By Dion Ashman, Candidate For the 35th City Council District
As a person who has facilitated the local Get F.I.T. Initiative for the past 12 years and a candidate for the Crown Heights 35th City Council District in City Hall, I am deeply committed to physical fitness. Physical Fitness is a value I intend to promote as a City Council member. However, I am deeply troubled by the current approach to bicycling in New York City. A balanced approach, which considers all residents’ needs, is the way forward. With the extensive network of protected lanes and Citi Bike docking stations it’s crucial that we find a solution that respects the needs of all residents, ensuring a safe and efficient city for everyone.
Protected bike lanes, have inadvertently created a myriad of safety concerns for both district and city residents. This is a shared concern that we must address together, with the active involvement of our community.
There have been instances when pedestrians use the bike lanes as extensions of the sidewalk, further increasing the risk of collisions. I have seen delivery e-bikes, trucks and other vehicles often in bike lanes, creating dangerous situations for all.
Residents expressed concerns that protected bike lanes can narrow streets, leading to increased traffic congestion and delays, particularly during peak hours or school drop-off times. There is a limited network of protected bike lanes, requiring cyclists to merge with traffic and potentially creating bottlenecks. There is further evidence of how the ill-considered bikes are adversely affecting Brooklyn residents.
On May 28, 2025 article “NYC bike lane accident involving 3-year-old erupts explosive campaign.” The New York Post revealed that ‘A problem-plagued bike lane in Williamsburg, Brooklyn-where an e-biker slammed a 3-year-old girl over the weekend-has drawn outrage from neighbors as local pols remain short on solutions.’ The article mentioned that “ Public records show that “more than 53 injuries related to bicycles, e-bikes, and scooters have been reported on Bedford Avenue (in Williamsburg) since 2024.” This Post article also revealed that “Another child was hospitalized on May 11 after being struck by a cyclist while exiting a school (Yeshiva) bus at the intersection of Bedford Avenue and Myrtle Avenue.”
As a resident of Crown Heights and someone whose family strolls down Brooklyn and Kingston Avenues, I will not support the construction of accident-prone protected bike lanes in our neighborhood. I will fight against an ill-designed and considered bike lane proposed for Kingston and Brooklyn Avenues here in the 35th City Council District.
As your City Council member, I am committed to ensuring your quality of life and safety. I will work tirelessly to help keep and maintain these standards of living. Residents of the district should have a say and be able to voice their opinions in regards to homeless shelters, protected bike lanes, citi bike docking stations and other major projects which will affect the neighborhood.
—
Dion Ashman is a common-sense Democratic candidate and a lifelong resident of Crown St in Crown Heights, he is running against incumbent councilwoman Crystal Hudson in the 35th City Council district which includes the majority of the Jewish community in Crown Heights.
Please bring protected bike lanes to Crown Heights! They are proven to make streets safer! We have so many young people who ride around on bikes and scooters it would be amazing for them to be able to do it safely! Once riding a bike or scooter doesn’t entail risking your life dodging cars, more people will do it, taking cards off the roads, decreasing traffic and traffic accidents! Yay for bike lanes!!
It’s truly ironic that people oppose bike lanes in the name of safety
He has my vote.
Especially because of his fight against more homeless shelters in our community!
The bike lanes are a disaster in Williamsburg. As someone who commutes their often, One of the blocks with a bike lane can take 10 minutes to pass due to congestion. In my opinion bike lanes only protect the bikers and no one else… Children coming from the school bus are not old enough to understand to look both ways before they go to their home … Bikers driving in a road, and cars driving on a road are old enough to be able to be aware of their surroundings… If people weren’t on their phones while driving, less accidents… Read more »
I don’t know what they are teaching kids nowadays, but when I was a kid I knew to look both ways almost as soon as I could walk. Any kid who is old enough to ride a school bus is old enough to understand to look both ways.
It is possible to raise good-faithed concerns about bike lanes, but if one is honestly concerned about safety, bike lanes should not be the primary focus of that concern. Cars represent a much bigger and more persistent safety risk. Especially for children.
There could be other reasons to oppose bike lanes, but if you claim to be concerned about safety, and the first thing you bring up is bike lanes, it’s hard to take you seriously.
And protected bike lanes have been shown to be safer. Even for pedestrians. Individual stories, though completely unfortunate, do not change that.
This makes no sense. 1. “Lets remove bike lanes and the streets will be safer” This makes no sense because either way anyone has a better chance of getting hit by a car, and it makes it more dangerous for cyclists to ride in the middle of the street and risk their life.2.”trucks and other motor vehicles are always in the bike lanes rendering them useless” This is stupid. They could just enforce that you can’t do that, just like everything else they give tickets and tow for.