New York City has added more than 100 miles of bike lanes over the past few years, but the latest 1.75 miles seems to be getting some people along the Brooklyn Waterfront up in arms.
The first part of a planned 14 mile bike/walk greenway to connect Greenpoint to Sunset Park, the new lanes were painted at the expense of 100 parking spots, reducing the already tight parking in NYC and making pickups and drop offs at schools and deliveries at local businesses harder.  It seems the only people happy are the cyclists, and already local officials are planning to ease things by allowing pick up/drop offs as long as the driver stays in the car.
Apparently, the most vocal griping is coming from the Hasidic (Jewish) community in the area, and they’ve taken matters into their own hands by directing school buses from the Hasidic school to park at an angle, blocking both bikes and traffic in a claimed effort to keep the children safe from wreckless riders (illegal).  They’ve also posted the homemade detour sign along the way to redirect traffic (illegal).
Of course, cyclists aren’t without their own hijinks.  In mid-December, some clowns (literally) rode around giving fake tickets to people parking in the bike lanes.  From the article on Curbed.com, this was in response to the Hasid’s complaints about “scantily clad” women riding the lanes through their neighborhood, which their religious views prevent them from appreciating looking at.
Get the rest of the story on NY Times and the New York Post. (photo from NYPost.com, totally without permission.)
