He campaigned on being the bike-friendly mayor, but Eric Adams has been singing a different tune since entering office.
Mayor Adams announced last Friday that the city would scrap the protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue, citing community pushback.
“The city will restore the original configuration of the Bedford bike lane between Willoughby Street and Flushing Avenue, while maintaining existing intersection daylighting treatments to protect pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists alike, and ensuring that pedestrians and cyclists can move safely around the neighborhood,” Adams wrote on X (the statement mistakenly refers to Willoughby Street instead of Avenue).
The protected bike lane, comprising three blocks, will be removed at the end of the month. The DOT only installed it last year. Removing the protections means that cyclists and motorists must now share the road.
The bike lane proved unpopular for many in the Hasidic Jewish community. Several crashes involving children and cyclists led some community members to call for the end of the bike lane, with a petition garnering over 3,000 signatures. According to videos shared frequently by Williamsburg 365 News, many incidents involve school buses or double-parked cars letting children off in the middle of the block, prompting the DOT to implement school bus loading zones and additional daylighting.
In response, Adams hosted a little-publicized, last-minute Williamsburg town hall last month. Greenpointers reached out to various city agencies to understand why more community stakeholders were not given advance notice; a spokesperson from the Mayor’s Office of Ethnic and Community told us that “information regarding this town hall was also shared with the community through social media and word of mouth.”
We did not receive a response to our follow-up about whether expecting information to spread through word of mouth indicates a functioning, transparent city government.
City Council Member Lincoln Restler, who recently called for additional safety measures and incurred Adams’ ire on X, spoke out against the decision.
“Protected bike lanes are critical to achieving Vision Zero—they ensure that our streets are safe for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike.
For months, the Mayor has repeatedly ignored our recommendations for ensuring the safety of children on Bedford Avenue. And now, instead of identifying solutions that enhance safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers, the Mayor is making a purely political decision to rip out a bike lane with no alternative.
This reckless and arbitrary decision will lead to more tragic crashes, and it will be the fault of Eric Adams.”
The situation echoes a similar situation with the McGuinness Boulevard redesign. After the DOT spent years gathering feedback and landing on a plan to redesign the thoroughfare, Mayor Eric Adams directed them to go back to the drawing board, circumventing the typical channels of decision-making and community support.
I would like to know why politicians like Lincoln Restler will not push for all types of cyclists to be licensed, registered, and insured like motorists if he truly wants Vision Zero.