Many cycling supporters—some with their rides in tow—attended the public hearing to speak in favor of the proposed Eighth Ave. bike lane.
Eighth Ave. bike lane project gains traction with community
By Heather Murray
Chelsea residents and cyclists from all over the city reconvened this week to discuss the proposal to install a buffered bike lane on Eighth Ave. after the issue created a stir in the community this summer.
But at the public hearing this time around, which doubled as a meeting of Community Board 4’s Transportation Planning Committee, the majority of attendees spoke up in favor of installing the lane from W. 14th to W. 23rd Sts., after a group of gay residents cried foul over its possible impacts on the LGBT community back in July.
Proponents cited safety for both cyclists and pedestrians and a move toward less car traffic as top reasons to support the lane.
However, those opposed felt that many cyclists break traffic laws, making a lane dedicated to them dangerous for pedestrians and motorists. They also contended that businesses would be adversely impacted by the loss of convenient parking spots and loading areas, and that the new street configuration would be confusing for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists alike.
Ultimately, though, the committee members voted 8 to 2 in favor of the lane, asking the Department of Transportation to address any concerns raised by the community.
Chairperson Jay Marcus said his committee wants the DOT to reach out to businesses along Eighth Ave. to discuss the possibility of mid-block loading zones, side-street parking and other options to mitigate problems the lane could pose to deliveries.
More outreach and education on the new bike lane and ticketing of cyclists who break traffic laws is needed, added Marcus, who recommended reaching out to organizations like Transportation Alternatives and 10th Precinct for help with outreach and enforcement.
Committee members Jimmy Pelsey and Wilma Velazquez voted against the lane, with Velazquez noting it would make Eighth Ave. even more congested and that the proposal had not been thoroughly vetted by merchants and the public. “I don’t see a way it’s going to help,” she said.
Pelsey said the current Ninth Ave. lane was “killing the businesses around here” and that he had friends from California that refused to visit him at his home off Ninth Ave. this year after encountering the new lane last year.
Committee member Bret Firfer, who voted in favor of the proposal, said his one concern was the ease of passage for emergency vehicles traveling along the avenue, noting his father-in-law died six years ago on the way to St. Vincent’s Hospital.
Margaret Forgione, DOT’s Manhattan borough commissioner, said that DOT has been in constant contact with the Fire and Police departments, and that they have not expressed concerns about the proposed new lane on their operations. She added that sometimes the DOT does install preemptive signaling for emergency use, so Marcus asked that the department to look into that option for Eighth Ave.
Committee member Pete Diaz also had concerns about emergency vehicles and requested more enforcement of and training in “the rules of the road for cyclists.”
Fellow committee member Eric Muise called the new lane part of a “fantastic program,” noting that “75 percent of us do not own cars.”
Ken Stewart, a public member of the committee, asked that the DOT look at providing handicap-accessible signals for disabled pedestrians as part of the design. Forgione responded that it wasn’t financially feasible for the city to provide handicap-accessible signals on each new project, but they do install them near homes and centers for the disabled. Marcus said that he couldn’t believe the city would be “leaving the disabled behind” in this day and age.
Committee co-chairperson Christine Berthet was “very much in favor” of the lane and felt an “enormous amount of life would be saved” if the proposal is approved. She noted that there have been 250 injuries recorded along the avenue during the past 10 years and that with the new lane, “we could hope to save 125 people from being injured.”
Committee member Walter Mankoff voted for it because of the “considerable safety gain,” but expressed concern about severe impacts to businesses and enforcement of traffic laws.
“The area is flooded with parking agents,” he said, suggesting the 10th Precinct train parking agents so that they can also ticket cyclists.
Mankoff pointed out that the community loses the added safety of the bike lane if there is no enforcement of traffic laws. “Enforcement is a key area,” he said.
Over 40 people signed up to speak at the public hearing, including Joshua David, a co-founder of Friends of the High Line. As a cyclist, he said he supports the lane and that his 78-year-old father also rides the avenue regularly. Half of his staff ride their bikes to work as well. He recalled seeing a cyclist hit by a motorist last Saturday night on Eighth Ave. and felt a protected lane could prevent incidents like these.
Rick Schmetzler, co-owner of the Gym Sportsbar on Eighth Ave., said that although he is “an avid bike rider, I don’t think this has been very well thought through.” He claimed that the DOT has done “absolutely no outreach to business owners.”
He questioned whether the DOT realized how large beer trucks are and said he needed room for his trucks to unload deliveries at the bar. The department has suggested providing loading zones on the side streets, but he said he didn’t think that would work for his deliveries.
Two business owners on or near Ninth Ave. complained about the loss of business there, citing customers being ticketed for parking at the corner and difficulty with client drop-offs and pickups since the bike lane went in.
Dirk McCall, executive director of the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, spoke on behalf of several business owners who he said either couldn’t come or couldn’t stay long enough to speak at the meeting. He and other members of Board 4 surveyed every store along Eighth Ave., and McCall said that overall owners are “extremely opposed” to the lane. When he spoke with managers or other employees, however, they were ambivalent. McCall refuted claims in the community that storeowners are OK with the proposal, saying that he has received several “furious calls” from owners on the matter.
He said the owners were very willing to work with DOT and suggested putting in mid-block loading zones and having fewer left-turn bays where possible. The left-turn bays proposed for 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st and 23rd Sts. would eliminate five parking spots each on the west side of the avenue. The DOT had investigated the possibility of restricting left-turn bays, but Marcus said that the committee decided it didn’t want to restrict any left-hand turning. He added the issue could be revisited in a year or nine months after the bike lane’s installation.
One cyclist asked how the DOT envisions extending the lane above 23rd St. considering the gridlock in Midtown. Forgione responded that the department would have to review it with the Police, Fire and Sanitation departments beforehand, but reminded the audience that “we’re not reducing the number of traffic lanes.”
A resident of W. 34th then referenced early opposition to the proposal expressed by some members of the gay community regarding the impact it could have on Chelsea’s LGBT community, calling the outcry as “a lavender herring,” to laughs from the audience.
Another resident, who called himself an “avid pedestrian,” agreed that “the streets don’t have sexual orientation.”
One resident asked the DOT to examine any air pollution that might come as a result of more cars idling on the avenue, while another expressed his amazement at the “renaissance of the DOT” in his wholehearted support of the lane.
A Chelsea resident named Amy said she is against bike lanes, noting that the new traffic lights on Ninth Avenue were confusing and “do not provide safety.” And as for ticketing cyclists, “30 summonses year-to-date is laughable,” she said in regard to police figures for the number of tickets written to riders. She also felt a lane to benefit cyclists shouldn’t be created for those who “flout the traffic rules every time they can.”
As a pedestrian, Cheryl Kupper said she is also against the bike lane. According to her, cyclists are the “No. 1 enemies,” because they don’t follow the law.
One cyclist said she and her family recently gave up their car and that the success of the lane will depend on “the social marketing scheme,” suggesting the DOT do mass marketing around the city.
A cyclist who just came back from Montreal, which he called the North American standard for bike lanes, said that the community cannot support President-elect Barack Obama and then take a “NIMBY attitude when change comes to us.”
A manager from the Gristedes on 21st St. said deliveries were already difficult on the avenue and the bike lane would be “more of a disaster.”
But at least one business on Eighth Ave. supports the bike lane: A representative from Google, with its New York headquarters in Chelsea, came out to the meeting to say his company “encourages biking” and the further extension of the bike lane to the north and south.
Two members of Community Board 2’s transportation committee came out to support the Eighth Ave. lane in Chelsea, noting that the portion of the lane running from Bank to 14th Sts. was unanimously approved by their committee.
DOT’s Ryan Russo, who is in charge of alternative modes of transportation, reminded the audience during his presentation that the department isn’t just installing a bike lane, but doing a “complete street design” to “make the street better for everyone.”
He said the DOT has clocked 1,200 cyclists during a 12-hour period using the Ninth Ave. lane, and that before the lane went in, 5 percent of all cyclists were riding on the sidewalk. Now, only 1 percent are.
Russo also pointed out that nine out of 10 cycling fatalities occur in the intersection and that the new street design makes them safer. “Basically, we can confidently say we have safer streets on Ninth Avenue,” he said, highlighting traffic signals that give clearer guidance to motorists and cyclists.
Citywide, Russo has seen cycling grow by 35 percent in the last year alone, which he called a great accomplishment.
DOT will now take into consideration comments from the board and start installing the Eighth Ave. lane in the spring.
Marcus encouraged those in the audience to come to Board 4’s next full board meeting on Dec. 3, when members will discuss and vote on a draft letter to the DOT prepared by the committee.
