Borough President Marty Markowitz to the Department of Transportation: New Amsterdam is not Amsterdam!
On the eve of a protest and counter-protest regarding the controversial Prospect Park West bike lane, the Beep forcefully reiterated his die-hard opposition, and took a few more shots at his nemesis, the Department of Transportation.
“Prospect Park West was one of the most beautiful, scenic, majestic thoroughfares in Brooklyn and the bike lane has destroyed its beauty!” said Markowitz.
But the Beep’s aesthetic concerns — which echo the criticisms of other opponents of the lane — were only the beginning.
“[Pedestrians] cannot see bicycles on the other side of parked cars [on Prospect Park West],” said the Beep. “When you cross the street children often break from their parents and there is a danger that a cyclist won’t see the kid in time — or a senior citizen!”
Of course, bike lane supporters say just the opposite; that it has increased safety for cyclists and also reduced speeding cars.
The Beep ain’t buying it.
“I lived on Prospect Park West for eight years! My windows faced it, and I rarely saw speeding,” said Markowitz, adding, “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, but I rarely saw it.”
But Markowitz reserved his strongest ire for the agency that implemented the bike lane, the Department of Transportation.
“They’re using Brooklyn as a guinea pig!” said Markowitz, citing the absence of a similar two-way lane near Central Park. “Nobody asked for this! This is the vision of the DOT! Their belief! Their ideological approach!”
He added, “It’s the objective of the DOT to, frankly, stigmatize the owners of cars.”
Markowitz proposed a way to reign in the agency, which he said, “is not accountable to anyone.”
“This issue of where to place bike lanes, it’s worthy of review by the City Council,” said Markowitz. “What is our objective in this city? To stigmatize the use of cars? To make it difficult to park? Do we want Brooklyn to replicate Amsterdam? These are legitimate policy issues.”
i ride my bike to touro college in flatbush now and its much safer to ride in my own lane. we need it all over. I got there in half the time it takes by mta. I feel much healthier and happier, now that I ride my bike. We should all stop relying on cars and paying enormous fares on
MTA and dust off our bikes.
the more people ride bikes, the less cars there are on the road. Therefore less traffic.
I agree with Marty. Empire Blvd. is an example where the new bike lanes are making for more traffic jams and slower moving traffic. It’s also taking away from parking which is scarce as it is. It is also dangerous, since bikers don’t stay in their lanes and drivers now have to look out for other cars and bikers as well.
Think about it. More bike lanes = less pizza. It could be more pizza deliveries thoughs. Therefor more bike lanes = more pizza. Simple logic. #10 you figured out the square root of a 20 digit number. Who’s on first?
I love cycling and believe that accommodations should be made for those who wish to cycle safely in the city.
However, most cyclists disregard all traffic laws. They do not stop at lights, dart in and out of car lanes, and have become a genuine hazard to motorists and pedestrians.
They’re out of control and need to be monitored, ticketed and fined just like car drivers.
Marty is right on this one and I would urge him to ask the police to do their job to enforce the law so we can all be safer.
Why do you need bike lanes all over the city, like on every major street? Can someone please explain that to me?
Marty, you fatty, you yourself should be on a bike. Look at Amsterdam and the Dutch – thin, healthy people. We should take an example from them and do less with cars except in snowy weather…
after eating a pot load of cholent they need to bike ride
I like biking, everyone likes biking. That has nothing to with safety issues and ill-judged decisions. It is VERY difficult to see the bikers zipping past on your right when you are making a right turn especially at night. Empire and Kingston are no places for bike lanes!
I saw two biking accidents last week, and asked the firemen who responded how often they happen- they said 1 or 2 every 24hrs- and that they are worse than car accidents because bikers almost always are without helmets and they don’t have air bags etc to protect them. And this was just one firehouse-imagine how many accidents happen around the city. Biking around Brooklyn is dangerous!
finally someone is speaking out bless you marty markowitz, for standing up to the libral mafia,
Every block in the whole city should have bike lanes!
first bike lanes whats next? marijuana in the shops?
bike lanes make it so hard to drive. half the time the bikers aren’t even in their lanes anyways so its not worth it. traffic is so slow. and the weather doesn’t permit bikers to bike every day anyway. we’re entering the winter!
we have that problem too!!!
All the people there are sooooo mellow that they don’t caaarree……We don’t have all of the time to just chillllll out as they do in good ol’ Amsterdam. We also don’t have the public transportation that they do and we have large families b”h and can’t just stroll around. Shopping for large families can not be contained in a little basket on the front of a bicycle nor done everyday in our world. Let’s get real. Bikes are great for relaxation and yuppie world transportation. Keep the bikes and bike lanes in the parks, on Govenor’s island and in midtown… Read more »
Biking should be encouraged! It’s great exercise, saves gas and keeps us healthy! The bikes in Amsterdam are cool!. The world should take an example from Amsterdam.
the bike lanes killed empire it takes a half hour to go down empire which used to take 10 minutes they killed brooklyn cant drive cant park and cant speed!!
Am I the only one we noticed I direct corelation with the bike lanes and the Tznius issue? Ever since the bike lanes went up Tznius in crown heights was much better. Or worse, I don’t remember. Whatever. Maybe there’s no connection. I like pizza. Hey look ever there….. See? Tznius!!
aMSTERDAM rOCKS!
the red lines on kingston are not for bikes – they are fixing over the sewer lines throughout kingston ave
i live in england they shold have had that years ago
go to the park and let cars drive on the road.
more accidents are caused by drivers trying to avoid bikers!
bikers dont belong on the road.
So how can we get those dumb bike lanes away from Empire? Traffic is so slow now & turning right is a problem.
I love bike lanes, Bike lanes in Marty out!
Here’s your chance to make up after you messed up on the concerts this summer.
The bike lanes are making it impossible to drive a car in brooklyn – I am sure that I am not the only one who feels this way
It looks like they are about to make a bike lane on our own KINGSTON AVE. I saw the red outline of the lanes to be painted. What a traffic nightmare it will be when they remove one lane on Kingston Ave.