November 8–14, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 9
Bike lane color line
Cyclists demand new protections in black communities
Photo by Kevin Duggan
State Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D–Crown Heights) at the
Bike Equity Forum on Oct. 30 with a map showing
cycling pinchpoints in and around his district.
hard at work constructing a
third protected cycling path
along Fourth Avenue.
And the Brownstone neighborhood,
not unlike parts of
Crown Heights and Bedford-
Stuyvesant, is flush with unprotected
bike lanes, which
grow scarce in black communities
such as Flatbush, E. Flatbush,
East New York, and Canarsie.
That said, bike lanes of all
kinds begin to thin out the
deeper you head into southern
Brooklyn regardless of
demographics, and neighborhoods
such as Marine Park,
Sheepshead Bay, Midwood,
Gravesend, Dyker Heights,
and Bensonhurst remain bike
CREATIVE...
to Stringer’s report.
This influx of creatives has
coincided with massive demographic
shifts in these neighborhoods
from 2000-2017,
according to a report by New
York University’s Furman
Center.
During this period, these
newly creative-dense neighborhoods
experienced sharp
increases of white residents
and a decrease in people of
color — along with a rise in
median income levels and skyrocketing
property prices, data
shows.
For example, Bedford-
lane deserts as well.
Transportation officials are
currently looking to enhance
safety along the southern and
eastern borders of Prospect
Park, and the Department of
Transportation unveiled plans
to build protected bike lanes on
Parkside Avenue, Ocean Avenue,
and Flatbush Avenue earlier
this year.
City legislators also approved
a bill Wednesday spearheaded
by City Council Speaker Corey
Johnson to construct 250 miles
of protected bike lanes throughout
the city within a five-year
period.
One Bedford-Stuyvesant advocate
said that poor cycling infrastructure
in those areas don’t
Stuyvesant’s white population
shot up from around 2
percent in 2000 to more than
25 percent in 2017 — while
the number of black residents
dropped from 75 percent to 49
percent.
Bushwick saw similar demographic
trends — with a
sharp increase in white newcomers
and a decrease in hispanic
and black residents. Likewise,
the median incomes there
rose from around $35,000 to
$51,600, and median sales
prices per housing unit in a twoto
four unit building went up
from $129,000 to $469,580.
Along with the release of
the new report, Stringer made
several policy recommendations.
reflect the growing numbers of
bikers on the streets.
“On Eastern Parkway it gets
a little hairy and on Pitkin Avenue
it gets a little crazy,” said
Dulcie Canton, a cycling advocate
with Transportation Alternatives.
“We need to have more
of those facilities because if people
don’t feel safe they’re just
not going to take this up.”
A nurse living in Crown
Heights claimed the lack of
good cycling infrastructure
promotes driving, which in
turn increases pollution that
results in negative health effects
for locals.
“Black women have a premature
birthrate that’s twice as
high as the overall premature
birthrate ,” said Katy McFadden.
“When you look at maps
of pollution in New York City,
it’s right over the predominantly
black neighborhoods. .”
A bike lane engineer for the
Transportation Department
said the area’s lack of bike infrastructure
dated back to its
heady commercial traffic in
the past and that the agency
has failed to keep pace with
changing populations.
“It takes time to look at and
we have to address the commercial
traffic but you also have to
redevelop how those streets are
moving to match the population
that’s moving to those areas,”
said Olguine Alcide.
As more than one third of
creative industry professionals
were self-employed in 2017,
Stringer — a 2021 mayoral candidate
— pushed city legislators
to strengthen labor rights,
extend health insurance and
unemployment benefits, and
create new affordable housing
and workspaces for workers in
the creative sector.
The city should also create
a dedicated office within
both City Hall and the Economic
Development Corporation
— the quasi-governmental
business boosting agency
— to address the industry’s
specific needs, according to
Stringer.
When memory fades,
our commitment endures.
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By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
Bike advocates accused the
city of constructing bike lanes to
protect rich, white Brooklynites,
while leaving impoverished cyclists
of color to fend for themselves
at a meeting in Crown
Heights on Wednesday.
“A lot of the changes that
we’ve seen have been in predominantly
gentrified neighborhoods
that have a lot of white
settlers or a lot of money,” E.
Flatbush resident Mohamed
Bah said at the meeting hosted
by state Sen. Zellnor Myrie
(D–Crown Heights). “In Park
Slope the bike lanes are separated
from the street. In my
neighborhood... there’s only a
white line that’s separating me
from the cars.”
Myrie — whose 20th Senate
District has only one protected
cycle lane, located on Eastern
Parkway, east of Prospect Park
— hosted the gathering at a Sterling
Place health center to discuss
bike lane equity with about
100 resident cyclists and transit
advocates, who pored over
an interactive map showing
cycling paths throughout the
borough.
Park Slope features both
uptown and crosstown protected
bike lanes on Prospect
Park West and Ninth Street respectively,
and the Department
of Transportation is currently
Continued from page 1
$110 billion in total economic
activity.
Because many creatives
have been priced out of numerous
neighborhoods on the distant
isle of Manhattan, the industry’s
employees have sought
out lower-rent refuge — particularly
in Kings County.
Since 2008, 6,198 creative
industry workers have taken up
residence in Bushwick — compared
with 4,451 in Bedford-
Stuyvesant, 2,831 in Greenpoint
and Williamsburg, and
2,169 in Brooklyn Heights
and Fort Greene, according
Our wrap-around
services, including
assistance with
enrollment in long-term
Medicaid coverage and
obtaining a home health
aide, ensure we can
support caregivers at
many stages. If someone
you know is a caregiver
in need of support,
please have them call
877-577-9337or email
carenyc@scsny.org.
CARE NYC is supported in part by a grant from the New York State Department of Health
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