By Lily Seltz
Soundtracked by a tinny chorus of bike bells and cries of “rolling,” more than 50 people cycled from West 66th Street and Riverside Boulevard to Central Park on Saturday to show their support for a proposed two-way bike lane along West 72nd Street.
The city’s recent proposal, which would connect the Hudson River Greenway, Central Park, and the East River Greenway, has been met by intense opposition from some Upper West Siders, who argued at a rally earlier this month that the lane would endanger pedestrians and make it harder for businesses to unload shipments.
Participants in Saturday’s ride, ranging in age from young children to white-haired adults, countered that the bike lane would make one of the Upper West Side’s busiest streets safer for cyclists, cars, and pedestrians alike.
Friday night’s fatal crash on West 108th Street, where, according to police, an intoxicated driver jumped the curb and hit multiple pedestrians, loomed large over Saturday’s otherwise cheery proceedings. While the incident did not involve cyclists, bike lane proponents point to various studies that show a correlation between the presence of protected bike lanes and a decrease in fatalities and injuries for all road users, including pedestrians.
This reporter cycled alongside the group to document the trip. At the start of the ride-along, orange-vested marshals led us north on Riverside Boulevard before making a right turn onto West 72nd Street. We proceeded slowly, making a full stop at each intersection, while the adults in the group kept an eye on the youngest cyclists’ occasional swivels and swerves.
By the time we reached Broadway, the posse of cyclists had become enough of a spectacle to draw extended glances, and a handful of cheers, from pedestrians on the sidewalk and at the crosswalks. Reactions were not wholly supportive: On Columbus Avenue, one passerby yelled “Go back to Brooklyn!” at the group, according to ride-along participant and Upper West Sider Austin Celestin.
After a short stay in Central Park, most of the cyclist group headed back along 72nd Street toward Riverside. Several offered their assessments of the Saturday event and the proposal for the 72nd Street bike lane.
John Murray, an UWS resident who said he often rides his bike to his downtown office during the summer, noted that opponents of the bike lane often express concern about out-of-control e-bikes endangering pedestrians. But he holds that danger from e-bikes is overemphasized relative to the “far greater” danger posed by cars, which “the city’s current infrastructure supports.”
Thirteen people in New York City have been killed this year as of April 19 in crashes where a motorized 2-wheel vehicle was involved (including e-bikes and motorcycles), according to NYPD data reported by AMNY. But the city’s Department of Transportation recorded a total of 66 traffic fatalities as of May 10 this year. That number includes deaths caused by e-bikes.
Emily Jacobi, a senior organizer with Transportation Alternatives and one of the ride marshals, said that she wouldn’t have felt comfortable leading a group—especially one that included several children—if the ride had taken place on a weekday, when 72nd Street is a “commuting corridor.”
“It’s really unsafe, and we can do better,” she said.
Carl Mahaney, the director of Streetopia UWS, an organization that advocates for safe and healthy public spaces on the Upper West Side, said he thought the ride had been successful in combating what he believes is one of the biggest misconceptions related to the bike lane fight—that “nobody cycles.”
Mahaney was eager to push back against another argument made by bike lane opponents: that a bike lane would be bad for local businesses on West 72nd Street, including Tip Top Shoes, whose owner has spoken against the proposal.
“When people can access your streets, when they can walk comfortably and enjoy their experience, people will come more often,” Mahaney argued. “It’s not just the regulars. You’re going to get people who are out for a bike ride [and] tourists who are going from park to park.”
Austin Celestin echoed Mahaney’s point. “People who are on bikes, they’re customers too,” he said.
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I find this beyond ironic. Because I bike everywhere, and I use the 72nd Street corridor very often, both locally and when going to the UES. I use it at various times of day, so I can tell you that there is NEVER enough bike traffic on the corridor to warrant a bike lane.
Of the 50 people who took part in this “support protest” (if that is not an oxymoron), maybe one would find two or three using the corridor at any given time. Certainly not 50, or any number that would be noticeable to the average person.
Agree, Ian. 79 year old here. Ride Citi Bikes 12 months a year along 72nd Street on my way to the West Side YMCA.
No problem, easy going. Absolutely no need for protected bike lane. OTOH. the ride down Columbus, in the bike lane, with bike, pedestrian, stroller, dog walkers and auto congestion –and ensuing chaos — feels infinitely more dangerous.
This movement is really just a real estate grab to reduce curbside parking. punish UWS car owners, and slow the outer borough workers who must drive into our neighborhood to fix and deliver things.
Of course not. And 2% of people commute by bike. BUT ….. This is ageist and ableist and all designed by the bike lobby who works hand in hand with DOT. So corrupt
Protected lanes attract bikers. There will be increased traffic.
I hope you don’t work in finance. If you build it they will come is pretty thin.
Instead of listening to ‘protesters’, how about asking bus drivers, NYPD/FDNY/EMS, delivery workers (everybody wants their stuff, right?!), store owners, et al what they observe/think/want/need.
Ridiculous and illogical. Many bikers don’t use 72st because it’s unsafe. Build a bike lane and they will come.
There are literally dozens of other cross streets on the UWS. Why do we need to encourage them to use 72nd St. when there are so many better options for bikers?
With the bike corridor people will feel comfortable riding on 72nd St. I bike all over the city too, and I don’t ride 72nd St. because it is rather busy and unpleasant to ride on.
Fifth to York the lanes are on 70 and 71. Those need to be protected (they aren’t) but as I see things that’s a far more practical and safe approach.
Why pick the street with more commerce, more delivery-caused interference with bikes, more pedestrians and more traffic?
Please make it make sense!
That’s because the street is too dangerous. I would never use 72nd street and I bike all over the city.
There has been exactly one accident involving a bike on the entirety of West 72nd Street in the past 12 Months, and that was in an intersection
Don’t see the great danger. I’m not a biker, but I do jaywalk a lot, and doing so on 72 Street between Central Park and Amsterdam Ave. is easy because of light vehicular traffic compared with, say 79 Street or 86 Street.
Lifelong Westsider who does not know how to drive.
Pedestrian, bus and subway rider.
Parent.
Completely against bike lane.
Agree completely!!
“NYC is seeing a deadly trend: A surge in crashes, including fatal ones, involving motorcycles, scooters, e-bikes and other two-wheeled motorized devices this year.
According to the latest NYPD data, the number of people who were killed in the city in crashes involving motorized two-wheeled devices is up nearly 86% year-to-date versus the same time last year; motorized two-wheeler deaths surged to 13 by April 19 this year, up from seven during the same period in 2025.”
https://www.amny.com/nyc-transit/deaths-two-wheeled-devices-increase-in-nyc/
You are so right! Injuries to pedestrians hit by bikes of all kinds is dramatically underreported, both by police and the media at large. It’s hard to believe that Transportation Alternatives is paying everyone off, but they certainly are trying.
The pedestrian traffic on 2nd Street is always heavy — because of the many stores,restaurants and businesses. There’s already a dangerous overload of ebikes, scooters and vehicles. A bike lane will not improve the problem — only intensify it.
UWSer who does know how to drive.
Pedestrian, bus and subway rider.
Parent.
Completely for this redesign of 72nd street, thank you Mayor Mamdani!
The fact that there is a correlation between a protected bike lane and reduced pedestrian fatalities – this is good to know.
However, I do not understand Muhaney’s argument that the bike lanes would be good for business because people on bikes would stop to go to stores. I am sorry,I am not seeing that at all. I very rarely see people get off their bikes to go to a store. A coffee shop, sure. But shopping? No.
Also. If 72nd will be like Amsterdam, I do not look forward to it.
I do all of my shopping (for clothes and sometimes groceries) on bike as well as all doctor appointments – weather permitting.
That is baloney, never see bikes parked along Columbus and Amsterdam in front of stores or restaurants while riders shop. It is hard enough to cross both of these streets as bikers go fast and ignorant lights!
I live on W 72nd and do not want to dodge bikers in a bike lane also!
DOT statistics have found that foot traffic in local stores increases when a protected bike lane is installed, not the opposite. Remember, most customers are not coming to these local stores by car.
Josh,
On the West Side, people traditionally walked to shop in the neighborhood.
For example, my family walks to shop at Tip Top Shoes, Gartner’s Hardware and 72nd Toys & Stationery.
Sometimes people take bus or subway.
Are you saying that if there is a bike lane that bicyclists (Citibike? racing cyclists?) will then be shopping at Tip Top Shoes, Gartner’s Hardware and 72nd Toys & Stationery?
Maybe. But all I know is that I hate crossing Amsterdam because of the bike lane. The bikers rarely obey the traffic lights and I feel like I have to be careful getting from the curb to the wait area past the protected lane, then get to the next curb.
I wonder how they got those stats
Even if you are correct, what relevance does that have to the presence or absence of a bike lane? If I am walking along 72nd Street to go to stores, then I am already on the sidewalk, and the absence of presence of a bike lane does not matter either way.
???
I walk up/down 9th to/from the 20s plenty, but I avoid the east side of the ave. because of the protected “bike” lane. Do my shopping on the west side, even if my final destination is BH Photo.
I’m happy—if a bit skeptical—that you reported that the bikers came to a complete stop at each red light. I have never actually witnessed this anomaly in person!
Unless e-bikes are banned, I am in favor of installing speed bumps at *every* block so that would slow down bikers.
This is a GREAT idea and might be the basis of a workable compromise.
Which unfortunately is why it will never happen.
ZOOOOOOM!!!
You don’t look.
Please see this WSR article:
https://www.westsiderag.com/2026/05/09/upper-west-side-bikelash-we-see-what-we-look-at
That’s an essay. Not data.
I watched the group attempt to cross broadway. They created utter chaos for both uptown and downtown traffic. Some stopped before the light, others attempted to run the light and stopped midway across the street…. others stopped in the middle of traffic to wait for the group…. I guess they all stopped somewhere?
People on bikes do not follow the rules. I was almost hit in Riverside Park this morning when a person rode in between me and a woman walking at the same speed a couple of feet away. No warning, no bell, no yell heads up. I went forward almost on to him, then backward and almost fell. A babysitter stopped to see if I was ok.
Bikers do not follow any rules nor common sense. It goes for CitiBikes and the groups who think that they rule the streets. The packs go thru the red lights at West 73rd and RSD ALL the time. They try to cut me off. Biking in NYC has become reckless for walkers.
A couple of days ago I had my near death experience with an e-bike speeding down CPW. I was exiting the back door of the bus and the bike came within inches of my body. I absolutely dread crossing CPW at any time because of the bike lane. But I thought it would be safe to get off the bus.
The CPW bike lane is problematic because the cyclists no no cars will be crossing on front of them except at a few transverse streets. So the vast majority see no reason to stop, or even slow down, at red lights. Given this behavior why should be believe that on 72nd St they will stop at the mid block light or at the proposed pedestrian signals for the bus stops?
^^The cyclist know no cars…. Bad spelling/grammar doesn’t invalidate my point.
People still don’t understand the difference between the kind of e-bikes used by deliveristas and electric-assist bikes. The deliverista bikes can be ridden without pedaling. Electric-assist bikes, like e-Citibikes, must be pedaled.
Why does it matter? Because the deliverista bikes can zoom along at high speed without any effort. So there’s no reason for the rider not to go fast, which they do.
And honesty, ANY bike, electric or not, can be ridden unsafely. A rider can ignore stop signals, ride on the sidewalk, ride too fast, and there are few enforcement efforts. The deliveristas do all these things more than other riders because time is money to them.
We need enforcement of traffic rules for two-wheeled vehicles. But also: let’s recognize that the real killers are cars and trucks.
Not to mention that pedestrians ALL cross against the light, all the time. We look first, especially when crossing avenues rather than side streets, but do you stand there and wait for the light when there are no cars in sight? I doubt it.
In my experience, pedestrians check for cars before crossing, but don’t notice bikes that have the right of way and are moving along without expecting to see a jaywalking pedestrian.
Cyclists run red lights as pedestrians do – we check the oncoming traffic, and if there is none, or if there are already ten pedestrians crossing the street against the light, we go ahead.
I am not sure your point. A pedestrian running a late is only putting themselves in danger
A biker running a red puts themselves and pedestrians in harms way.
Wow a pedestrian is on foot, not riding a heavy motorized vehicle you call a bike!
Let’s talk about bus access. I’ve read the DOT proposal and it says there will be stop lights for the bikes at the busstops so pedestrians can cross the bidieectional bike lane. It doesn’t say if these are on a timer or are somehow controlled by the approaching buses. Either way, dies anyine truly believe the bikes will stop where there is no cross traffic except some people (maybe old, slow, or in wheelchairs) trying to get to the pedestrian island?
Agreed, though if they ticket people who bike through the traffic lights, I imagine soon enough they would obey the lights
That’s a big if. It’s difficult for the police to do this. They have no liscence plates so they have to be stopped on the spot. How? Nobody wants a police car to force a bike off the road. Should we have cops on bikes to do this? And then if they stop you there is no law saying you have to have ID on you to bike so how will a ticket even be issued?
Priscilla’s Law
She died taking one step off the curb, she had the light, and was mowed over by a Citi -bike.
When are e-vehicles going to be held accountable ?? How many more people have to die or seriously injured like me by a reckless riding motorized vehicle??
No law that says you have to have ID, but there is a law that says the NYPD can detain you if you do not have an ID until your identity can be verified.
Are you suggesting that cyclists who don’t stop at the pedestrian lights will be stopped by police and talen to the station if they don’t have ID on them?
One can hope.
John Murray’s statement in the article is a non-sequitur.
Cars are dangerous, and by most measures potentially more dangerous than bikes. That is not a rationale for encouraging bikers, who persistently flout traffic laws. nor does it excuse the many onerous conditions that the proposed lane would impose on people who live and do business on 72nd Street.
We license and regulate automobile drivers; the experience with cyclists indicates we should do the same with them before we allow them on our streets at all, let alone give them special privileges.
Let’s just regulate cars out of crowded neighborhoods altogether (except for emergencies, disabled people, deliveries, etc – those who actually need cars). Then there would be no problem. Streets for bikes, side lanes for slow-moving cars with permission to be there, sidewalks for pedestrians. Much better.
“Emergencies, disabled people, deliveries,” and other people “who actually need cars” covers just about everybody.
Most New Yorkers — 58% according to 2022 data (https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2022-cms-report.pdf) — don’t bike at all. Only 24% do so once a month or more. Bikes (including e-bikes) account for about 3% of daily trips (https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2024-cms-report.pdf).
Considering the irresponsible way many bikers conduct themselves on the road, what would be “much better” is to require them to be licensed, their vehicles to carry plates, and for lawbreakers to be fined and otherwise punished.
What if people need to leave the city to go upstate or to Jersey? Public transit really isn’t an option. These people need a way to exit the city. One way would be the WSH to the GW Bridge. To get in the WSH there is an entrance from W 72nd St. Thi nis not a road that should be closed to vehicles.
Let’s call these what they are: Bike Expressways. I vote no to this 2 directional expressway until some laws are put in place for bikes and enforced, including stopping at red lights and stopping for pedestrians. Bikers should also be required to have sufficient lighting and reflective clothing starting well before sunset.
Except for the clothing, those laws already exist.
Right. Except that they are not followed and there is little if any enforcement.
How do you know these cyclists are from the UWS?
They are not. They are Trans Alt’s regular protesters
Odds are a lot of them aren’t, since the goal is to connect West Side North-South bike routes to 72nd Street allowing people to get to the East Side where they can connect to other North-South routes.
I have heard rumors the bike lane opponents aren’t willing to build the broad coalition that they need to in order to stop this. One big thing the livable streets movement has in its favor is that their opponents want to pick and choose their coalition partners and are fractured.
Please do not build this. Traffic will be at complete standstill.
Tim, We heard the same arguments with Columbus, Amsterdam, West End, 14th St, Times Square, Broadway…How many times do safe street designers have to prove you 100% wrong before you open you eyes and admit the TRUTH?
I travel 72nd every day and it is generally lightly trafficked. It no longer is a car artery since the park closed to cars and the interchange with the West Side highway severely reduced. We have 50 crosstown streets in CB7 and NOT ONE safe way for bikes to go East/West. In kindergarten I was taught to share. Is one out of 50 too much for you?
There already is one, it runs from the 79th Street boat basin, mostly along 77th and 78th streets, and enters Central Park at 77th.
I live on 72nd Street and travel on the street every single day. It is, in my opinion, not true to say that it is “generally lightly trafficked.” If you want to say that it is lightly trafficked from Amsterdam to Central Park West, then I can agree with your statement but it is false to say that it is lightly trafficked between Broadway and Riverside.
I say that and I am generally in favor of the plan, though, I have doubts that the one-size fits all approach to the entirety of 72nd Street will work.
I’d say it is more heavily trafficked than say 73rd and 74th which have no buses, few businesses needing deliveries, and are not arteries to the WSH. Wouldn’t it be safer to have a 2 way bike lane on each if these streets rather than the 2 way one on 72nd?
Cool event! Looking forward to the street redesign that will make 72nd street safer for all.
Safer for all or more in line with your utopia? Most people would disagree as you can see from the comments.
And WSR comments present a true reality of what the majority of UWS residents think? If that were true, the UWS would have voted in Republicans in every election and Gale Brewer would not even had the slightest chance of winning. And what happened on Election Day?
What about the fact that Gale Brewer lost the Jim Owles club endorsement to Sara Lind in 2021? The urbanists really wanted Sara Lind more than Gale.
The comments here are always out of step with the voting record of the UWS so there’s no reason to think they are representative of how actual residents feel.
The bicycle lane couldn’t get elected dog catcher.
Your conclusion is so far fetched, it is paper thin.
….. how so? It’s just a fact of the voting record. For example, every election the vast majority of comments here are against Gale or Bragg and then they win with like 70%-80% of the vote.
Voters of NYC elected the more pro transit and biking mayoral candidate and he is empowering the DOT to do more transit and bike projects, that’s democracy for you
Just because someone voted for Mamdani doesn’t mean they agree with every one of his positions. One can be for some of.his ideas and against others.
Yes of course that is true. It’s also true his DOT gets to decide what to do with NYC street redesigns. Many of his supporters welcome these changes.
w 72nd is a major crosstown thoroughfare and should not have a bike lane. It is a danger to cars, pedestrians and bus riders.
If safety is the goal why not make bike lanes on side streets?
With all the double parked cars waiting for alternate side of the street parking rules to pass? Not to mention pedestrians randomly crossing anywhere on the block because they don’t expect to have to deal with wheeled vehicles? No thanks.
Don’t understand why anyone would deny their neighbor a safer option for traveling around the city. And 72nd Street seems the logical choice for connecting between Central Park to Riverside.
That said, something has to be done about 72nd Street. It’s one of the nastiest streets in Manhattan. Always filthy. A bike lane seems like a good first step for dealing with the chronic curb debris that our fine local business owners just can’t be bothered with.
Don’t understand why anyone would deny the people who live and work on 72nd Street the right to walk safely in their own neighborhood and use transportation and delivery services like everybody else in the city.
No one is denying anyone the right to walk safely in the neighborhood. On the sidewalk, while bikes have a safe place to ride on the bike lane and cars have a safe place in the street. What’s wrong with that?
How will these people safely walk to the bus stop? They will have to cross the 2 way bike lane.
They already have to cross with bike traffic on both sides of the street
No. A bus pulls to the curb. Bikes are not going between the curb and the stopped bus. This is a problem on CPW but even there the bike lane is only in one direction and the bus riders wait on the curb until the bus pulls up. This set up is different.
Some bikers ride on the sidewalks when they feel like it, and as a class they often ignore traffic regulations including stopping and staying stopped at red lights, riding in the correct direction, and the 25 mph speed limit.
It’s the tail wagging the dog.
The squeaky wheel getting the oil.
A nanoscopic number of bicyclists reeking havoc upon the city’s vehicle traffic and businesses. Time for this bicycle silliness to terminate.
It’s cause they have all the money! TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES is not just demanding these redesigns they are hand in glove with the DOT. Last I read TA had an annual budget of $5 million. They are partially supported by the food delivery billion dollar corporations and others like Citibike. That’s why this small elite group of people have so much power. Campaign cash goes a long way in this city. The opposition is ordinary citizens who are organized but not working with annual budgets of $5 mil. This is one more way this city is run by private interests at the expense of the residents.
Only 25% of households on UWS own a car yet currently 100 % of the roadway is dedicated to cars. Have you looked at the data on cycling in the city? Spoiler alert….it’s booming.
Households don’t vote. People do.
And close to 40% of the people on the Upper West Side live in the approximately 28% of households that have cars.
And? Over 50% of the City’s residents live in households with cars.
Most of us are not arguing for cars, we’re arguing against bicycles.
100% of people in the city get food from a grocery store, bodega or restaurant. That food gets to those places by trucks that use the roads.
Spoiler alert – so are bike related accidents.
I’m confused, Mahaney says “its really unsafe”. Have bike riders been injured on 72nd Street? I would think bidrectional side by side bike lanes attempting to cross the 72nd Street Broadway intersection would be a disaster. Do riders want this? As a sometimes rider I would not want to ride on 72nd Street.
“We proceeded slowly, making a full stop at each intersection, while the adults in the group kept an eye on the youngest cyclists’ occasional swivels and swerves.”
In other words, the bike ride was an unrealistic recreation of NYC bicyclists’ behavoir.
Sure car drivers kill more pedestrians per annum, but there many more cars in NYC than bicycles, cars travel further on average per trip within NYC, and cars are heavier. But by average bicyclists (not counting e-bike drivers) break far more traffic laws.
They definitely don’t break more traffic laws than pedestrians, though.
neighbor,
Learn about kinectic energy. Yes, pedalling bicycists can be incredibly dangerous to pedestrians.
Remember too, many pedal down the sidewalks.
That doesn’t matter and doesn’t mean a thing for this conversation. Bicyclists that don’t obey the law are terrorizing and terrifying pedestrians; that’s the point.
Since the city decriminalized jaywalking I’m guessing you’re wrong.
There weren’t 50 bikers but a fraction of that were riding. The ride you speak of we witnessed from our window which faces 72nd st, had only maybe a dozen riders. This lasting only a minute of shouting.
The bottom line is that the people who live and own businesses on 72nd st do NOT want these bike lanes.
These bikes will endanger all lives, the young, the old, and the disabled. These bike lanes are NOT ADA compliant!! No one wants them!! They are creating more havoc and egregious bike riding because these bikers have no consequences for egregious illegal riding,
West 72nd street not a “ commuting corridor” in any way shape or form – for any vehicle type.
Yes, it is a wide street with businesses and does tend to have a busy pedestrian footprint, but both cars and bicycles using it are more local access in nature.
Amsterdam and 86th street are closer to “commuting corridors” than anything else.
If the bicycle lobby wants to lobby for anything it should be for some way for bicycles to cross Central Park from east to west and vice versa.
Is there any smart way to redesign the park transverses to make this work? Maybe eliminate one sidewalk and create a proper bike lane there?
All of this brouhaha about 72nd street is only confusing everyone and diverting from real street redesign.
Removing the sidewalks in the CP transverses and replacing with bike lanes has been proposed.
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2024/11/20/central-park-study-calls-for-bike-lanes-on-the-transverses
I agree doing this on 86th St makes more sense than theb72nd St redesign.
There IS an east-west bike route. It starts at the 79th Street Boat Basin and travels mostly across 77th and 78th Street, entering Central Park at 77th.
https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikemaps.shtml#webmap
And it exits the park on the East Side at 72nd
Requiring a few blocks’ ride on Madison or Fifth to connect with the East Side part of the route.
If traveling crosstown is the goal, why not lobby to make the connection there easier? Widen a footpath or two to accommodate bike lanes.
Lead by a lobbyist “organizer” from Crown Heights. How many cronies from Brooklyn did she bring with her. Who else drawing a salary from Transalt to be there?
Sara Lind of Open Plans makes enough money and lives in a UWS apartment most people cannot afford if they wanted to. Mark Gorton supposedly has a Chevy Tahoe.
There are moneyed interests behind the e-bike lobby. They profit from the overlap from support of bikers who ride bikes that must be pedaled.
create a bike lane on a one way street. There are so many of those! There are so many businesses here such as restaurants, dance studios, RSM where kids are being dropped off and back.
, I love biking, use my car in the city on occasion, and mostly walk. Please limit the bike lanes which further clog things up and mostly used by delivery folks who ride throttled “bikes “ which are really dangerous to all. One avenue dedicated to uptown traffic and one to downtown on the UWS and a few strategic cross streets is all we need and enforcement of rules
I was in tip top shoes yesterday. It’s a travesty that these lobbying zealots who do not even live up here feel comfortable “protesting” for something that will harm our small businesses. Absolutely disgraceful
Would the proposal work better if the bike lanes were moved to the middle of the street? Then there could still be parking, delivery areas, and bus stops on both sides of the street and pedestrians, bus passengers, and people making deliveries would not need to cross a bike lane to get to the sidewalk. Wouldn’t this be safer for the bikers and everyone else?
Where I said “pedestrians” I meant to say people getting into and out of their parked cars.
From the article… “We proceeded slowly, making a full stop at each intersection,”.
I didn’t know they even knew how to do that. Imagine how wonderful and safe it would be if they stopped at their red lights on CPW.
Please remove private cars completely. Like 14th Street. That will save the lives of both pedestrians and cyclists.
I say this as a biker. ….Leave 72nd street alone. Save money. Keep busses and emergency vehicles moving on 72nd street If you need a bike lane put it on a less busy street like 73rd street or 71st street.
I question the safety statistics. It was recently reported in one of the West Side papers that police will only file reports if pedestrians are killed or maimed. So of course statistics are going down. But only because reporting has changed.
I find protected lanes attract more bikers, who are increasingly aggressive and territorial. Columbus Ave is terrifying to cross as bikes come at you from all directions, against the light.
A two-way bike lane is a death trap for pedestrians.
What is the solution for the Mosque parking? Where will all the cabs go? Has this been addressed??
There actually appear to be as many cyclists at this rally than at the opposition rally a few weeks ago. Interesting.
I am wary of a two-way bike lane, but I think this is a net improvement of the street. It seemed to work well on Dyckman St.
Cyclists would be inclined to shop at stores on 72nd street that install bike racks, so they could lock up safely.
A store can’t install a bike rack on a public sidewalk
She wrote “ We proceeded slowly, making a full stop at each intersection“. How often does that happen? If we could count on cyclists obeying traffic laws, more people would support bike lanes.
Finally it’s being done. People say ohh they don’t follow rules… It’s New York City. No one is following all the rules 100% of the time. People walking against the light, running red lights in their car, double parking all over 72nd street and riding the bike across the stop light too. No one is obeying the law but that doesn’t mean they shouldnt have safe infrastructure for those people who do want to obey laws.
Safe and Protected Bike Lanes are for people who want the option to obey the law and be predictable and safe while riding on the street.
People in bike lanes do not obey the laws more than cyclists in the car lanes. Nor ate they more predictable. The people most in need of safe infrastructure are those who aren’t able bodied. The ones in wheelchairs or with walkers ir canes or the visually impaired. I do not see how this redesign makes things better for thrm. I think it will be worse because they willl have to cross thr 2 way bike lane when getting on or off a bus. I don’t expect bikes to stop mid block when they see someone trying to cross to get to the pedestrian island bus stop. I don’t think the DOT should be making things more difficult for those with disabilities.
Maybe this has been mentioned previously but I don’t recall the details. Why are so many people are dead set on doing the bike lane on 72nd. Why not 86th or 79th?
Then you just repeat the same process with the newly formed ‘concerned coalition of west 86th / 79th street neighbors’ – let the DOT cook
I don’t agree with the bike lane, but the logical reason they want it is because it is almost a straight shot at street level across the park. All the other ways take circuitous routes and the transverse roads are mostly below grade and crowded for much of the day.
Correct, but once you get to Fifth Ave the bike lanes to and from York Ave are on 70 and 71.
Quieter streets with less commercial activity and fewer pedestrians.
They aren’t protected and should be but that’s the model DOT should follow.
I always enjoyed going through the park on the transverse roads but it’s been awhile. I suppose that makes sense (if it has to be done), but it would be nice if the city had the transverse roads upgraded and did something about the seasonal flooding, before taking on the 72nd street project.
I am annoyed at all the bike and bike lane hate. People need some empathy and not be – with a narrow minded bias – against a bike lane as they feel they will somehow be displaced or heavens – inconvenienced.
Let me list the ways people disrespect bike riders —
– car people – honking at you, or throwing your car door open with looking if someone is coming at you – cutting you off at a corner — while we’re at it let’s also examine the selfish environmental effects of car drivers sitting in cars running their engines and refusing to move on street cleaning hours. Bad on so many levels
pedestrians – mindlessly crossing against the light – either not looking or inexplicably looking at their phones while crossing – looking right at you on your bike and crossing anyway – standing in the bike lanes
box trucks (I’m inclined to give the benefit of the doubt here as they have to make deliveries but still… ) – turning in front of you – blocking streets and bike lanes
As opposed to consciously going through red lights, speeding and riding the wrong way on one-way streets?
Please leave West 72nd street as it is. Bus drivers and riders , emergency vehicle operators and those in their care, shop owners and their customers and pedestrians will be grateful. If there needs to be another bike lane going across town, consider putting it on a less congested street like 70,71,73 or 74th. This works well in the 90’s and upper 70’s. I say this an upper west side pedal biker who prefers to ride on streets without bike lanes as I feel safer not being hemmed in a narrow space and sharing it with e-bikes whizzing in the lane faster than traffic outside the lane. (Not to mention all manner of “things” that congregate In the bike lanes, such as ice cream trucks, people moving deliveries in carts or on hand trucks, food vendors. strollers -sometimes in tandem- risking the children’s lives in them, or just pedestrians waiting to cross the street IN the bike lane.)
Amazing! So excitied for this bike lane to be built! I can’t wait for this monstrosity of a street to have another option. Bike lanes save lives!
The redesign of 72nd St. will be pushed through just like everthing else has been pushed through by the bike lobby and our ridiculous Department of Transportation no matter how many thousands of people oppose it. When it’s done you’ll see just how bad it is. And then cars will be blamed as usual. 50 people showed up? Thats a new record for these entitled jerks The tyranny of the minority.
Mahaney is paid for his work. He come to a CB7 full board May5, meeting and spoke with Ken Couglin (advisory board TransAlt) against the registration & licensing of e-bikes. He forgot to say that he is paid and works with Open Plans funded by billioniare Mark Gorton.
Emily Jacobi is a paid organizer for TransAlt and lives in Brooklyn.
When I asked if they had colaborated with the NYCFD they said they would get back to me. This design is a disaster as is the one on W103rd St called a “shared street” 9 1/2ft too narrow for bikers to share with cars.
The most telling thing about this is that they needed “orange-vested marshals” to ensure that the cyclists “proceeded slowly” and made “a full stop at each intersection.” If cyclists did this when they weren’t being policed, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
Congrats to the city for ruining E 96th St! They added a bus lane and turned 96th into a constant traffic jam. Between Uber, taxis, trucks, delivery trucks etc double parking in the bus lane since there is no other options. In turn, the buses never have an open bus lane and the rest of the cars get to fight for one lane backing the traffic up well past one light to the next light. Then that lane never moves because buses have to exit the blocked bus lanes creating one lane for cars and buses. It’s a complete and utter mess.
I lived on W 72nd for 15 years. Never once was it an issue to cross the street or to think that passage needs a bus lane or bike lanes. And I absolutely love that picture of the bikers who participated. They look they are straight out of central casting. Real peddle bikes, bikers wearing helmets, old people, young people. HA!!!! Let’s get real. Check out the bike lanes. Just delivery guys racing on motorized bikes that terrorize residents and never obey rules. Please stop with the silliness these lanes are for bikers. They’re not. And the motorized bikers could care less because without the city to enforce the rules, no one has to obey by rules. Time for the city to first start enforcing bike laws, then maybe, look into new alternatives. Until there is enforcement, this is all just wishful thinking bikes lanes are for central casting bikers.
“Dozens of UWS Cyclists Stage Community Ride in Support of Proposed 72nd Street Bike Lane”
A few dozen cyclists show up to support this monstrosity and that supposed to represent the will of the people in a city of 8 million. A few bicycle elites look up from their lattes long enough to stop by and that supposed to mean something. It does. Yet again, the selfish few want to ruin our neighborhood for the majority of the residents. No bike lane.
I am strongly against the proposed bike lane and have registered this with the Community Board.
More selfish people who have to be catered to at the expense of everyone else. They can ride safely in traffic, but just because they don’t, everyone has to step aside from them so they can grab attention. I used to ride my three-speed bike down Broadway with no difficulty whatsoever, because I rode properly, safely, and wisely.