Lots of of Higher West Facet residents and enterprise homeowners are preventing again towards the town’s plan to construct a brand new bike lane alongside a serious native thoroughfare.
The “No 72nd Road Bike Lane Coalition” has gathered greater than 1,000 signatures on a petition opposing the proposal, and stated it expects at the very least 100 folks to picket towards it at a rally Saturday morning at West 72nd Road and Broadway.
“That is about ensuring the group is heard,” the group stated in a press release. “We’re calling for a pause. Launch the information, consider the options and work with the individuals who know this road greatest — the neighbors.”
The town Division of Transportation’s plan would set up a protected bike lane operating in each instructions alongside the north facet of the roughly half mile lengthy road, which runs from Central Park West to Riverside Drive.
Group Board 7 had been set to carry a gathering on the proposed redesign this month — however pushed it to June, citing the necessity for extra group suggestions within the face of the mounting backlash.
Lester Wasserman, a fourth-generation shoe retailer who owns Tip High Sneakers on West 72nd Road, stated he realized in regards to the proposal solely lately.
“Why are we making an attempt to ram it by means of within the shadows of darkness?” he fumed to The Publish on Friday. “Everyone I’ve spoken to by no means received a name and didn’t even know this was a chance.”
Darryl Dornfeld, a member of the coalition shaped to oppose the undertaking, stated native residents and enterprise homeowners are demanding extra say within the course of — whereas stressing the group is just not anti-cyclist.
“It isn’t that we don’t need bike lanes. We have already got a number of and help them once they’re acceptable,” Dornfeld stated.
“However West 72nd Road is uniquely complicated, and this design doesn’t replicate that actuality.”
The coalition argues the redesign would disrupt an already congested hall that serves a number of bus routes, comprises a serious subway hub and sees heavy supply site visitors.
The group additionally warned that the DOT’s plan to take away one automobile journey lane in every course might result in car congestion and worsen idling, hurting air high quality.
“Infrastructure needs to be formed with the group, not imposed on it,” the group’s assertion stated. “A road redesign ought to enhance mobility for everybody, not simply these on two wheels.”
A spokesperson for DOT insisted the bike lane plan would assist “everybody.”
“Protected bike lanes have been proven to help native companies and enhance security for everybody, together with pedestrians, cyclists and folks touring by automobile.”
Wasserman stated his and different companies depend on pallet jacks to unload tons of merchandise on to the curb — a routine he fears can be upended if a protected bike lane will get added.
“Its contents of a whole bunch of kilos of no matter it’s goes to take a seat there till somebody unloads it,” he stated. “Who’s going to get it from level A to level B? It takes time, it’s pricey, it’s inefficient.”
The DOT spokesperson stated new, specifically designated loading zones will “higher accommodate deliveries, cab pick-ups and drop-offs.”
“Who’s going to hold it from there?” Wasserman requested.
An Astoria neighborhood raised alarms final week over a special bike lane plan, citing fireplace security issues, however DOT is shifting forward anyway, The Publish beforehand reported.
DOT information exhibits lower than 10% of the town’s 8.5 million residents are common bike riders.
However the cyclists depend one influential ally: Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Hizzoner is continuously noticed using a Citi Bike — typically with out a helmet — to press conferences and conferences.
“His actions converse to who he’s,” Wasserman stated of the bicycle-loving mayor, questioning why the West 72nd Road redesign was being prioritized as Mamdani claims the town is dealing with a once-in-a-generation fiscal disaster.
“We’re out of cash however we have to do that,” Wasserman sniped. “We’re speaking out of plenty of totally different sides of our mouth right here.”
