Lines not straight on 8th Ave. bike lane proposal

By Diane Vacca

A proposed new bike lane for Eighth Ave. in Chelsea has local LGBT advocates wary of its possible impacts on one of the area’s most active stretches—and upset more hasn’t been done to reach out to the gay community.

While acknowledging its advantages, many fear that the bike lane could cause irreparable damage to the avenue some have referred to as “Gay Boulevard.” To address the issue, a group of local LGBT community members has banded together in opposition to the proposal as it currently exists as a way to advance broader dialogue on the matter.

Speaking as a member of an informal LGBT coalition on Community Board 4, Tony Juliano said the bicycle lane would have a significant impact on the gay community and those who live in or frequent the neighborhood.

“It’s going to probably cause demographic shift,” he said. “The way people behave in the city, and where they shop, and where they walk, and where they feel comfortable.”

Dirk McCall, the openly gay executive director of the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, agreed. “It’s impacting the LGBT community disproportionately, because most or a lot of the storeowners on Eighth Avenue are either gay or cater to the gay and lesbian community,” he said.

Juliano, secretary of the GVCCC, observed that the stretch acts as a safe haven for the LGBT community, something that could be altered with a broad initiative like the lane. “People feel very comfortable in that area holding hands, walking down the boulevard, strolling, shopping, going to different bars,” he noted.

Recalling the experience of the already implemented Ninth Ave. bike lane, Juliano said it “changes the character and the complexion of the neighborhood. It makes the feel of the neighborhood, as you walk down the block very, very different. You feel disconnected from the block as a whole and what’s going on across the street and around. I think it’s going to have some real impact on whether or not people are going to feel comfortable strolling the boulevard and then actually going into the different businesses and buying stuff. They’re just going to wind up moving away from it.”

One of Juliano’s objections are the bollards protecting cyclists that “segregate” the lane on Ninth Ave. “They create a physical barrier on the street that isolates people,” he said.

The board’s LGBT members have decided to organize a town hall meeting independently of CB 4 to discuss how the lane will impact their lives and lifestyle, as well as how they travel along Eighth Ave. Juliano said they will meet in the next few days to plan the meeting, which they hope to hold at the LGBT Community Center on 13th St.

“Gays on the board have to speak to each other as a group so that our sensitivities are recognized by those who may not be sensitive,” added Allen Roskoff, a gay activist and member of Board 4. “I want to see Rainbows and Triangles prosper [along Eighth Ave.] I want to see the restaurants and stores where gay people feel there’s a nuance that makes us feel welcome as a community continue to exist.” Otherwise, Roskoff warned, the stretch risks further commercialization that could take away from the many LGBT-themed stores in the area. He added that without that distinct flavor in Chelsea, it could “become like Greenwich Village, where [members of the gay community] have fled.”

The GVCCC is planning to survey the businesses that would possibly be affected by the proposed bike lane. Juliano said they will walk from store to store to see whether the merchants are in favor of the idea, how they think they will be affected, and what their concerns are. The results of the survey, to be done as early as this week, will be collected and organized for presentation to the Department of Transportation and other concerned parties “to try to help them to do the right thing,” Juliano added.

“I guarantee that the DOT would not have reached out to the LGBT community unless they were asked to,” added Roskoff.

McCall and Juliano, in their capacities as members of the GVCCC, want to avoid any prejudicial changes to Eighth Ave. It’s “a very successful street,” said Juliano. “People enjoy being there, the businesses are enjoying success… [The bike lane] may make a big difference, and they aren’t looking for a big difference. They like it the way it is.”

McCall added, “We need to find out how to make this really work. Bike lanes are a very important step, and … a very good thing. But bike lanes need to be conceptualized in a way that works for both the cyclists and for local businesses.” McCall said negative impacts have already been felt on Ninth Ave. for vehicles making deliveries and patrons using cars to access the stores. “Until we’ve resolved all the outstanding issues on Ninth Ave., expanding it to other avenues is moving too fast,” he added. “We’re getting complaints about the bike lane on Broadway, we’re getting complaints about the bike lane on Ninth Ave.— it’s very problematic. We need to make sure this is done in a very smart manner. … Everybody supports bike lanes, but we have to figure out how to make bike lanes work.”

Roskoff reminded that bike lanes are not a gay issue, but representative of a situation where the LGBT needs to be addressed directly. “Our opinion means as much as people on a block association,” he said.

The Eighth Ave. lane could ultimately provide a boon to the area, Juliano acknowledged, but only after more vetting by the community. “I absolutely believe … that there would be some benefit to having that bike lane, and I suspect that there would be many people in the community that would be in favor of it,” he said. “There’s no question that these kinds of efforts are well-intentioned. They’re directionally correct from the standpoint of where the city needs to go. Let’s do it right—that’s all.”

— with additional reporting by Patrick Hedlund