Rough ride!
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN
Late last year, Twitter user
@NYCBikeLanes issued the
“Schermerhorn Challenge” —
throwing down the gauntlet
and daring cyclists to ride the
entirety of the Schermerhorn
Street bike lane without ever
leaving the lane, with a $100
prize to any victorious pedalpusher.
On Jan. 31, northern Brooklyn’s
new councilmember, Lincoln
Restler, decided to give the
challenge a try — suiting up in
winter attire and boarding a
Citi Bike for the seven-block
ride between Third Avenue
and Clinton Street.
The challenge isn’t an easy
play for money, or to increase
the number of people using the
lane, but rather it’s an attempt
to draw attention to the span
that’s frequently clogged with
police cars, double parkers,
and mounds of the city’s infamously
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COURIER LIFE, F 16 EBRUARY 11-17, 2022
gray snow and ice during
the winter months.
It took the determined lawmaker
41 minutes to travel just
half a mile between Third Avenue
and Smith Street, not because
he was riding slowly, but
because, in an attempt to follow
the rules to a T and stay
within the confi nes of the bike
lane, he made several minuteslong
stops behind obstacles,
waiting for them to clear.
Unfortunately for Restler’s
chances at snagging a Benjamin,
he found himself stuck
for too long behind illegally
parked cars several times, often
with city employee placards,
which forced him to ride
in the street to get around the
scaffl aw drivers’ vehicles —
and causing him to fail the
challenge.
Restler specifi cally singled
out the fi ve-block Third Avenue
to-Smith Street corridor
as in desperate need of repair,
and called for the addition of
protected bike lanes.
“No one should have to bike
into traffi c because of a row
of illegally parked cars,” Restler
said. “There’s a crisis on
Schermerhorn Street and we
need to do everything in our
power to redesign the street
North Brooklyn Councilmember
Lincoln Restler braved mounds of
snow and illegally-parked vehicles
while he attempted the “Schermerhorn
Challenge” after the year’s
fi rst snowstorm.
Offi ce of Lincoln Restler
with protected bike lanes.”
Born and raised in Brooklyn,
Restler said his daily
biking really took off once
CitiBike launched in New York
City, and has since accumulated
nearly 2,5000 rides using
the service. Riding from 3rd
Avenue to Smith Street within
the Schermerhorn Street lane
was the longest it’s ever taken
him to ride just fi ve blocks, he
said.
New councilmember
attempts doomed-to-fail
‘Schermerhorn Challenge’
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