Hasidic Community Opposes New Bike Lanes

Painting of a new bike lane on Kent Avenue is slated to begin late next month, but not without, at least, a few local objections. The bike lane will be the first step in realizing the Kent Avenue Greenway, but some members of the local community charge another bike lane just means trouble.

The project was proposed to add a green space and pathways for pedestrians and bicyclists alike — connecting Brooklyn’s waterfront from Sunset Park to Newton Creek along what is now a busy truck route. The bike lane along Kent Avenue will be the third in the neighborhood, with one-way lanes for cyclists already existing on Wythe and Bedford avenues.

Craig Chin, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Transportation, said the Kent Avenue bike lanes are being installed to increase safety in a neighborhood with one of the largest bicyclist populations in the city.

Most area residents agree that the additional bike lanes will be a welcome change to the traffic-laden roads of New York City, but at last week’s Community Board 1 meeting a heated debate ensued between pro-cyclist board members and the vehemently anti-lanes leaders of Williamsburg’s Hasidic bloc.

The proposal was approved by the Board in April with a 39-2 vote in support of the project. Shimon Weisser, a community board member who singled himself out as a representative of the Hasidic community, was one of the two to vote against the Greenway. He said that adding another bike lane will only cause more problems—increased traffic due to less space on the road and more accidents between bikers, pedestrians, and cars. Furthermore, Weisser called for removal of the existing bike paths in the neighborhood, citing safety as the central issue. He did not want to comment on a recent New York Post article citing scantily-clad bikers as the central reason for opposing the bike lanes.

“Since the bike lanes were implemented on Bedford and Wythe avenues, people are being hit with bikes,” said Mr. Weisser. “They don’t have data on how many people have been hit with bikes [because] most people who have been hit are treated by a local volunteer service.”

The volunteer service, Hatzolah of Williamsburg, did not return calls for comment.

Teresa Toro, Chair of the Transportation Committee at CB1, said that the lanes are necessary visual reminders for motorists to slow down, calling Mr. Weisser’s opposition and request for the removal of existing bike paths unrealistic. “The absence of a bike lane does not guarantee another route,” said Toro. “It contributes to risk for everyone on the street.”

Fittingly, the day after last week’s meeting a car hit a bicyclist on Kent Avenue, speeding away and leaving the cyclist with a broken shoulder and collarbone.

Eliza Proctor, a Kent Avenue resident and cyclist who gave up her car when she moved into the neighborhood more than a decade ago, thinks adding a bike lane on Kent Avenue is a fantastic idea. “I can ride my bike and feel safe,” said Proctor.” It’s a little white line, but it does make me feel safer.”