere footnote in the often insane narrative that is reporting on New York’s changing streets.  In his seeming quest for controversy, Smith can not cajole anything remotely scandalous out of Sadik-Khan; there’s simply nothing in there that anyone at the Observer or City Room can exploit for page views.  If this piece on the low-rated Rock Center with Brian Williams signifies anything, perhaps it’s that the controversy surrounding Janette Sadik-Khan and the “bikelash” is finally in its last throes.

On one side Smith presents Bloomberg, who describes Sadik-Khan’s job security in his administration, and “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz.  On the other side the story features sound bites from a few drivers, an image of Marty Markowitz on a tricycle, an an interview with Louise Hainline demonstrating her bike counting technique from within her multi-million-dollar penthouse.  There isn’t a single politician, academic, or traffic engineer who appears on camera to dispute Sadik-Khan’s accomplishment which tells me that the city’s new way of looking at the streetscape is an indisputable success, even if Brian Williams would rather see a golf course in Times Square than witness the hoi polloi lounging at cafe tables.

It’s interesting that an anchor named Williams cues up a story by a man named Smith by commenting on Janette’s “exotic” last name, but in a country with a president named Barack Hussein Obama, this commentary reveals more about Williams’ narrow world view than it does about Sadik-Khan’s work and philosophy.  Welcome to 2011 New York, Brian.  May I introduce you to Hoda Kotb?

The piece has the tinge of sexism that tends to accompany Sadik-Khan in any media mention.  Smith describes Sadik-Khan as “brash,” “imperious” and “impeccably dressed, terms which are not typically used to describe powerful men, except in the occasional puff piece.  Hopefully the need to reduce powerful women to how they’re dressed and the way they ruffle the establishment’s feathers is also in its last throes.

As for Louise Hainline’s brief appearance, I agree with Streetsblog’s Ben Fried in his assessment that “the average person watching at home probably came away thinking that training a spy camera on a bike lane from your apartment is not the behavior of a well-adjusted adult.”  Bike Snob is less kind.

So, overall I’d give this piece a B.  It’s certainly more thorough than something you’d see on Today or the Nightly News, but Frontline it is not.  The fact that this piece may come and go with little more than a few random write-ups on blogs like this is probably the most significant thing about it.

Located at the southeast corner of Prospect Park and the site of a busy subway station, the intersection of Parkside Avenue and Ocean Avenue is a traffic and pedestrian safety nightmare.  Tuesday night you’ll have a chance to voice your concerns, ask questions, and make suggestions for this highly trafficked area directly to DOT and local community leaders.

From Councilmember Mathieu Eugene’s office:

COUNCILMEMBER MATHIEU EUGENE INVITES YOU TO A COMMUNITY PRESENTATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (DOT) ON RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE SAFETY AT THE INTERSECTION OF PARKSIDE AVENUE AND OCEAN AVENUE.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6

6:30 PM TO 8:30 PM

CALVARY PENTECOSTAL CHURCH, 151 WOODRUFF AVENUE (BETWEEN OCEAN AND BEDFORD AVENUES)

*LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STUDY CONDUCTED AT THE INTERSECTION

*PARTICIPATE IN A DISCUSSION ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROPOSALS PUT FORTH BY THE CITY

*ASK QUESTIONS AND GIVE SUGGESTIONS TO DOT STAFF

 IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE OF COUNCILMEMBER EUGENE AT (212) 788-7352

I used to live on this side of the park and frequently took the subway to Parkside Avenue.  I can attest to some hairy crossings at the intersection there to get into the park.  Please come if you can and speak up for safety.

The 78th Precinct was in Prospect Park this weekend, ticketing cyclists for such violations as red light running and speeding.  There are no official counts available, but a few anecdotal reports from various park-goers who witnessed the crackdown firsthand paint an interesting picture.

The image above, courtesy of Michael Mandiberg, shows five NYPD officers stopping three cyclists.  A FIPS reader also reported witnessing “9 bikers get tickets within 10 minutes for whizzing past the red light near the lake.”  The reader describes the scene: “I’ve never seen so many police and parks department crews in the park ever and they were stationed at every red light giving out tickets.”

As a comparison, here are the number of specific moving violations issued to motorists to all street users by the 78th Precinct during the entire month of October. [PDF]

• Backing Unsafely: 3
• Disobey Sign: 8
• Fail to Stop on Signal: 44
• Improper Passing: 2
• Improper Turn: 3
• Not Giving Right of Way to Pedestrians: 3
• Speeding: 5
• U-Turn: 1
• Unsafe Lane Change: 6

The above list reflects only my own opinion of the most dangerous violations, at least from the point of view of a bike commuter, pedestrian and stroller-pushing father.  There are nearly twenty-five other categories on the list, including Tinted Windows (44), Cell Phone (178), and Safety Belt (100).

Let’s be conservative and say the real number of tickets issued to cyclists on Saturday was five.  Let’s also assume the tickets were for running a red, or Failure to Stop on Signal.  If the 78th ticketed drivers at the same rate, they would have had to have issued 111 additional tickets during October, and that number would not even begin to reflect a fraction of the red light violations that occur on a daily basis in the area under the precinct’s command.  Heck, you could probably count 111 drivers running red lights on just one stretch of Fourth Avenue in less than a few hours.  And the only thing I can say about the fact that the 78th issued only 3 summons in October for “Not Giving Right of Way to Pedestrians” is that I’m not given the right of way at least 3 times a day.  Getting hit by a car as I push my daughter’s stroller through a crosswalk is probably my number one fear as a parent.

Then there’s the issue of speeding.  Does the NYPD believe it’s a good allocation of resources to crack down on cyclists going 28 mph or on drivers going 40, 50, or even 60 mph through residential streets?  The fact that the 78th issued just 5 speeding tickets to drivers for all of October may answer that question for you.

This was posted to Brooklynian:

My husband was cycling in Prospect Park yesterday, 12/1, at approx. 4:30pm when an agressive grey van hit/swerved/ran off the road/ran into him. His injuries are quite serious. I understand that 5 police vehicles, fire dept and EMA arrived on the scene. I am trying to gather information from witnesses to the incident. If you have any information, please contact me at kelleytara@hotmail.com. I am still working on police/accident reports but sometimes that takes time and need to line up the information. Thanks in advance.

No word on whether the driver of the van stuck around to wait for the police and if he was charged.  The park is supposed to be closed to automobile traffic at that time of day.  If you can get detained for walking in a park after it is closed, one can only hope that the punishment for driving in a park during car-free hours and striking someone in the process would be much more substantial.

We’ll see if the NYPD descends upon Prospect Park to set up a checkpoint and hand out fliers to drivers reminding them to obey the law and respect the rules of the road.

Via brooklynbybike, here’s what the 78th precinct is handing out to cyclists in Prospect Park:

We’ll see how many cyclists — and skaters! — the NYPD catches going over the 25 mph speed limit and above a typical radar gun’s margin of error.

I’m all for an enforcement of rules and safe riding in Prospect Park; lord knows the park would benefit immensely from an improved culture of respect among all users, especially training cyclists.  But if the standard accident rate for initiating an NYPD response is at least two serious crashes in six months, why isn’t the NYPD passing a similar flier out to drivers all over the city every single day of the week?

In a world of limited resources, devoting this much time, money, and manpower to the unfortunate but relatively rare instances of bike/ped collisions in Prospect Park while letting drivers mow down citizens on a nearly daily basis signifies a gross deficiency in the sense of priorities among those charged with protecting the public.  Read all of the Mean Streets stories and substitute the word “bikes” with “guns.”  If two shootings in Prospect Park resulted in a massive NYPD crackdown, while weekly or daily murders just outside the park and far beyond it were allowed to continue unabated, there would be more than just one hundred people rallying outside of One Police Plaza calling for Ray Kelley to take action.

By the way, “In a world of limited resources…” is exactly how the trailer for my movie, Bikelash!, begins.

UPDATE 12/2 8:26 PM: The bike has been found! See the comments below.  Thanks to Mike Green at BikeBlogNYC for first alerting me to this story and to reader Mike for making the discovery on Cortelyou.  More to come…

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Via BikeBlogNYC.

I have seen this bike around the neighborhood and always wondered who used it and for what.  Well, now we know.  It was a family’s station wagon.  From the bike’s owner and mother to the cute kids in the picture:

The bike was well secured with a heavy kryptonite-like heavy chain. It was even tarp covered to protect from the rain. Whoever took it had to have at least 4 ft. bolt cutters, but even with that it would have been a hard job. The person took it in the dead of the night, the night before thanksgiving. It seems pretty calculated.

We will take any help we can get. Thank you! I’ll attach a flyer and a few photos. Please feel free to spread the word. If there are other places or people we should contact as well, please let us know. Someone MUST know where it is! It’s a pretty hard bike to hide.

Maybe it’s a sign of NYC’s growing bike culture that cargo bikes are now a hot item for thieves.  Still, you have to be a special kind of jerk to almost literally steal from a baby.

If you happen to see this bike around, email stolenboxbike@gmail.com.  Come on, Brooklyn!  Let’s see if this story can have a Copenhagenize-like ending for this family.