Disabled Higher West Facet residents are suing to dam the town’s controversial redesign of West 72nd Road, escalating the battle over a deliberate protected bike lane there that locals have fiercely opposed.
The grievance, filed Friday in Manhattan federal court docket, names seven plaintiffs — together with a blind girl — who stay on the favored important thoroughfare and use wheelchairs, scooters, canes and walkers to get round.
The group says the brand new avenue design — which is able to reduce the variety of vehicular site visitors lanes from 4 to 2 whereas shifting the present buffer of parking away from the curb to put in a two-way bike lane — will make them “digital shut-ins.”
That’s as a result of it is going to power disabled residents to cross fast-moving bike and e-scooter site visitors within the bike lane to now attain taxis, Entry-A-Experience, buses and emergency autos — a scenario they gained’t wish to try for worry of their security, the go well with says.
“The entire idea doesn’t make any sense,” plaintiff lawyer Hartley Bernstein instructed The Submit. “It’s a busy avenue with 20,000 residents and a big proportion of seniors.
“They might place bike lanes on 73rd avenue going one path and one on 71st avenue going one other path. It will be barely much less handy for cyclists, however it could not pose such a danger.”
The go well with argues that the town Transportation Division’s plan violates the federal Individuals with Disabilities Act and state and Huge Apple human-rights legal guidelines.
“Due to these risks, the West 72nd Road Plan can have a chilling impact on the Plaintiffs making them digital shut-ins,” court docket papers say.
The 2-way bike lane would run adjoining to the road’s north curb between Central Park West and Riverside Drive.
Plaintiffs are in search of an injunction to cease development, restore the prior avenue structure and at the very least $225,000 in damages per plaintiff, plus attorneys’ charges.
Higher West Facet residents and enterprise homeowners have been combating DOT’s plan at neighborhood conferences and held a rally in Might to voice their considerations.
The lawsuit joins a broader authorized push towards Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s e‑bike agenda.
One other lawsuit introduced by folks injured by reckless e‑bikers challenged Mamdani’s determination to cut back legal enforcement of e‑bike violations, arguing it has made streets extra harmful for seniors and disabled New Yorkers.
DOT additionally created a self-inflicted headache for itself in Queens over an alleged harmful bike-lane plan that locals hate.
Bernstein beforehand filed a lawsuit over that bike lane on thirty first Road in Astoria that locals — together with firefighters from the native firehouse — mentioned posed fireplace rescue dangers.
Bernstein mentioned a choose sided along with his shoppers in regards to the risks the DOT’s thirty first Road bike lane posed.
DOT filed a discover to attraction the choose’s determination, then created a brand new bike lane plan for the neighborhood that Bernstein mentioned does roughly the identical factor because the previous plan the choose dominated towards.
Bernstein mentioned he plans to problem DOT’s new Astoria bike lane plan, too.
“It’s principally the identical plan. And it actually didn’t handle 90% of what this choose mentioned was improper when she nullified the primary plan,” Bernstein mentioned.
DOT’s zeal might replicate the clout of Transportation Options, a motorbike advocacy group partly funded by supply corporations that revenue when the town builds out extra taxpayer‑funded lanes for his or her e‑bikes and e‑trikes.
Transportation Options has a direct foothold within the Mamdani administration.
The group’s govt director, Ben Furnas, served on the mayor’s transportation and infrastructure transition crew, and the group’s avenue coverage agenda has successfully been adopted as a blueprint for Metropolis Corridor’s priorities.
Metropolis Corridor didn’t reply to a Submit request for remark.
However Transportation Options Govt Director Ben Furnas mentioned in a press release, “Prioritizing security on no account bars or impairs anybody from utilizing 72nd Road — fairly the other, it turns a harmful avenue into a greater one for seniors, kids, and disabled New Yorkers.
“After the redesign is completed, vehicles, vehicles, and buses will all nonetheless have the ability to entry, park on, and drive by means of 72nd Road. With these infrastructure enhancements, it’ll be even simpler for ambulances to drive by means of or decide up on 72nd, similar to it’s develop into simpler after related tasks completed throughout the town.
“There is no such thing as a world the place a avenue with higher and shorter crossings is worse for anybody besides reckless, dashing drivers.”
