UWS Disabled Residents Sue City in Effort to Stop the 72nd Street Bike Lane Proposal

By Gus Saltonstall

A group of disabled residents living on West 72nd Street filed a lawsuit against the city over the weekend to stop the New York City Department of Transportation from building a two-way, protected crosstown bike lane on 72nd Street.

“This civil rights case, brought by disabled residents of West 72nd Street, challenges the West 72nd Street Plan, and asserts that it unlawfully discriminates against them as disabled individuals because it bars them from and impairs their access to West 72nd Street and all streets that intersect with West 72nd Street,” reads the lawsuit filed on Saturday in New York’s Southern District Court against the city of New York, the New York City Department of Transportation, and DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn.

The suit argues that the new bike lane would restrict the six plaintiffs’ safe access to vehicles along West 72nd Street, including ambulances, private car service, taxis, and buses, and that it would impede their ability to cross the street, which it says it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New York State Human Rights Laws.

“Because of these dangers, the West 72nd Street Plan will have a chilling effect on Plaintiffs making them virtual shut-ins,” reads the suit.

West 72nd Street currently has four lanes of vehicle traffic, two in each direction, and two lanes of parking. The DOT plan would reallocate the roadway’s 60 feet, giving approximately nine feet to a two-way bike lane on the north side of the road. If implemented, the 72nd Street corridor would then have two parking lanes, two traffic lanes (one in each direction), and the new bike lanes.

According to the DOT, installing bike lanes reduces injuries, particularly among seniors.

Patrick Kennedy, an urban planner at the DOT, told an UWS Community Board committee in April that the proposal would create a safer environment by organizing the roadway and shortening the distance pedestrians have to walk to get from one side of the street to the other. Allocating space for bikes would make cyclists less likely to ride in the street or sidewalk, and having bikes “in a predictable space in one side of the roadway” should make it easier for pedestrians to cross the street, he said.

The DOT did not immediately respond to West Side Rag’s request for comment on the suit.

The six plaintiffs on the suit, all of whom live along the West 72nd Street corridor, include Pamela Greitzer, a Juilliard-trained cellist who was hit by an electric moped in 2024 while she was leaving Lincoln Center, which left her paralyzed on the right side of her body. Other plaintiffs include a woman who is blind and a man with multiple sclerosis.

“The dangers to disabled people are exacerbated by the proliferation of e-bikes, e-scooters, motor bikes, mopeds, and other e-vehicles and devices that will utilize West 72nd Street’s protected bicycle lanes,” the suit adds. “Speeding along curbside, these vehicles pose an additional obstacle and safety hazard.”

The lawsuit asks the judge to stop the city from constructing the new two-way bike lane on 72nd Street from Riverside Drive to the East River, and as well as for the following monetary amount of damages to each plaintiff.

On the Fourth Cause of Action, awarding Plaintiffs damages in an amount of at least $100,000 each; preliminarily and permanently enjoining Defendants from implementing the West 72nd Street Plan.
On the Fifth Cause of Action, awarding Plaintiffs damages in an amount of at least $125,000 each; preliminarily and permanently enjoining Defendants from implementing the West 72nd Street Plan.

Both the fourth and fifth cause of actions relate to whether the judge deems that different sections of the New York State Human Rights Law has been violated in the 72nd Street bike lane proposal.

Most recently, Upper West Side’s Community Board 7 passed a resolution in support of the new 72nd Street bike lane proposal. The timeline, though, remains unclear on when the city will make its final decision on moving forward with the proposal.

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