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City's Cycling Growing Pains Dividing Walkers, Drivers, Bikers
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 17, 2009
Modified Aug 17, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 17, 2009
Modified Aug 17, 2009
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Anyone who's followed along with the city's various cycling issues won't find much new in the Daily News's "Special Investigation" today, about how "pedestrians and cars clash over biking boom." There's the requisite quote from a biker-phobic pedestrian, 62-year-old Marjorie Levine: "When I, as a retired woman, walk these streets, I have fear of my safety that I will be hit by these riders and get knocked down." There's the requisite counterpoint from Transportation Alternatives spokesman Wiley Norvell: "We still have a really 'me first' culture on the street, whether you are a pedestrian, a driver or a big rig. The problem is that some of those 'me's' weigh tons and others weigh 110 pounds."
And the all-too-familiar tragic side of cycling is represented by Lizi Rahman, whose 22-year-old son Asif was fatally run over while riding his bike on Queens Boulevard last year: "I can't stop wondering, are they waiting for some more bicyclists to die on this road? Will they make a bike lane after that?" Sadly, another cyclist was killed on Queens Boulevard Friday night: 38-year-old James Langergaard, an experienced cyclist who volunteered for Transportation Alternatives.
Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Paper reports that by the end of the week a section of Kent Avenue in Brooklyn will change to one-way in an attempt to resolve a controversial bike lane battle. But there's an online petition urging the city to drop the change from two-ways to one-way, on the grounds that it will "seriously endanger the health and well being of the community's residents, especially children."
Tagged
bicycle
bike accident
bike lane
cycling
nyc
pedestrian
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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