As part of the plan to remediate the shutdown of the L train, Transportation Alternatives floats a plan to make Grand Street car free from the Williamsburg Bridge east to the intersection of Grand and Metropolitan (pretty much the Kings/Queens line). This would allow buses and cyclists freer travel along Grand, but surely would be greeted with howls from all of the merchants along Grand between Rodney Street and Bushwick Avenue. Still – “complete street redesign” would be a welcome thing in many places.
L Train Shutdown Could Turn Grand Street into a Car-Free Zone
In Memoriam – 108 Cyclists and Pedestrians Killed in 2012
In 2012, victims whose lives were ended by reckless drivers ranged in age from 2 to 92. Two small boys were fatally struck as their horrified and helpless parents looked on. A high school football player with college prospects was run over by two drivers while riding his bike. A veteran UPS man on his regular rounds was crushed to death on a sidewalk. A grandmother of 22 who survived Auschwitz was killed by a driver in pursuit of a parking spot.
With murders at a historical low, the odds of a New Yorker being killed by a stranger with a car are probably greater than the odds of being “murdered” by a stranger.
Greenpoint Avenue is Latest Battleground in the Car-Cyclist Clash
Greenpoint’s community board has asked the city to halt its plan to remove much-needed parking spaces to accommodate an extended bike lane on Greenpoint Avenue.
“Much-needed” by who?
The stretch of Greenpoint Avenue in question – between Provost and the Greenpoint Avenue bridge, by the treatment plant – has always been a vehicular free-fire zone. The introduction of unprotected bike lanes a year or two ago did nothing to improve the situation. Spend 10 minutes watching traffic and you’ll see that vehicles coming off the bridge use the (poorly-marked) bike lane as a high-speed passing lane.