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DOT Chief Hits Back at Daily News Over Bike Lane Lies
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 8, 2011
Modified Feb 8, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 8, 2011
Modified Feb 8, 2011
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Ha, this anti-bike lane cartoon in the Daily News really is the limit! As you can see, there are only two people who use the bike lanes in NYC: Mayor Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan—who both dress in spandex like aggro weekend warriors while riding their tandem bike together. Sure, maybe once in a while you see ONE other cyclist in a bike lane, but for the most part these bike lanes sit idle, based on super-scientific analysis conducted in the middle of one of the worst winters in recent history. It's funny because it's true stupid.
On Sunday, the News published an editorial excoriating Sadik-Khan and Bloomberg for ramming bike lanes down New Yorkers' throats without even letting them breathe through their nostrils. The editorial ignored a plenty of facts, and was meticulously rebutted by Streetsblog's Ben Fried, who has a lot more patience for this shit than we do. Today Sadik-Khan herself responds to the criticism, writing in a letter to the editor:
Your editorial "The secrets she keeps" says that communities should know about plans to build bike paths. We agree and believe we can do better. But in calling for fuller disclosure, your editorial takes a sharp departure from the facts. Fact: In a resolution on Oct. 6, 2009, the upper West Side's Community Board 7 requested a protected bike path on Columbus Ave.
Fact: Brooklyn's Community Board 17 was notified of plans for a bike lane on Rockaway Parkway before construction began. No concerns were expressed. Fact: We informed Queens' Community Board 14 of plans for a bike lane on Beach Channel Drive and only heard concerns after the lane was installed.
The News, whose editorial board now appears to be staffed by some particularly retrograde chapter of the John Birch Society, replies to Sadik-Khan's letter by writing that the commissioner "says her communication skills are just fine... The missive proves that she can write. The question is: Can she listen?" And by "listen," they mean "do the bidding of NYC's increasingly unhinged and disenfranchised drivers." They're going all-out to defend their turf, and you can understand their urgency, because once the weather improves (it has to, right?) their argument that nobody uses the bike lanes is going to be a dead end. [Via Streetsblog]
Tagged
bike lanes
cyclists
drivers
janette sadik-khan
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
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