Central Park West Protected Bike Lane Approved by Community Board Committee; Would Eliminate 400 Parking Spaces
A drawing of Central Park West before and after the proposed protected lane.
By Carol Tannenhauser
On Tuesday night, the transportation committee of Community Board 7 unanimously passed a resolution approving a Department of Transportation (DOT) plan to create a protected bike lane on Central Park West, in part, by eliminating parking on the east side of the avenue. Four hundred parking spaces will be lost if the plan is implemented.
The new bike lane would run north from Columbus Circle to Frederick Douglass Circle — 59th Street to 110th Street. It would be bordered by the curb, with painted and physical barriers (bollards), separating it from traffic by seven feet.
The response of the audience, which filled the chapel of Congregation Rodeph Sholom to capacity, while not unanimous, was overwhelmingly positive. The memory of Madison Lyden, the 23-year-old Australian woman killed last summer while biking on Central Park West, was very much present in the room. A letter from her mother in favor of a protected bike lane was read.
The board had previously asked the city to consider putting a protected lane on CPW, but Lyden’s death accelerated that process. The bike lane that currently exists is separated from traffic by only a painted line. Cars now park and pick up passengers at the curb. It was a livery cab, pulling out from the present parking lane, that forced Lyden to swerve into the path of traffic and the private carting truck that killed her, police said.
“This plan will make sure what happened to Madison Lyden will never happen again,” said Council Member Helen Rosenthal, who stopped by the meeting to express support and gratitude to the Department of Transportation.
The community board had originally asked for a two-way bike lane, but that was deemed unfeasible, due to turning-lane and bus-stop considerations, according to a DOT official.
Several community members stepped forward to complain about the behavior of bikers, and to ask for greater enforcement of them than is currently occurring. Deputy Inspector Timothy Malin, of the 20th precinct, responded that the far great incidence of accidents involving automobiles made them the NYPD’s primary focus.
The next step is for the full Community Board to vote on the resolution. If approved, implementation of the plan could begin as soon as this year and conclude in 2020.
Community residents and other interested parties will again be able to express their opinions about the plan at the next Full Community Board meeting to be held on July 2nd. We’ll post the details of when and where as they become available.
This is absolutely ridiculous. No disrespect to the Australian woman, but You are building a bike lane next to one of the biggest parks in the World? A park that no longer allows car traffic so it is safe to cycle?
For what? So we can have another underused bike lane and snarl the side streets with people driving around looking for parking?
Totally agree. Unless we get better police enforcement ie. Bikers knowing that they have to obey traffic laws just like cars do, we have just shot ourselves in the collective foot.
The NYPD, as stated in the article, focuses their resources on automobiles, which are by and large the biggest source of crashes, injuries, and deaths.
That said, the NYPD routinely conducts “stings” on cyclists all over the city.
Exactly. Maybe we should build parking spaces in Central park to make up for the 400 spaces.
Jerome36, you obviously know nothing about the biking rules inside Central Park. Bikers legally can only ride southbound in the park, not northbound, on the western roadway in Central Park (I would advocate for a change there as well, so that you can ride both south and northbound). As a biker and a car owner, I am dismayed at the loss of 400 parking spots. I wish there was some way they could accommodate both sides. The only way to do that would to have Central Park be one lane in either direction That would certainly cut down the traffic there. But imho safer bike lanes are a good thing and may actually help cut down the traffic on CPW.
All of these changes (more bike lanes, congestion pricing, etc.) should go hand in hand with a residential parking permit program, to discourage day workers on the UWS who drive into the area (and there are tons of them), and clog parking spots, waste 30 – 60 minutes from their workday to move their cars, or feed the meters, etc. This is a much bigger problem that most will acknowledge. Those of us who are around during the day and park our cars on the street see this on a daily basis.
The bike routes in the park are full sized roads that are now car free.
They can be made two way with a can of paint and a brush.
The route is too hilly. Great for exercise, but people aren’t using the park to get around.
Besides, I’m not going in the park after dark.
Cities are for cars, go live in Denmark if you want to use your stupid bikes.
Cities are for PEOPLE. Go live in the suburbs if you can’t live without your car. Over 75% of UWS residents do not own a car. This is how democracy works.
Does minority have rights? Because somehow I think bicyclists might find themselves in the minority and get voted into oblivion too…
Wendy the problem with a residential permit program is what do people who are caretakers like home health aides and children of seniors do when they are transporting their elderly clients who don’t drive but others use their cars to transport them. If they do that not all caretakers live in the same district
There needs to be an investigation whether the members of CB7 have investments in the cycling industry…
How many bikes were parked outside the synagogue last night?
Or whether they take payoffs from the private garage operators.
Ah yes! The every powerful Cycling industry.
This is the most accurate comment I’ve read in a long time. Bike IN THE PARK. Total waste of resources.
Obviously a comment from someone who doesn’t bike all that much and prefers cars in the city.
Why not make the Buffer zone a Parking Lane? Let the parked cars serve as the protection.
Yeah, I assumed this was going to operate the same way as Columbus and Amsterdam’s bike lanes and was all for it. This just doesn’t make sense though – from what I can see, we’re giving up 400 parking spots for 1 foot of extra space in the bike lane?
I’m both a bike rider and a car owner and this just doesn’t make any sense at all. If you want to do something like this, then you need to introduce a resident parking plan at the same time. We already don’t have enough street parking available on the UWS
Its because if there was a parking lane next to the traffic lane, cars will use the traffic lane as part of the parking process tying up traffic even more, whereas now cars (unfortunately) use the bike lane to do so. There just isn’t enough room.
everyday i try and cross the street and out of nowhere a bike comes speeding out in front of me coming from the wrong direction. you can create a bike lane but you better have an army of nyc policemen making sure cyclists are following the rules of the road. the city will clean up with all the fines they give out.
Absolutely! Just today, another death was reported from some crazy, out-of-control cyclist running into and killing an innocent pedestrian:
https://gothamist.com/2019/06/12/queens_woman_in_critical_condition.php?utm_source=WNYC+%2B+Gothamist&utm_campaign=33d19acad3-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65dbec786b-33d19acad3-86028945&mc_cid=33d19acad3&mc_eid=48f5d61c7f
Oh wait… that death wasn’t caused by a cyclist, but by a motorist, driving… a car! Never mind. 🙄
Way to ignore the point of the comment. Obviously a two ton machine has a higher chance of killing someone than a bike does. I love how when someone mentions ticketing cyclists who dont follow the rules someone follows with “BUT CYCLISTS DONT KILL PEOPLE!”…The city is bending over for cyclists left and right, meanwhile drivers pay for these useless cycling lanes despite the fact there are are wayyyy more cars than cyclists. If you like your bike, no one is stopping you, but there are risks with everything. A driver killing a cyclist is absolutely awful, but that doesn’t make all drivers your enemy.
Everyday I ride my bike with the light in my favor and out of nowhere a pedestrian comes walking out in front of me against the light and gives me a look like I am inconveniencing them. I have taken to yelling that “I will hit you” which usually gets their attention. STOP complaining about bikes unless you stop crossing the street with a don’t walk sign. More pedestrians ignore the light than bicyclists.
Is this a one-way southbound lane? Interestingly, the car-free roadway inside the Park that’s closest to the west side is also one-way southbound.
No, as per above it is one way “north bound”, that would put the bike lane along east side of CPW.
The argument that the CPW bike lane is unnecessary because of adjacent Central Park bike path is a non sequitur and completely ERRONEOUS .
The proposed CPW lane goes UPTOWN. The Central Park bike path route nearby goes DOWNTOWN. The nearest uptown lane is on Amsterdam Ave, which can be a nightmare for cyclists with much more commercial traffic and pedestrians.
Agree 100%
You mean bikers don’t go uptown using the West drive? Since when.
West drive is southbound, go look.
I bike and rarely drive, but wonder why it is not possible to make the park drives both ways for bicyclists. I would prefer to bike in the park to biking on CPW, but if I’m only going 10-20 blocks, or I’m in a hurry, I’m not going to go most of the way around the park for the pleasure. I’m sure there is a rationale that I just don’t know. Anyway, if it were two-way then perhaps bikers could have a nicer, safer ride and the drivers could keep their parking spaces?
Bikes, inline skaters, joggers, persons pushing strollers/prams already unofficially go the wrong way round the drives, with sadly more than a few accidents.
Traffic patterns for the loop/drive was set long ago to be one way for a reason. Motor vehicles are largely banned from CP, but you have tons of persons pushing or using various contraptions with wheels, and or walking/running abreast that cause problems.
First and foremost no matter which lane you designate north or south (to run opposite current one way lanes), people have to exit the park. How are they going to do that across two or more lanes of pedestrians, stroller pushers, bikers, inline skaters, etc?
West drive has some very steep hills which at bottom or at other points there is pedestrian crossing. Despite fact there are traffic lights, and people are supposed to stop, most bikers, in line skaters and others do not. They come flying down those hills at great speed with again more than a few incidents, some resulting in deaths.
At least now LE in theory can keep a lid on things by citing persons going the wrong way. You open up two way traffic and it is going to cause no end of problems.
— “The nearest uptown lane is on Amsterdam Ave, which can be a nightmare for cyclists with much more commercial traffic and pedestrians.”
Wait — so now the bikers think that the Amsterdam Avenue bike path is a *bad* thing?
Does that mean the rest of us can have it back?
If you’re biking there and there is a huge truck parked in there calmly supplying the Dunkin Donuts then it indeed turns into a nightmare.
OMG – one double parked truck turns your entire ride into a nightmare? Get real – everyday life is full of nightmares. Maybe you’d be safer staying home, where (hopefully) there are no nightmares…
The “Central Park bike bath” you refer to is a multi land road that is no longer used by cars and can easily be made two way for bikes.
It’s far safer than using CPW for biking.
I also agree 100%. Amsterdam ave is dangerous for bikers, especially around 72nd Street. CPW is ideal for bikers, since there are very few cross streets. I commute by bike on CPW and it’s currently a treacherous obstacle course given all the cars and buses that block the path.
What happens to the bus stops along CPW? How are people with disabilities supposed to board the bus when the driver cannot lower the ramp to the sidewalk? As a senior, I read having to cross a bike lane to get to the bus. Will bikers watch out for people crossing the bike lane to board the bus? My past experience as a pedestrian crossing bike Lanes at crosswalks, makes me doubt that they will. If, as stated in other comments, the bike lane inside Central Park is one-way downtown, then it seems to me much more logicaltoceate a one-way uptown bike lane inside the park.
— “Will bikers watch out for people crossing the bike lane to board the bus?”
Yeah, right.
The DOT plan has the buses still making drop-offs/pick-ups at curbside, so there should not be any conflict for the passengers getting on or getting off the buses.
Couldn’t agree more!
As an UWS senior I already take my chances every time I cross Columbus or Amsterdam.
I’ve been clipped by cyclists who ride against traffic and plow through red lights.
Thanks to these bikers, I’d walk an extra block or two to take the 10 bus just to ensure a safer trip.
Thanks to these short sided folks who are just reacting to the sound it’s of the moment, plenty of longtime UWS will be maimed or killed by this action.
giving up 400 parking spaces is not the best idea for solving this problem of bikes on the street.
In this case they have the park to ride through and don’t need our streets
50 blocks of lost parking is more than 400 parking spots.
“our streets”. That’s an interesting way to put it. The streets belong to all new Yorkers. Not just the folks who want to use them for free car storage.
With regard to your use of “our” streets — the streets are meant for all New Yorkers, no matter how they choose to get from point A to point B. The bike lane in the park is one-way; to go against traffic northbound is unsafe in the same way any cyclist or car’s disobeying traffic laws is unsafe.
The problem is that leaving your car there for 2-3 days at time isn’t “using” the space.
Why have our so-called representatives failed to demand enforcement of the traffic laws so that bikers stop at red lights to allow pedestrians to cross safely? What is wrong with these people? They have no judgment and they have no sense of balance and responsibility. If they are going to enhance the bike lane, then enhance law enforcement — but instead they are silent. If we are spending scarce dollars on bike lanes rather than the subways and buses, then spend more money on the police or use technology to oblige bikers to stop at red lights. Wake up!
@Frank There is no enforcement of bike traffic crime because the UWS has no cops that walk the beat. We are not considered high crime enough for that.
Perfectly said.
Why has there been no enforcement against all the cars, buses, vans, etc., that use the CPW bike lane as a pullover lane. Every time I ride a bike in the CPW bike lane, it is a game of dodgem where I constantly have to stop completely or weave into the car lane to avoid all the vehicles that decided to blissfully and illegally ignore the bike lane delineation. Although I am not in favor of losing parking spaces (we need more parking, not less), frankly the drivers brought this on themselves by not staying in their own lanes. To the point of killing riders. There should be an enforcement blitz to protect the bike lanes. Whether against vehicles in them, or riders going the wrong way.
Won’t somebody think of the previous parking spaces!
Talk about a city that has its priorities screwed up!
Is it possible to make the buffer lane smaller and still have parking? For example, on Amsterdam and 95th street, there’s a bike lane and there still is parking…is that possible?
I wish this headline read: community board and city act to save lives. That’s more important than the lose of parking, on public space, for personal vehicles.
Agreed! That’s what I noted in my comment.
— “I wish this headline read: community board and city act to save lives.”
I agree with you. But the community board and City are too busy pandering to the vocal bicycle lobby to bother about things like saving lives.
Where are the cops when the SPEEDING cyclists come barreling down and going through red lights? I can’t tell you how many times I was almost hit when I have the right of way. Having 400 cars circling the streets for parking is really going to make it better. For who? If the parking garages were more affordable, then maybe we wouldn’t have a big parking problem.
i hate the bikes!
What speeding cyclists? Except on a sustained downhill, even a superfit cyclist only goes about 20 mph, and can go faster than that only for short bursts. Speed limit on local NYC roads is 25.
Apparently they can go fast enough to kill you, as it happened to that poor lady on 57th street a month ago, hit by a messenger.
The (very rare! on the order of 5 in the last decade!) incidents like that are generally a question of a pedestrian being knocked over and hitting their head on asphalt or pavement.
It can happen if a rider — failing to exercise due care in the presence of a more-vulnerable street user, to be completely clear! — is going 7 mph or less.
This plan virtually eliminates all parking along CPW from 59th to 110th; that is going to cause no end of consequences and repercussions.
Leaving aside residents of CPW and or side streets just off; there are all the employees of buildings, businesses, the museum and others that now will have to fight for remaining parking along west side of CPW.
You think there is double parking now on CPW? Just wait, you haven’t seen anything yet.
I agree with Paula, AC and Jerome! I was nearly killed by a speeding bicycle three years ago while standing in front of my building. I had a concussion from which I am still having seizures and after effects. There are bike lanes galore on the UWS, yet the cyclists often eschew them to go faster around the traffic. They disrespect pedestrians and traffic laws. If we are going to go to such great lengths to create a cycling culture, then we must license and insure the people who ride (the same as automobile drivers) — and we must step up police patrols to enforce the existing traffic regulations so neither cyclists nor pedestrians get hurt.
yea!! thanks for agreeing with me. the bikes are the reason i want to leave nyc!
1 more parking spot?
CB7 has approved bike lanes on most of the major avenues on the Upper West Side, which together with Citibikes and the elimination of parking along Central Park West means that the UWS side will have lost thousands of street parking spots. Meanwhile the East side has one bike lane on an avenue. The UWS is carrying the brunt of the burden of uptown bike lanes and bearing all the cost of loss of parking. How is it that CB7 does not protect UWS drivers the way CB8 does?
We also lost all those affordable parking garages on 108th street thanks to CB7’s approval of the Mayor’s plan for supportive housing there (like we don’t have more than our share of that too). Finally with Congestion Pricing, the UWS will again lose parking spots to New Jersey drivers who don’t want to drive into the zone.
Comparing bike safety to parking is comparing apples and oranges. With fewer parking spots, the innumerable tradesmen and delivery trucks have to double park causing honking horns and traffic congestion. Can you really say that CB7 is looking out for the welfare of UWS residents?
This is absolutely correct.
Plus, the Upper West Side has less north / south avenues than the East Side, so we get hit harder.
Since the police won’t do it, How do we get the CB7 board members to force cyclists to obey the traffic rules?
The UES has two major avenues with protected bike facilities, 1st Ave and 2nd Ave.
Why was no action taken when Jill Tarlov was killed by cyclist in Central Park? Should we have banned bicycles there instead of making it a place for more potential “bike murderers?” Of course not. So why demonize car owners and taxi drivers?
Most bike riders don’t even use the lanes. Check out Amsterdam Avenue as an example. And they certainly don’t pay attention to the traffic lights.
We are the most vibrant city in the world, we’re not Brussels or
Copenhagen. Politicians should stop trying to make us such. And stop trying to bring down WHAT’S LEFT of the economy in this city. The commerce of New York moves on four wheels not two.
Cars in NYC kill hundreds of people per year. This is a fact you can look up.
You can also look up the fact that 2 deaths were caused by cyclists in the past 10 years.
Cyclists that do not use the bike lanes should be ticketed, or have the bikes removed from their possession.
precious!
Don’t understand why the buffer lane isn’t going to be a parking lane. It works on Columbus and Amsterdam.
CPW is a two-way street. Adding parking outside the bike land would reduce the uptown side to one lane, which would invariably get blocked by double-parkers (chjeck out Riverside Blvd. which at least has a painted island that cars use to get around the double-parking). I don’t see how it could work on CPW. Amsterdam and Coilumbus are one-way, so have more lanes of traffic.
I am more of a biker than a driver (I don’t own a car) but I think we have gone overboard catering to bikers at the expense of cars. As a result of this there will be a lot less parking and CPW will be even more of a congested mess.
How are buses being factored into this – where are they going to stop?
— “How are buses being factored into this – where are they going to stop?”
Oh, right, good point. OK, the City will just do away with the buses. Who needs them? No one rides the buses anyway.
And those who do should be riding bikes instead. You know, like they do in Amsterdam.
Great news. That valuable street space should be used to improve safety for ALL New Yorkers, not private parking for the wealthy few. And yes, if you own a car in NY you’re wealthy.
Amen X 100000 from the silent majority! A public roadway is too valuable to be used for storage of private property. Go drive your privately owned pollution machine to another city !
Bill, stop writing about things you absolutely DO NOT know. You have that same stupid mentality when someone assumes you’re rich because you live on the Upper West Side. Just stop it.
As proven by the experience on Queens Blvd., added parking slows traffic and cuts down on accidents.
If you are wealthy in Manhattan, and you own a car, you park it in a garage or parking lot, not on the street.
Not sure where you get your “wealthy few” information from but the wealthy few park their cars in garages that cost $800 to $1000 per month. The folks that park on the street have older vehicles, low insurance & can’t afford a garage. What about the person who owns a car that’s a bomber? Totally ludicrous response by any reasonable person.
Bill your comment belies a limited understanding of the world or a failure of imagination. There are many people who reverse commute because they have to. There are people who need cars to care for elderly parents out of town. If you are willing to pay higher taxes to pay for care for my parent then I’ll give up the car.
Clearly the city is determined to eliminate all on street parking for its residents. Bike lanes on Columbus Avenue have already lead to a traffic nightmare. Central Park West is already ridiculously congested and an additional bike lane will only make matters worse. This is a good time to institute an uptown bike lane inside Central Park.
None of this is true and it’s backed up by multiple studies.
Please post the links to your multiple studies
— “This is a good time to institute an uptown bike lane inside Central Park.”
Actually, it’s a good time to leave New York before things get even crazier. Let the bicyclists support the tax base.
I don’t think you understand how much taxpayer support goes to the few people that own cars and park on the street. It pales in comparison to taxpayer support for bike lanes.
It’s about time, we start to close that gap, even if it’s just a little bit.
Amen!
YES – Cyclists must support the tax base.If cyclists must have their own lane, make them pay for it. How ?
Make them pay for courses to obtain a license,
Make them pay for the license,
Make them pay to register their bikes.
Make them pay a fee to park their bikes.
And when they want a bike lane on a bridge or in a tunnel, make them pay for an EZ Pass.
Fair is fair.
Here is a suggestion to help solve the problem of dangerous bike riders – it probably isn’t cheap but I don’t think it would be too cost prohibitive: at every intersection, have a bar that goes up and down in front of the bike lane like at a railroad crossing. When the light turns red, the bar goes down so that bikers cannot cross the intersection on a red light – if they want to get off their bike and walk around the bar, they are welcome to do that, but at least they won’t be going at full speed.
They should do this with cars too, which are by far the most egregious red light-runners (also resulting in injuries and death).
But in all seriousness, a ridiculous idea.
The egregious drivers are uniformly not those with New York plates, but New Jersey.
Lol, WHAT? I see terrible, reckless, driving from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, every state in the Nation, AND Ontario!
Love that idea!
Clever, but it will just result in the few bikers who now use the bike lanes moving into traffic with all the others. If the bikers won’t observe the laws as it is, they’re not going to put up with being coerced to do so.
After all, they’re bikers and they have places to go!
I will be waiting for the first cyclist to file suit against the city when they either crash into the barrier or gomflying over it.
A bar is an interesting suggestion. Sadly, it will never happen. Bicyclists are a dangerous menace when they disregard traffic rules. But the culture of disrespect won’t change. Indeed, it is shared by so many pedestrians, who ignore the Don’t Walk signs. Their behavior is not as dangerous, but it is a major cause of traffic delays,
Because it prevents cars from turning into another street.
Pedestrians don’t “prevent” cars from turning. They have the right of way at those intersections.
Wrong! Pedestrians do not have the right of way when the Don’t Walk” sign appears. Then they are jay walkers. But, they feel entitled to ignore these signs even while complaining about cars and bikes that ignore red lights. Sid, what part of “Don’t Walk” can’t you read or understand?
Actually no, that is not correct. Some of you either do not drive, or it has been decades since took drivers education course. That or you’ve forgotten much of what was studied.
By NYS law basically all pedestrians have right of way within a marked crosswalk/intersection.
https://www.tickethelp.com/new-york-failure-to-yield-to-a-pedestrian-ticket/
Drivers can and have been ticked for failing to yield to pedestrians at an intersection even when someone was crossing against the light.
Jaywalking/running out into the street from middle of block is another matter.
Would this theoretical bar go across the entire intersection to prevent the 1,200,000 drivers a day from running red lights too or just for the bikes?
There are theoretically red light cams to enforce cars that run red lights (though I don’t know how many there actually are and how much enforcement there is).
I am all for pedestrians and even bikers crossing at a red light if it is totally clear. I do not approve of bikers just running red lights while being oblivious to everything around them, particularly pedestrians. And I do not approve of pedestrians strolling across the street against a red light and expecting cars to wait for them – if you are crossing against the light, you need to hurry.
How about a bar to prevent pedestrians from stepping into the street against the light?
Great news! Interesting that the Rag’s headline leans towards the loss of parking space, and not the safety benefits that bike lanes extend to cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike.
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/06/protected-bike-lanes-safe-street-design-bicycle-road-safety/590722/
I am an avid citibike user with over 1500 miles logged on my account. Despite the tragic death of the Australian biker I am not in favor of a protected bike lane. The congestion on Amsterdam has increased immeasurably since the addition of the protected bike lane. As already stated CPW is one of the safest roads to ride a bike because of the lack of east/west traffic. A much better proposal would have been to convert one or two current parking spots per every two blocks into designated pick up/drop off spaces for livery drivers. Livery drivers would no longer be parked in the bike lane and bikers would no longer veer out of the lane. And yes, bikers bear responsibility for the safety of pedestrians. Let’s all share this beautiful city together.
Hear hear. The UWS used to be a great neighborhood, but CB7 always goes overboard and has ruined it. We don’t even elect these people. We really have no real say.
This is GREAT!!
And should just be a first step toward the ultimate elimination of cars in the city.
RIP to the parking spaces.:)
The audience for the CB7 meeting must of been filled with biking enthusiasts and not CB7 residents. Take a community vote and you’ll find a different sentiment. Bikers are allowed to run amok and everyone else suffers. I wish our elected officials cared as much about pedestrians as they do about the biking lobby.
Because it’s impossible that someone is both a CB7 resident and a biking enthusiast?
Or it’s impossible to consider that someone who may not live in CB7, but travels through it regularly, may have a strong stake in this conversation too?
I attended the CB7 meeting about the new CPW bike lane.There were a a significant of number of persons who spoke against the new CPW bike lane. But the majority of the large audience as well as CB7 were in favor of it. The CB7 members there and the DOT persons there didn’t seem to care much about pedestrian safety very much. Really awful. They should be removed in investigated and so should DOT for pushing bike lanes all over the city. No new bike lanes in NYC until current problems with existing bike lane problems are solved. The Citi Bike locations must be controlled. There are way too many on the upper west side now. I was hit by a Citi Bike rider in early June who was riding east on westbound W. 73 St. I think he was on drugs.
Do we really need a bike lane on CPW. Right next to the biggest park in Manhattan. You know, the one that doesn’t allow cars anymore.
Then you look at the other bike lanes and most of the bikers aren’t using them, let alone obeying traffic rules.
Clearly at this point in time we can see that bikes will never coexist easily with dense NYC traffic.
Every comment and everyone I know has not a positive comment about bikes
Get rid of the bikes altogether!
If you substitute “cars” for “bikes” in that last sentence, you’d doubtless echo carriage owners 130 years ago, loudly protesting that Manhattan was not meant for horseless buggies.
The creators of the 1811 grid plan had neither cars nor bikes in mind. We need to find a way to adjust to change and co-exist.
As a bike rider (and bike lane advocate) and a car owner, I am not happy about the decision to eliminate parking spaces. Having to search for car parking means more time in the car, more idling, more turns, more pollution….. and more chances for accidents.
One thing the city seems to get wrong is the idea that having more bike riders and Citibike stands is that there will be a corresponding reduction in the number of cars in the city. This just ain’t so, so as more and more parking is taken away, congestion gets worse.
A change that might help: In those places where parking is taken away, reduce alternate side parking rules to one day a week, instead of two. It might be bad for commuters, but good for residents.
“… would eliminate 400 parking spaces”. That’s quite a headline. How about an alternate ending: “will make cycling safer for thousands of NYC residents”. Madison Lyden was killed cycling on CPW just last year.
This is wonderful! Being able to get uptown on CPW, and downtown via the park, will be so efficient. I’m so grateful for the attention that has been paid over the past decade or so to minimizing traffic by making biking more accessible (e.g., with CitiBikes) and more safe. To those concerned about bikers not obeying the traffic lights – it’s not everyone! Many of us are conscious of pedestrians and when we have the right of way. The flip applies as well – so many delivery trucks and cabs park in the bike lanes, forcing people to move out into traffic. The barrier here will orevent that.
Excellent. Long past due.
Why shouldn’t bikers ride from 59th up to 110th INSIDE the park, where it is beautiful, safe, less full of carbon monoxide and they won’t run over or into or curse at pedestrians
The park has a one-way bike lane – it goes southbound.
— “The park has a one-way bike lane – it goes southbound.”
Bikers don’t pay attention to these trivial rules anywhere else — why now and why here, all of a sudden?
It’s unfortunate that this young woman was killed due to someone else carelessness. Everyone should be able to freely cross the street, bike ride etc. w/o fear of getting hit.
Having said that to ‘punish’ all drivers who need to park their cars, is utterly & totally illogical. Cyclists have been given the run of the city streets for several years now w/o any kind of enforcement. They constantly go up & down one way streets in the wrong direction w/ no regard to pedestrians.
The city is also on a mission to eliminate vehicle traffic, like other smaller cities. Taxing drivers, removing parking (not everyone who has a car can afford $800 a month to park btw), excessive parking fines & meter rates etc…
It’s time for residents who drive to band together & demand police enforce laws on bike riders just as they do w/ auto drivers. Make bikers get permits & or licenses & read the rules of the road to respect pedestrians as well.
The bike lane on CPW could, and should, be made a two-way lane if some of the sidewalk is used. To make up for the loss to the sidewalk, the buffer could be tailored for pedestrians. This would create more width for pedestrians than exists now.
Adam, if you take the sidewalk, you lose the trees. We need trees.
As a biker, riding down any street next to parked cars is all about defense. You never know when someone is going to fling their car door open without looking back to see if anyone is coming. Also people getting out of cabs just swinging the cab door open. My hands are always on my bike brakes when biking so I can STOP at a seconds notice.
Bike lanes have taken over our city. It is too much.
I hate them personally as the laws are not enforced. Just yesterday I nearly got hit by a bike going the wrong way.
NYC IS NOT PARIS OR LONDON.
Why not just elevate the bike path? Widen the sidewalk, make the curb the same height as the sidewalk.
As a resident biker and as someone who parks a car on the street at times, I am all for the protected bike lane. The “buffer” zone is an improvement over the parking lane, by the way, because with no buffer, cars and trucks use the bike lane for parking and even for driving.
Of course, there’s no perfect system. The only crash I have had with my bike involved riding a bike lane. A pedestrian stepped into the lane directly in front of me mid-street while looking at her phone for the location of her Uber. In braking, I flew over my bike and, because of a buffer zone, did not fly into traffic.
My experience as pedestrian, cyclist, and driver is that some members of each group demonizes the others in a ridiculous way. This is in full flower here. Similarly, the language of some of these comments shows an impressively blinkered view: one mentions “our” streets and many speak of “the bikers” as if people riding bicycles are all the same. Neighbors, there are careless drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. I’ve been nearly hit by bicycles and cars when walking; by cars and pedestrians when cycling; and had to watch out for unsafe pedestrians and cyclists when driving. Happily, we are all still here to kvetch to each other.
Isn’t this just another reason why we need residential parking permits?
We’re losing parking spots every day to Citibike and now this, which brings the “1950s Beijing” fantasy of how NYC should look closer to reality.
And every day the steady stream of NJ and CT drivers snagging our parking spaces continues, with no penalties in place. It’s a disgrace.
It’s also the out of town contractors. They’re lining up in the street @ 6:30 / 7:00 am for the spots. They work for companies & they should put their cars & vans in garages, let THEM support the NY economy for a change!
To enable the protected bike lane, they are forced to give up the parking lane. The reason is that — as a two-way street — there are only 2 lanes of traffic. Currently, taxis and vans pull into the bike lane or bus stops to drop/pick up, allowing traffic to continue in the 2 lanes. If we move the parking lane to the outside of the bike lane, cars and vans will stop and idle in the Easternmost traffic lane, tying of traffic tremendously (particularly on streets where cars are stopping in the western traffic lane to make a left turn.
I am a cyclist, and daily use the bike paths. I also own a car and street park. I also walk the streets with my kids. I get every argument on both sides, but even I agree that this plan is ridiculous.
You obviously don’t use the CPW bike lane because if you did, you’d know that when a car pulls into the bike lane to pick up/drop off someone, they are still taking up half of the car lane, so not only are they screwing over the bikers with their selfish move, they are screwing over every car behind them that is now forced to merge into the other lane to get by. In a perfect world, no one would be inconvenienced but we live in a less than perfect world, and cars should just use their flashers momentarily and pick up/drop off right there in their lane (thus leaving the bike lane clear) so as to only inconvenience one group instead of two.
Instead of a buffer, make that lane the parking lane. Cyclists would be protected by the parked cars.
Except when the biker gets doored by an inattentive parker.
Sid and Julia, I agree with you 100%. I’m very disappointed that WSR highlights the loss of parking as opposed to safety for those of us that depend on bicycles for getting to jobs, appointments and daily life. And, for everyone that decries the loss of available parking, think of it more as a positive step towards lowering pollution and climate change. For all the pedestrians that think that bikes are your worst enemies, try to understand that cars maim and kill many more of you than bicycles every will.
While there are more car deaths than cycling deaths, that’s Apples to oranges. There are so many more cars than cyclists. So unless you are citing accidents per car or cyclist, you’re argument is useless. And also, someone mentioned only 3 deaths somewhere in the comments above. I would say that’s probably because we are building tons of cycling lanes for what- not even 1% of the population? And claiming it’s a win because cyclists cause less deaths than cars?
I would love to be able to cycle around the city. The only reason I don’t is that it is SO UNSAFE without protected bike lanes. If we had safe bike lanes you’d probably see quite a few people getting rid of their cars, and making more parking spaces available for others who really need them.
I’m so glad to read this. I was unable to make the board meeting yesterday. Thanks to all who showed up!
This is ridiculous. It’s another example of an extreme govt overreaction to a very sad accident. Many,many bikers have used the existing bike lane for years with no similar problem. This will cause MUCH more exhaust pollution over 50 blocks with cars searching for parking.
Terrible design. This should be a two way lane either protected by cement barricades or car parking. NYC DOT thinks that flex posts every 40 feet add protection. Cars go between them. Trucks run them over. It’s a joke. Save all the parking spaces and remove a lane of traffic. One lane each way with a center turn lane. All the drivers will complain of traffic. If only there was another way to get around in this city….
my problem with these protected bike lanes is that they ignore the reality that bicyclists (and to be fair, pedestrians) generally do not follow traffic laws.
also, bike lanes worsen the walkability of the city, because cars need turning signals when turning into a bike lane, which means pedestrians need to wait even longer to cross the street- normally turning cars would have to yield to pedestrians.
As someone who owns neither a bike nor a car, I have no vested interest in this decision one way or the other. But in my daily experience as a pedestrian on the UWS, I find bikes to be far more of a safety hazard, simply because so many bikers refuse to observe even the most basic of traffic laws, and the cops don’t seem to care.
I guarantee you that speeding, inattentive, failing-to-yield drivers are a much greater threat to you day-in, day-out, than even the worst scorcher bicyclist on his worst day.
You’ve just internalized that “this is how drivers are” and their rampant misbehavior doesn’t bother you the way that it really should.
The graphics show how a new bike lane would work on a straightaway between the major East-West cross streets but doesn’t indicate how it would work at corners like 86th & CPW, where there is a dedicated left turn lane going northward as well as a stop lane for the #10 bus. The complex traffic light system, with its left turn signal for cars coming from the East Side, works fairly well. Turning into CPW from the eastbound lane, however, means waiting for westbound traffic to clear, which seldom happens until the light changes, creating a Dodge-‘Em-Car situation between turning cars, cars which now have the green light going north and, lest we forget, pedestrians. (Pedestrians are always the forgotten demographic in these plans.) I don’t cross into the park at that corner anymore; I walk to 85th or 87th Street where there I can only get hit from two directions (three, if you count cars turning into the side streets). Add a bike lane to the stew at that intersection and you have a recipe for accidents, injuries and, I fear, more fatalities for both pedestrians and cyclists.
Car parkers are about to be victims of discrimination while bicycle riders, who regularity break basic traffic laws and pay no gas taxes or auto registration fees, are favored again.
Cyclists dont use gasoline, why would they pay a gas tax? Everyone’s taxes, however, do pay for the roads, if that is what you meant.
Cars kill and cripple people, pollute air with toxic fumes and noise, and collectively create an unrelieved visual blight throughout the NYC landscape.
So it’s all the more outrageous that we as a society continue to misallocate so much of the public resource which is our streets for storage of privately owned motor vehicles.
Let’s phase out street parking everywhere and reclaim that precious space as safe passage for the healthiest, eco-friendliest, quietest, and most enjoyable of all modes of transportation: bicycling.
As a cyclist, pedestrian and driver who lives on the UWS, I applaud this action. Study after study show that bike lanes make streets safer for everyone, in NYC and other cities worldwide. I suffered a broken clavicle (collarbone) when I was “doored” in the CPW bike lane a few summers ago as a passenger swung his door open into the existing bike lane. A protected bike lane would have prevented this (and I would not have to go through the rest of my life with an unsightly lump on my left collarbone and increased discomfort whenever a car shoulder belt simply rests over it). Note that I have never urged the removal or stricter enforcement of cabs as a result of this mishap. Accidents happen. In this case, the exiting passenger failed to check for passing cyclists before swinging open his door.
But to the many here who deplore cyclists in general, please… a 150-lb cyclist on a 25-lb bike traveling at 15 mph doesn’t compare to a 4,000 lb vehicle traveling at 30 mph! Pedestrians and cyclists being killed by motorists is now an almost daily news item in this town; precious few individuals have ever been killed by a cyclist! When biking, I always stop for red lights and any and all pedestrians. Most of us do. I despise reckless cyclists (speeding, scaring pedestrians, riding the wrong way on a one-way street or bike way, riding on sidewalks, etc.) as much as anyone here; after all, I’m a pedestrian more often often than a cyclist.
The pushback against bicycles stems, I believe, from the fact that it’s a change from the status quo that’s existed for almost a century, with car as king. So when measures are taken to make our streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists at the expense of cars, people resist. I get it. But believe me, the new dynamic is better for everyone. Remember what Amsterdam Ave was like before it got its bike lane? Trucks and cars barreled down the avenue faster (and louder) than they travel now. The sidewalk and outdoor tables at restaurants were dirtier, noisier and less safe. Bike lanes are definitely a good thing.
The pushback is due to the total lack of consideration for parkers. If any effort was made to help them they wouldn’t be so mad. Instead long long time residents are told “Tough luck too bad for you.” Second, traffic congestion has increased with more idling, air pollution and noise. Bikers think goods and services don’t need to be delivered to the city even as they themselves order in more and more. Third the raised pedestrian sidewalks and painted lanes are ugly as hell and have disrupted the hisorical look of the city. Furthermore the lanes are dangerous because whether the lane goes one way or not you better make damn sure to look both ways or you are liable to be run over by a bike. Finally if bikers hate cars so much then I surely hope not a one of you ever take an Uber or a Via.
this city wasn’t originally designed for the automobile. can’t people see that cars are destroying what it means to be in a city? if you want to drive your inefficient/wasteful machine so badly go to the burbs. real city folk walk, bike, use public transit, not get chauffeured around because they want to be more “comfortable”.
Let’s give a think about how many cars pass through CPW on a warm weather month in relation to bikes on any given day. there is no comparison.
Then let’s think about this in a cold weather month. Even less bikes.
The thought of turning the city green and having everyone ride bikes is an unrealistic fantasy.
The reality is that the majority of people get around in a vehicle and not a bike.
The implementation of bike lanes throughout the city has made traffic worse and cost the city millions on construction. And these bike lanes are rarely used in cold weather months.
What a waste.
Then comes the tourists on Citibikes. No helmets, taking a joy ride on busy avenues. This is New York City. Not Disney World.
We should have bike lanes on alternate avenues, not every avenue.
We have a bike lane on Columbus going up town.
We have a bike lane on Amsterdam going downtown.
How about NO bike lane on CPW?
Once again, thank you mayor Deblasio. Can not wait for you to become president.
It’s a good thing.
I’m ecstatic that the City is finally going to make CPW safer for cyclists, and reduce the amount of free on-street parking in the process! This trend must continue at a rapid pace throughout the entire city to reduce unnecessary car use and make NYC a truly livable city for all.
This poorly designed, unimaginable proposal should have received a thumbs down. Why were there no alternatives or options presented or explored. Protected bicycle lanes create major changes in the street, are expensive and should be well designed. A redesign of the park drive should have been proposed rather than this boondoggle.
OK, bikers, now show you are civilized human beings by not treating that lane as an exemption from all traffic laws, as so often happens in protected lanes when you stop being scared of being taken out by a car. STOP ON RED.
I agree. I am a bicycle commuter and I stop at all red lights. If NYC is to be a bike-friendly city, bikers have to obey the rules of the road just as strictly as when they are in a car. Maybe someday even the pedestrians will follow suit.
It would be great to have better signage to bike around Columbus circle to get to CPW!!
I don’t agree with 400 parking spaces being lost. Perhaps UWS garages can be price regulated for affordability to give car owners an option to keep their cars in the city. This proposal is coming after the proposed parking fees! Even if UWS parking garage fees would come down to rational monthly costs, there wouldn’t be enough spaces for the UWS residents. I believe the community boards goal is to eliminate cars completely thus creating a hardship for many residents to endure and unfairly target the UWS working class. Please community board concentrate on making the pedestrians safer by eliminating the electric bikes! Living in the city for 40 past years I never thought I would hear these preposterous proposals taking place without consideration of remedies.
Sheer lunacy!!
Bicycles should be banned from CPW and confined to Central Park where cars have been banned to accommodate bicyclists, runners and pedestrians.
Parking is fascinating to me – the sheer entitlement that the city must provide you with free public storage for your 1.5 tons of private property.
By their logic, I should be able to get a small storage unit and keep in the parking space near my apartment, right? Use it to store books, winter clothes, luggage? As long as I scoot it over for alternate-side parking, it’s the same thing!
The thing people like you don’t realize is that cars are a huge money maker for the city.
The Parking Violations Bureau alone brings in around $550 million a year. Bus lane and red light camera fines generate another $50 million. Cars are towed and sold by the city which brings in millions more.
The roads will exist whether cars are here or not. They will need to be cleaned and resurfaced just like they are now. And there will always be truck deliveries and buses so the roads will get damaged.
Cars aren’t draining any city resources, quite the opposite.
None of this is true.
Wow, none of it! LOL
If you’re in possession of superior facts, share them. But sadly I suspect you’re not.
It will be a disaster to take out 400 parking spots. I need to commute to my teaching job in the Hudson Valley and I depend on those parking spots. On a teacher’s salary, I can’t afford a monthly spot in a garage. Also, the workers in my building need to park. They cannot afford a monthly spot either. While I understand the thought of making it safer for bikers, it’s unfair to do that at the expense of workers.
How about also removing the parking on the West Side of Amsterdam Avenue from 72nd to 110th Street to relieve the
traffic congestion. This will open an extra traffic lane.
All I see in the bike lanes on Amsterdam are delivery guys going down the wrong way. How about we remove the bike lanes rather than remove parking. I don’t even Use the parking spots , but seeing unused or wrongly used bike lanes makes me angrier than seeing parked cars.
Wow, am I one of the only ones who are happy about this lane being built? I would use it every day on my commute home. I agree, more should use it. Hopefully they will once it becomes safer to. I also obey the lights and hey, I even signal when I turn. Learned it in Europe. Think about all the carbon saved over my lifetime. I have never used UBER, and once this lane is in place, they will no longer be idling on the park side of CPW either. Very nice.
This is great news and so much safer for the bikers and pedestrians as well. Honestly as a mom with a stroller it’s often hard to see bikes coming up on CPW in the current bike lane because of the parked cars.
not one more inch for bikes until they are equipped with horns/bells and license plates, so we can turn them in for running red lights and riding both ways.
not another hemi-. demi-, semi-millimeter
Two protected bike lanes on CPW would be a disaster waiting to happen, at least that seems to be how DOT currently sees things.
CPW has several major transverses (96th, 86th, 79th, and 66th). Currently traffic in both directions can make either right or left turns off CPW to access as needed.
Proposed protected bike lane scheme removes left turns for the 96th street transverse. This means those going south on CPW wishing to travel cross down will either get pushed further south, have to cross at 110th, or head over to Columbus or any other avenue with south bound traffic to reach 96th, then drive across.
In reality only a very small number of cyclists obey traffic lights. They plow right through intersections bike lanes or not. This is one reason so many are involved in accidents. Drivers who have the light and making a turn have to contend with cyclists coming up out of no where and entering intersection.
It is no secret BdeB, DOT commissioner Polly Trottenberg and her department overall have a hate for motor vehicles. They are all aided and abetted by a small but vocal minority of those on community boards and elsewhere whose life’s work is getting rid of motor vehicles totally. Unless or until that day happens DOT (probably to their regret) must deal with the practical consequences of their actions.
Taking away parking, creating bike lanes, and the rest of it only pushes things elsewhere.
Those going on about how Fifth avenue is one way south bound, and that supposedly is a wonderful thing obviously haven’t driven, ridden (as on a bus) down the thing. Traffic for a good part of day, and well into evening is slow and or backed up for miles. The further below 86th you go towards and into midtown the worse things get.
Let’s see if our mayor is willing to bike to his Brooklyn gym
Parking is astronomical in nyc and hard working fields who need their cars to work outside the city ( like me) will struggle. Parking in our neighborhood is upwards of 600 dollars a month. There is already lanes in Columbus. People need to walk the bikes yo the streets with lanes – the same way we walk to the avenues for t I the subway. I don’t think using a bike in a street without the bike lane is advised and they can’t be everywhere
Am all for turning NY into a bike city but also think that it is unfair to not include in the design places to park. Also, unless bikers are made to respond to traffic regulations including red lights, it make the city more and more unsafe. I was walking along the river in Riverside Park tonight and the bikers have no regard for slowing down as they race by pedestrians and now the motorized bikes are making it more dangerous still. There is no way they could stop suddenly if a child runs by or someone trips or falls. I was in Copenhagen last Summer and the difference in how biking is handled compared to NYC is striking. Why are we not using them and others as an example.
People mark your calendars now for the Full Community Board meeting to be held on July 2nd. Pack the room, don’t think others will turn up so you don’t need to, do your piece and express your views at this meeting. That’s the only way we stop this insanity. CB7 doesn’t read or get their views from west side rag unfortunately. These unelected officials need to be sent a clear message of what the community wants.
This isn’t about opinion, it’s about the fact that safety improvements like these improve the well-being of ALL road users: pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists.
I drive a car, ride a bike and am a pedestrian. My car stays in the garage and I use it only when leaving town–driving in the City is too crazy for me.
Riding my bike on the Greenway, a jogger with earbuds and music blasting cut in front of me in a bike only lane; I was forced to brake so hard that I fell off my bike and hurt my elbow. The jogger never even knew, even though I caught up to him and screamed at him.
Last week, I was crossing 72nd street on Broadway when a guy on a bike rode through a light, drove west on 72nd on the wrong side of the street; I looked up just as he was crashing into me. We all fell. I sustained minor injuries. I yelled at him and dazed, continued walking. (So mad that I didn’t call police!)
Bad drivers in general are all over.
Action needs to be taken. In an increasingly congested city, rules must be followed for the safety of all. Bikes need license plates. A crackdown on following rules should be for everyone–pedestrians/joggers, bike and car riders.
I think a lot of the concern around bikes is that whilst they are less dangerous fatality wise, walk more than 5 blocks on the UWS and you will invariably have to avoid one ignoring a red light. Having read this yesterday I was more aware walking home just how much I have to check BOTH WAYS when crossing the street and on a 20 min walk had to give way 7 times to speeding bikes when I had the walk signal (each time said biker glaring at me as if was in the wrong). This prevalence taints opinions. Bikes do not not obey traffic lights but let’s be honest neither do 99% of pedestrians. The bar idea was nice one but unfeasible. Maybe a better solution for bike lanes would be for less busy streets red is effectively yield signs and for more busy or complicated turning patterns hard stop signs (again most pedestrians treat them this way and I’ve never seen a jay walking ticket issued in 14 years of living here). This would make it easier to police with more dangerous (to bikers and pedestrians) intersections having know hard stop signs police can enforce. There should also be zero tolerance to wrong way bike lane cycling in my opinion. I use citibike regularly too and try not to act menacingly but I’m sure I’m not perfect.
I how about this idea – we have pretty wide sidewalks on CPW – make the sidewalk next to CP into a bike lane.going north Pedestrians use the west side of the avenue to go in both directions and cross into park as needed. Just a thought…
This seems so wasteful, and will probably encourage cyclists (myself among them) to go faster along an avenue that experiences a lot of east-west pedestrian crossings, which is the real danger on CPW.
Eliminate parking between the north- and south-side crosswalks at each intersection to improve visibility of/by pedestrians before crossing the bike lane, and give cabs/Ubers/etc a dedicated place for pickups and dropoffs.
Where are NYC tax payers suppose to park.. you know the ones who pay your salaries..
You have already ruined w 72 entrance it looks like time square.
So many pedi cabs and street meat trucks.
I will make sure I do not vote for you or any of your team
Enough with these stupid bike lanes. And actually it’s not fair to even call them bike lanes. For every real biker (citi bike or bike owned by cyclist) using it on Columbus, you get 12 delivery guys on ebikes doing 25 mph not peddling once, 3 electric skateboarders, 2 people riding electric skateboard contraption with a single wheel and on and on and on. It’s the wild west in those so called bike lanes, instead used by electric motorized vehicles that disregard all traffic laws. Getting rid of one so called evil of gasp, cars in a city to replace them with another evil of illegal unauthorized motorized vehicles using a bike lane. Let’s make sure this silliness ends now and this never happens.
As a car owner that keeps his car 30 minutes away in low cost Queens and rides his bike year round I have to agree with you Big Earl. The electric powered vehicles are giving real bicyclists a bad name with them zipping around at high speed with no regard for traffic patterns or pedestrians.
When I ride my bike, even though I don’t ride particularly fast I slow down for red lights and yield to pedestrians. This is pretty much what I and countless others do when walking and have a red light, don’t the vast majority of us walk through red lights if there are no approaching vehicles.
The only times I have ever come close to coming into contact with a pedestrian have been the times people have popped out into the street or bike lane from between parked vehicles – several times while wearing headphones.
As a current CPW bike lane user I fully support a new bike lane on CPW but don’t necessarily think we need that huge buffer zone – a line of parked cars should be fine. Otherwise just start ticketing all the guys who block the current bike lane. I just ride CPW about 20 blocks and there is almost no day when I don’t have to move into the automobile lane to get around an idling uber/lyft/limo/caterer/contractor van. Even when there is plenty of room for them to pull over to the curb they still choose to block the current bike lane. The only guys who seem to respect the current bike lane are the UPS and FedEx truck drivers.
Jerome is right, these bike lanes are not motivated by a desire to make life easier and safer for cyclists. Their only true purpose is to make owning a car and driving in the city progressively harder and more expensive, by taking away parking.
Only, because it’s politically difficult, we’re not going to disincentivize driving in the areas of the city that would really benefit from increased mass transit infrastructure and less driving. Instead this will only be done in areas where people already mostly use mass transit for daily commuting and cars are owned for weekend trips or by small business owners bringing goods into the neighborhood. Basically, making life a little more miserable for people who are already good citizens.
The changes are a terrible idea. I’m 70 years old, live a 1/2 block from Central Park, am an avid biker, and I also have a car. I’m terribly afraid of increased prowling for parking spaces, additional uber parking and idling, but worst is the prospect of ferocious jockeying during alternate side parking. I simply can’t compete with the cars and trucks that take up parking on my street as it is. Unleashing 400 more cars is unbearable. Additionally when congestion pricing begins the demand on the UWS streets will reach a bursting point where the real losers will be the residents like me who can’t afford parking lots.
Absolutely love this proposal. Only thing I would change is maybe bringing all the lanes down to 10’ and having a 2 way lane (12’ wide) with a 3’ buffer. Eliminating parking is a net positive for the neighborhood. Less people are going to be inclined to drive here, meaning less people circling aimlessly to find parking spots. CPW has an enormous amount of usage and having a protected lane for that huge stretch will be great since the park only runs SB. Cities are not for cars, especially here considering the enormous cost and inconvenience of owning one. Accessibility for all users of all abilities is critical to the success of a city, and as it stands this is not a safe city to use a bicycle in. Cars clog streets, are loud, pollute, and most importantly; people drive recklessly and cause needless deaths. Safe street design like the proposed will slow down and reduce traffic. There are so many families here and the last thing we should do is encourage more people to drive. I’m sharing this video from Families for Safe Streets below. Watch it and then tell me that a needless death of a loved one could never happen to you. If you’re against safe design proposals like this you are part of the epidemic of traffic deaths in this city. https://youtu.be/TX_oOUnMwak
If your intention was to give at least one reader pause, it worked on me.
afterward, I found these in the sidebar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dgXx_WOleQ video clips of bikes and NYC streets.
To others: It’s all worth a look. Very much of the interaction is innocuous, leading me to believe that all participants in this dance need to slow down. The faster you move, the greater the danger, obviously, except in some of the stunningly tragic car/pedestrian deaths. My heart aches for the grandmother and the three year old girl.
PS: I notice that riders in some clips use their voice a lot—before using the CitiBike bell, for example. It’s something I do too and I find it fairly effective in ‘keeping it personal’.
Hi, I think in order to be fair, the interets if all should be taken into account.
We have had numerous parking garages removed in our neighborhood recently, and parking is really becoming a problem.
Why not design a protected one-way lane going North, a buffer strip (just like the S going lanes on Columbus Ave, parking on both sides of the street ( the row of parked cars being another buffer) and three lanes of traffic in the middle, the center lane being a turning lane? That would be a sensible approach to me and keep everyone happy. Bicycle wanting to go South, can use the drive in the park – a wonderful alternative – or the lane on Columbus Ave.
Best,
Ursula Mitra
Yes! This is excellent news. I’m not sure why we are weighing safety against funding the storage of private vehicles anyway.
As an added plus this will improve the views of the park at street level currently blocked by a wall of cars.