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Brooklyn bike lane stokes court battle between opponents in upcoming primary
By
Samantha Max
Published May 8, 2025
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Samantha Max
Published May 8, 2025
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A controversial new bike lane that runs through a portion of north Brooklyn's Hasidic Jewish community is now at the center of a legal dispute between City Councilmember Lincoln Restler and Sabrina Gates, one of his challengers in the June Democratic primary.
Restler, a vocal supporter of the bike lane, has been trying to block Gates from the primary, arguing in court last month that her campaign improperly gathered the signatures needed to put her on the ballot. He claimed some signature collectors thought they were promoting a petition about the bike lane, not for a political candidate.
Gates has been speaking with community members who say the bike lane endangers children in the neighborhood. She and Restler are the only two candidates running for City Council District 33 in the upcoming primary election, according to city records.
This week, a Brooklyn judge ruled that Restler didn’t provide enough “clear and convincing” evidence to kick Gates off the ballot.
Gates told Gothamist that Restler’s allegations are “silly and outrageous.”
“It’s just a terrible waste of time,” she said “It’s a waste of the court’s time and it’s an assault on our democracy.”
Restler said in a statement that his opponent’s campaign “perpetuated widespread fraud” and the court’s decision was “based on technicalities.”
“I’m confident in my record of service for our community and trust voters will make the right choice at the ballot box,” he said, adding that he won’t be appealing the court ruling.
Gates is secretary of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. She ran unsuccessfully for the 33rd City Council District seat in 2021, when Restler was elected.
Bike lane prompts mixed reactions
The city’s Department of Transportation began construction on a 1.5-mile protected bike lane along Bedford Avenue, between Flushing Avenue and Dean Street in Bed-Stuy last September. Restler celebrated the news, along with many biking advocates.
But the bike lane has faced fierce opposition from many of the area’s Hasidic residents, who say they worry about kids darting between cyclists as they get off school buses. Cyclists have hit and injured at least two children, sparking calls to reroute the bike lane between Flushing and Dekalb avenues. More than 3,200 people have signed a Change.org petition to move that section of the bike path a few avenues over, to an area with less school bus traffic.
“Someone’s child will get killed on this new bike lane. Instead of sending condolences to the parents after the funeral, you can still prevent it from happening now,” the petition warns, adding: “We cannot sacrifice the lives of our vulnerable children to protect adult bikers.”
Cycling advocates argue that protected bike lanes promote public safety. At the site of the new Bedford Avenue bike lane, injuries dropped 25% between January and April of this year, compared to the same time period last year, according to data from Transportation Alternatives. The nonprofit street-safety organization said 29 cyclists, pedestrians and motorists were injured during the first four months of 2025, compared to 39 in the same span in 2024.
Restler said he’s been working with the Department of Transportation and local residents to address the unique safety concerns along Bedford Avenue.
But Gates said her opponent hasn’t done enough to address community complaints.
“My understanding, having sat down with numerous folks from the neighborhood, is not that they’re against the bike lane, They just want some considerations for how they can best address issues around children getting hit,” she said.
Transportation officials did not respond to a request for comment.
In the legal dispute, objectors alleged that Gates didn’t gather enough legitimate signatures to get on the primary ballot. Video viewed by Gothamist shows a signature gatherer at a Hasidic synagogue in Bed-Stuy repeatedly saying the words “bike lane” while asking people to sign the petition. Some signature collectors said they thought they were promoting a campaign for children’s safety, according to the judge’s ruling.
But the judge said in his decision that it’s common to discuss community issues like child safety when seeking signatures, and that the petition clearly identified Gates as a candidate at the top of each sheet.
In court papers, Restler also identified signatures from various people who weren’t registered voters, didn’t live in the district or didn’t list their full names, among other concerns. Gates said they reviewed each objection line by line at the Board of Elections and established that she still had enough proper signatures to run in the primary.
“My opponent is one of those people who has continually said that you duke it out in the primary or you duke it out on election [day], and you give voters a choice,” Gates said. “And yet, he did this. So the hypocrisy is quite funny.”
Election law attorney Sarah Steiner said it’s common for candidates to challenge individual signatures on a petition, but less so for someone to object to large portions, as Restler did. She said there’s a “very high standard” to establish a campaign committed fraud when petitioning to get on the ballot.
“You get chastened by any experience like this,” she said. “It’s upsetting for both sides.”
Tagged
public safety
Politics
transportation
brooklyn
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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