The city can move forward with removing protections on the Bedford Avenue bike lane, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
Judge Carolyn Walker-Diallo said that the bike lane did not meet the city Department of Transportation’s standard for major projects that necessitate advance notice before removal.
Walker-Diallo acknowledged competing community concerns about street safety. “It is clear that the parties have deeply divergent views on what is best for the community regarding the bike lane modification,” she said. “However, the parties’ differences of opinion concerning this issue does not demonstrate that the [city’s] decision was arbitrary and capricious, or unsupported by the evidence.”
Mayor Eric Adams announced in June that the city would remove the bike lane protections. However, Walker-Diallo ruled that Adams did not have the sole authority to make that decision, granting a temporary restraining order against the removal. That order, as well as a lawsuit brought by street safety advocates, has now been dismissed.
The DOT shared during the court proceedings that after installing the protections last year, injuries on that stretch of Bedford Avenue decreased by 47%.
The bike lane protections span from Flushing and Willoughby avenues, intersecting a largely Orthodox area of Williamsburg. Many community members spoke out against the bike lane, citing recent crashes between cyclists and children.
Based on videos circulating social media, the crashes often stem from children exiting double-parked cars or school buses. The DOT added loading zones to mitigate the midblock crossings. Brooklyn Paper reports that the loading zones were not always accessible due to illegally parked cars.
In response to community concerns, Adams hosted a little-publicized town hall in May. He called on the city to remove the bike lanes shortly after.
Though Adams campaigned as being a bike-friendly mayor, his priorities have shifted since taking office. Adams has garnered a reputation for personally quashing street safety projects (recall McGuinness Boulevard and the priority bus lane on Fordham Road). As a candidate, he promised to install hundreds of miles of bike lanes, a goal that the city has fallen well short of.
It’s about time they did something for the drivers,,,,, we’re in a BIG CITY , where drivers have to follow laws pay CAR INSURANCE in case of an accident ,,,, these damm scooters, bike riders, get to have bike racks, bike lanes THAT MODT DONT USE. PAY NO INSURANCE and most of all DO NOT FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE LAW ,,,, MOST DONT WEAR ANY HELMET !THEY GO THREW RED LIGHTS !!!MYES RED LIGHTS! STOP SIGNS THEY BLOW RIGHT THREW !IN AND OUT OF TRAFFIC ALL OVER BUT ON MANHATTAN AVE AND OTHER STREETS !!!!!! ITS B/S ,,,, THEY SHOULD HAVE TO PAY INSURANCES AS WELL!!!!!
WHEN CARS HIT PEOPLE !THERE INSURACE GETS SUED!!!! WHEN MOTOR SCOOTERS !BIKES! HIT A CAR OR A PEDESTRIAN LIKE TWO DAYS DAYS AGO THE OLD MAN WAS KILLED. THE SCOOTER DRIVER FLEED THE SCENE ! AND THE PEOPLE HAVE TO PAY TO HAVE THERE CARS FIXED
I SAY MAKE THEM GET INSURANCE MAYBE THAN THELL PLAY MORE ATTENTION
FOLLOW THE RULES !!
THANK YOU MAYOR ADAMS!!