BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The long-awaited Brooklyn
Bridge bike lane opened
Tuesday, Sept. 14, providing a
protected and permanent twoway
path for cyclists on the
iconic span, according to the
city’s chief streets planner.
“Anybody who has ever
questioned the role of cycling
in this city, is it a big deal, is
it just a pandemic thing,” said
Department of Transportation
Commissioner Hank Gutman,
“the answer is pretty clear today:
cycling is a big deal, it is
here, and today one lane of the
Brooklyn Bridge is being dedicated
to cycling forever.”
The DOT, local politicians,
and bike advocates cut the ribbon
on the new path which replaced
the innermost car lane
on the Manhattan-bound side
of the bridge.
The change will allow cyclists
to cross the connector
without having to fend for
space on the wooden boardwalk
above, which is already
crowded again with out-oftowners,
COURIER LIFE, S 10 EPTEMBER 17-23, 2021
noted one elected offi
cial.
“I can confi rm there are
tourists back in New York
City now because riding over
the Brooklyn Bridge on the
boardwalk is as perilous as
it ever was today,” said Councilmember
Steve Levin, who
represents areas on the Brooklyn
side of the bridge. “Yelling
out, ‘bike lane, bike lane, bike
lane,’ every 10 seconds is not
something I’m gonna miss.”
DOT workers started installing
the barriers and fencing
for the bike lane in June,
and set up “No Bike” signs on
the walkway Monday, which
is now pedestrian-only.
One advocacy leader said
it was refreshing to celebrate
new bike infrastructure amid
a rash of deadly crashes in
the city, most recently when
a driver killed a 3-month-old
baby and critically injured
her mother in Brooklyn over
the weekend.
“Instead of going to vigil after
vigil, this is where we need
to be, groundbreaking after
groundbreaking,” said Transportation
Alternatives executive
director Danny Harris.
The new bike lane’s offi cial
opening was fi rst broken Monday
by Brooklyn Paper’s sister
publication amNewYork Metro,
and Gutman said in a draft release
obtained by the paper that
DOT will set its sights on the
Queensboro Bridge next.
“Bridges for the People is a
step in the right direction towards
a safer and more sustainable
transportation future
that puts people fi rst – and we
look forward to implemen ting
similar changes to the Queensboro
Bridge this year,” Gutman
said.
The plans were previously
fi rst reported on by Brooklyn
Paper in June 2020, months
before DOT handed a release
to the New York Times ahead
of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s offi -
cial announcement during his
State of the City speech in January.
Hizzoner was initially
slated to show up at Tuesday’s
presser but didn’t come.
The project was the fi rst
reconfi guration of the bridge
since trolley tracks were permanently
removed in 1950, according
to DOT.
Cyclists hailed the new protected
lanes, but some criticized
it as being way too narrow
— at only 8 feet wide. DOT
offi cials told locals at a Brooklyn
community board meeting
earlier this year that it is the
best they could get done before
de Blasio leaves offi ce at the
end of the year.
Some pedal pushers tried
out the new bike lane early
before its offi cial opening last
week, but the city quickly
closed off the entrances again
until Tuesday’s opening.
The Brooklyn Bridge bike lane opened on Sept. 14. Photo by Kevin Duggan
ROLL ON!
Offi cials cut ribbon on new
Brooklyn Bridge bike lane
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