Photo of Graffiti on Protected Bicycle Lane by 41-00 43rd Avenue (Facebook)
June 10, 2019 By Shane O’Brien
Police in Queens have responded to an incident in Sunnyside which saw one of the area’s protected bike lanes defaced with graffiti.
The words ‘f*** the bike lanes’ were scrawled upon a stretch of 43 Avenue in protest of the DOT’s decision to redesign the roadway to make way for protected bike lanes. The offensive language and the nature of the protest caused outrage among several Sunnyside residents.
Council member Jimmy Van Bramer apologized to residents who saw the profanity at 41-00 43rd Ave. and vowed to clean the bike lane as soon as possible.
“I’m really sorry your kids would be forced to see this. We will get it cleaned up ASAP,” Van Bramer wrote on Facebook to a parent who posted the photos to social media.
Officers from the 108 Precinct painted over it later in the day.
Cristina Furlong, a member of the bicycle advocacy group Make Queens Safer, commended the 108th precinct for their swift reaction to the crime.
“I’m just really glad it got cleaned up really quickly by the 108th precinct. I’m not too fazed by it because it was an opportunity to expose the tactics of the people who are against the bike lanes. It was a juvenile thing and there were families with children who were walking by.”
The protected bike lanes have been a hugely contentious issue in Sunnyside and the project has given rise to an intense debate. Manny Gomez, a member of Queens Streets for All, whose group opposed the implementation of the new lanes, joined Furlong in condemning the vandalism.
“We don’t want something like this to happen. I guess whoever did this was upset at the bike lanes, but that’s not the way to do it,” Gomez said. He said that Queens Streets for All was set up so people could speak out in a respectful manner.
The DOT put in the protected bicycle lanes in August on Skillman and 43rd Avenues. The lanes resulted in the reduction of about 120 parking spaces and the loss of a travel lane on segments of both avenues.
Advocates say the bike lanes have led to greater safety; opponents say the opposite. Additionally, some merchants along the avenues argue that their business has taken a hit.
The graffiti Saturday follows the high-profile incident where thumbtacks were reportedly placed on 43rd Avenue in November.
Officers from the 108 Precinct Paint Over the Graffiti Saturday (Photo: Facebook)
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126 Comments
Let’s start off by saying I am the “VANDAL” & I apologize for using the F word .. I should have blocked “F the bike lanes” … anyways .. I know the our community of Sunnyside is not happy about the BIKE LANES.. And there is a huge amount of variables why.. 1) funding for our local schools was one the cuts made for Jimmys personal agenda … not only has he cut into all the local funding to our future but he is too concerned about pleasing the rest of the politicians that he is blinded to the fact that he is hurting our future … 2) When he decides to run for higher positions please pay attention to the ones funding his campaigns ; like the ones who benefit from this change in our streets… 3) what are top priorities in our neighborhood? I know all of you here can come up with 5 different places city funding and our taxes could have been better spent … We are all going to live with the decisions of who we appoint as our leaders SO let’s do better… I have read every comment about this “Vandalism” that I did but I’m happy that you’ve all expressed openly your opinions and concerns … MESSAGE to JIMMY .. We all know the lanes are too costly to reverse and the fact you took income in your pocket and made new buddies for your political advances in our expense is DISGUSTING .. Have a good night “e$”
On a closed group gate is scrawled in the same style, in the same red paint: no more I love yous.
It’s right by the derma store, on skillman Ave right before 51st street. I wonder if the neighboring stores/salons across the way have vid cams outside that captured this.
Interesting…Good observation. The lower case letter “a” in the word “lanes” is kinda distinctive too.
Yeah, it’s the bikes that are the real problem.
https://qns.com/story/2019/06/14/driver-in-bayside-hit-and-run-remains-at-large-police-release-photos-of-vehicle-involved/
???? It’s not the bikes but the people controlling the bikes.
why did cops clean this up? let the jerkoff cyclists do it, their reckless road antics are what causes so much hatred for them.
Agreed, have you ever seen a car break the law in NYC?! I sure haven’t.
The cars are controlled by someone.
A majority of bike riders ARE terrible.
Not just terrible they’re mostly left handed. Obama was left handed. Need I say more?
This is for the people who claim bikes are a safety issue.
Woman In Critical Condition After Being Struck By Hit-And-Run Driver In Queens
BY CLAIRE LAMPEN
JUNE 12, 2019 1:14 P.M.
https://gothamist.com/2019/06/12/queens_woman_in_critical_condition.php
Not clear what defines a “true Sunnysider” when the so-called Sunnysider of the Year was born and raised in Alabama.
Zing.
The guy who initially reported it said he had 3 tacks in his tires (something that doesn’t happen unless there’s A LOT of more than 3 in the road), and that he picked up all the ones he saw in the 4-block stretch where they were strewn about.
Even if you’re right that the 108 only found 3 in one spot, it still doesn’t mean anything because it was after he cleaned them up.
Judging the amount, and content of the replies to this article… A raw nerve has been hit… I wager this bike lane issue will keep us all busy for years to come.
When its written to make it look like it was done on purpose? FYI – the 108 walked up and down Skillman & 43rd Ave. and found 3 thumbtacks in the bike lane at the same spot! Maybe a kid dropped them coming home from school?? Maybe they were planted?? Who knows, I dont have a car or a bike, I just don’t like politicians making up stories to get themselves press, a
nd don’t answer questions when asked! If I seen anyone deliberately sabotaging anything in OUR neighborhood, they better hope the 108 is around!
But the 108 is eons away from this scene. We need another police station or an annex
Why are the NYPD being tasked with cleaning this? With robberies on 7 train and recent shootings these highly trained and skilled folks might be more usefully deployed.
I feel like this is pretty much par for their training and skill level. Most cops ain’t the sharpest.
I love bike lanes. They make getting around the city on the old Harley so much easier. Should have put them in years ago.
What is a bike lane?
I hate to date myself but when I was a kid we learned how to coexist with cars & traffic. None of us were ever hit by a car, we respectfully learned the rules of the road.
Now my question is: what is the yearly maintenance cost projection to replace the worn out & damaged plastic traffic cones/posts?
Should they fall into disrepair are we (NYC) liable for negligent personal injury damages?
Did anyone think this through?
Hi Stephen,
Not sure how much you’re dating yourself, but I’ll bet when you were a kid there weren’t nearly as many cars on our streets. I’m also sure there weren’t nearly as many unnecessarily big and dangerous SUVs. As far as your claim no kids on bikes were ever hit by cars, well, I’d like to see some data on that. Recent data from the DOT (it’s all online if you’re interested) show that cycling continues to be more dangerous than it should be in NYC. For a whole bunch of reasons, from public health to environmental sustainability, we should be encouraging walking and cycling. Protected bike lanes are one important way to do that.
I don’t know exactly, but I believe part of the plan is to reduce traffic all together by making it more inconvenient and annoying to own a car and drive. That’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
I think the reasoning is that reducing traffic and automobile usage saves us all money over the long run by reducing pollution, which drives up medical woes and bills, and reducing gridlock, which is supposed to improve productivity and efficiency. Not to mention reducing the carbon footprint.
So for all the car owners who are very pissed off about the bikelanes, that was partly the intention–to annoy you into giving up the cars, if I’ve got it right.
Question for car owners: Is it working? Are you annoyed enough to consider giving up cars?
The Old Fart Guard speaks.
Since when are Cops doing work for the DOT?
Yes, I think the graffiti should be cleaned up quick, but I’m definitely questioning if this is a smart use of NYPD time (vs. looking into who actually committed the crime, or having the DOT do what should be their job).
One time I saw a cyclist run a stop sign!
ONE time?
Stop policing others.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!
That’s rich, Dorothy. Really gave me a good laugh.
bike lanes are good in the right places when designed properly. these lanes? no! build it and they will come? still waiting for the multitudes to start using these ill conceived bike lanes! but hey one good thing at least i know my Chinese & Mexican food will arrive on time! JVB for dog catcher!
Here’s a challenge for anyone who doubts the bike lanes are being used: Stand on or walk along Skillman, the “inbound” bike lane for 10-fifteen minutes between 6:30 and 8:00 a.m. Count how many bikes pass you in the lane.
Do the same on 43rd ave between, I dunno 5:00 and 7:00 and count.
Results may vary with weather, but these lanes are definitely in use. When I’ve done that, walking one way or the other in the nabe, I’ve come pretty close to 1 per minute. I’m guessing that will increase.
Totally agree. When I cycle to work I’m never alone on the lane. And when I walk to the green market on Saturdays I often see lots of cyclists. As the infrastructure improves, they’ll get even more use. Now if we could only get some Citibikes out here…
Ohgodno!
The Old Guard simply does not understand that things change! You are no longer the Majority in the neighborhood and as you folks like to say the majority rules. Times up!!!!
Who are the “Old Guard”? And what makes someone a hipster? Your reply is juvenile and nonsensical. Forever young.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’re not from New York. Probably moved here from somewhere in the Midwest and now you’re living the bright lights, big city life. No New Yorker would write such a ridiculous thing.
Your point, Hipster Boy?
You hipsters you’re all so zany and madcap. Today Sunnyside, tomorrow the world. Kooky kids these days are krazy.
If hipsters rule, I want to be part of it. Do you have to be born a hipster or is there a conversion process followed by an initiation ceremony? I’ve heard that there are competing hipster denominations. How can I ensure that my conversion is sanctioned by the governing hipster hierarchy?
Majority rules????
The Mayor overruled CB2 on the bike lanes and made the decision himself.
I think one of the Sunnyside Post employees must have done this because the bike lane stories are starting to dry up and every one of these is a comment-storm.
I’ve only been in the neighborhood a few years, but I have to say I find the bike lanes to be quite civilized. They’re a really great route for people on the West and Southside to access Windmuller Park. And it’s quite a lovely ride as the area has plentiful trees. I also think pushing automobile traffic farther from the al fresco dining spots on Skillman makes them more enjoyable.
It just feels more neighborhood-y.
The bike Lanes maybe but not the majority of the twits using them.
I feel the same about the roads and streets used by the drivers of motor vehicles: if we could get rid of the twits, things would be fine; there would be fewer people injured or killed, fewer speeders, and less air pollution.
I’m with you. I’m not anti bike or pro cars I’m anti twit.
I couldn’t agree more. So happy to have them.
What exactly is ‘neighborhood-y’ about people routinely breaking the law by going through red lights while people are trying to cross the street? Sounds like arrogance and entitlement to me
Oh wait…you meant bikes. Surely you feel the same way about cars? You’re not just feigning outrage right?
Agreed the redesign is profoundly amazing!! They’ve absolutely done a lot to unify the neighborhood (in a geographic sense at least). The neighborhood feels smaller and more walkable.
I cycle seasonally. I feel much safer in the bike lanes. My kids occasionally bike with me. I feel safer with them in the bike lanes.
I have issues with bad cyclists. I hate when people on bikes don’t obey traffic laws. My children and I have had plenty of near misses from idiots on bikes. This was before and after the bike lanes went in. The bike lanes have not made the situation any worse for me, cyclists not stopping at stop signs and red lights still happens.
I am greatly disappointed at the immaturity and stupidity of some Sunnyside residents. I am sorry for car owners who can no longer double and triple park in our old unprotected bike lanes but I feel my safety and my childrens safety is more important. I hope something can be done to crack down on the bad cyclists but I dont see how vulgar graffiti and or other vandalism helps this situation.
I feel my safety is more important, so when will transportation alternatives finally start educating the dbags that refuse to follow the rules of the road? They fight to get the lanes and then disappear…..We need cops on bikes to do a ticket blitz, that’s probably the only way their poor behavior will change
“They fight to get the lanes and then disappear…”
Not really. They just move from the non-profit world to jobs in the private sector, like Lyft & Bird. TA budget is only $4M+ with 30 employees.
“I’m just really sorry that your kids have to dodge bikes going through red lights in order to get to school on 43rd Ave” Van Jimmy Bramer. When bikers stop telling people to go F themselves when they get called out for almost mowing down people trying to cross the street and driving on the sidewalk, then we can talk about ‘speaking out in a respectful manner’.
As opposed to the poor innocent car drivers who never ever break traffic laws and hurt pedestrians
Born and raised in Brooklyn I recently moved to Sunnyside with my family as we have owned a business in the area and have been commuting for 10 years. I’m shocked and disturbed by the Sunnyside residents reaction to the bike lanes. There is no getting around it, there are too many people living here and we need to collectively stop driving cars and start walking and biking more. When we moved here I sold my car and got a bike with a babyseat on the back because of the great bike lanes. Yes bikers often break rules but pedestrians also step out into the lanes without even looking.. we all need to figure out how to coexist and as for the cars?! *uck the cars.
I hate how in order to have an opinion you need to start it with “born and raised in X” as if people born or raised elsewhere have no say in anything or you need to live in a neighborhood for a minimum of 15 years to be able to say anything at all.
I get it if you don’t want people moving in and changing the whole neighborhood but c’mon.
Like it or not there is a big difference between being a transplant and being a New Yorker. Doesn’t mean you don’t get a say.
For some reason I can’t reply directly to Bytheway’s comment.
I understand the difference between a transplant and a native New Yorker, there is definitely a difference. But how long do you have to live in a community before people allow you to have an opinion? 10 years? 20 years?
This isn’t directed specifically at you – I’ve seen plenty of people comment and mention that “you are not a true XXXX if you haven’t lived here for 30 years! Only true XXXX should be listened to!” And frankly that’s ridiculous. But to have someone move in for a year, make a ton of changes, then move out because they have no ties to the area is quite frankly ridiculous as well. Unfortunately NYC is becoming less and less like neighborhoods and more just a place you move to for a year because it was cheap enough.
Thanks, Patyb and welcome to Sunnyside! While I agree that the reaction has been shockingly disgusting it’s not indicative of “Sunnyside residents” as a whole by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just bluster by a small group of people who think their voice matters more than that of their neighbors because how loudly they speak. They are just bad neighbors.
Well said Patyb. We need to catch up with the rest of the world in regards to bikes. The advantages of a bike friendly city are too numerous to list. Has any one been to Ireland recently from Sunnyside? I imagine so. Dublin is filled with bike lanes which are heavily utilised by people of all ages and has reduced traffic, noise pollution, and air pollution by up to 28% in three years. Give up on hating the bikes lanes and move into the 21st. century.
Thanks for the comment, Patyb. You’re absolutely correct on the need to get more people walking and biking. Welcome the the neighborhood and rest assured the loud voices on this message board and fb are not representative of the neighborhood as a whole.
Many different kinds of people are upset with these ill conceived lanes: business owners, car owners, pedestrians, each having their own issues with this bad idea. Pre-bike lane, a company bought a bldg on Skillman/40th street, now due to this reconfiguration their trucks cannot use it. Up for sale for months now.
And post-bike lanes Turkiyem Market is expanding, Alcove owners are starting a new place on Skillman, a brewery is coming in, looks like the new PJ Horgans is putting in outdoor seating, etc. Lots of factors affect how a business does, but certainly seems like we’ve got some thriving businesses despite (or because of?) the new lanes.
Defacing public property is offensive to all of us and must not be tolerated, but is this a good use of municipal resources? Two police officers with an estimated personnel cost (conservative) of $100,000 per year, being detailed to paint the street?! The community is told repeatedly that the 108 Pct does not have sufficient staff for numerous activities, like covering intersections used by school children traveling to/from school. Why wasn’t a DOT employee dispatched to take care of this? I have a list of other public places with offensive graffiti to which the 108 will send, hopefully posthaste, the police paint squad.
It took almost 2 hours for police to come to the site of a car accident. Thankfully no one was hurt-only a collapsed tire. But, 2 hours? I hope some of the potential responders weren’t out painting over graffiti.
Is that JVB’s hand writing?
The paid graffati artist was originally sent out to write vote Jimmy Van Bramer for Queensboro president but he was also two-faced.
Incels hate bike lanes
As of midnight, no apologies on the Queens Streets for All website or social media accounts for the actions of their rabid supporters.
Indeed they insensitively continued posting anti-bike lane messages including days old debunked pictures of an illegal 53′ long haul truck that swiped a car illegally parked in the crosswalk. They are now in the unenviable position of promoting street designs that allow for the operation of vehicles illegal to operate in NYC because of well documented destruction of life and property.
No one at the wheel over at the Queens Streets HQ. They are completely out of control!
As of midnight, the perp has not been found. So how do you know who is responsible for this, or if they’re in anyway connected with Queens Streets for All?
It’s 99% a Queens Streets supporter. I’d take those odds any day of the week.
The organizers don’t need to do this, that’s why they have rallies and “Small Town Confidential.” I wouldn’t bet it was one of them personally, no way. Someone who knows them? Possibly. If I were the 108th I’d question the Queens Streets organizers. Absolutely bring them in! They should know better than to do what they are doing and think it won’t lead to violence and criminality.
The last time one of their supporters crossed the line, they quickly posted a weak denunciation and claimed they’d continue to fight. Tone deaf, not nearly enough (they should have stopped posting completely), but to their credit they mostly stopped posting for about a month and the violence stopped.
The difference this time is that they have not acknowledged the event at all, and continued to post anti bikelane messages the same night.
Their depravity is only growing over time as they continue to spew batty conspiracy theories, post debunked narratives, and continue trying to enrage their supporters. Violence from their supporters seems set to continue.
Gardens watcher is actually gullible enough to believe this ?
Graffiti is not violence. Hyperventilating under different screen names is pathetic, but guess you gotta earn a living somehow. Sad.
I love the bike lanes- they definitely help with safety. Bike riders are citizens too!
So are pedestrians.
Do you not know what a citizen is? This is a sanctuary City and undocumented people are allowed here. NON citizens!
Wait…how did sanctuary cities cause bike lanes? Lmao!
It’s not that. She saying that bike riders are citizens. She doesn’t know what a citizen is. Many people in this city/country are not US citizens.
They did what we are all thinking.
They did what car owners who are angry about losing some of their privilege on were thinking.
Where I do NOT approve of vandalism or vulgarity I while-heartedly agree with the sentiment. We were not consulted concerning the bike lanes on 43rd Ave and Skillman Ave and yet there they are. The “redesign” of both avenues was poorly thought out and once JVB and Katz are gone perhaps this mess can be cleaned up.
“Expose the tactics….”
perhaps we should expose the truth behind the reckless nature exhibited by people biking through our neighborhood? Maybe the person that did this had enough of almost getting mowed down by miscreants on 2 wheels on a daily basis
Few bikers are obeying the rules of the road, creating dangerous streets for the rest of us. You got your space, now use it respectfully and responsibly.
Have you ever jaywalked or driven faster than the speed limit? I hope not…otherwise you’d be a giant hypocrite!
Jaywalking is in fact legal. It’s just your fault if you misjudge and get hit.
Title 34, Section 4-04, Subsection (b) of the New York City Administrative Code:
(1) No pedestrian shall enter or cross a roadway at any point where signs, fences, barriers, or other devices are erected to prohibit or restrict such crossing or entry.
(2) No pedestrian shall cross any roadway at an intersection except within a cross- walk.
How embarrassing. You should try this website called Google, you can look up lots of stuff there.
So…have you ever jaywalked or driven faster than the speed limit? I wonder why you had no answer at all 🙂
I hope not…otherwise you’d be a giant hypocrite!
The guy ranting at everyone else about the law thinks jaywalking is legal. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That’s only if there’s sighs saying no jaywalking!
Again with the laws you don’t know?
“Additionally, some merchants along the avenues argue that their business has taken a hit.”
a vague statement without attribution.
which one(s)?
“bike lanes have led to greater safety” yet there are cyclists who disobey traffic lights when pedestrians have the right-of-way. What about their safety? There were countless times I’ve almost gotten hit by a cyclist while crossing the street when it was MY LIGHT. Fix that and then have your bike lanes.
And all of you downvoters are guilty.
Apparently, there are an awful lot of narrow-minded idiots on this comment thread. The bike lanes are NECESSARY. Too many automotive drivers think they own the road and they endanger pedestrians and cyclists alike. Assholes.
Your language indicates that you might be the culprit.
I would lump in the 90% of bikers that run red lights as Major Assholes.
That hurts your feelings too, right? Surely you’re not just arguing in bad faith for the side you benefit from?
Queens Streets for All is a defunct group. Why do they continue to exist? They opposed the implementation, but the implementation happened. So what is the point of continuing to whinge exactly? I hold them responsible for this continued lunacy. Enough, already.
This was a stupid, offensive street graffiti done by one person. But why are two police officers the ones doing the painting, on a Saturday no less?
Do the officers painting the bike lanes do windows too?
I agree with the person who wrote that message on behalf of all Sunnysideers !!! If we wanted something to happen immediately, it would not have. But the undercover overnight operations (with everyone’s hand in the cookie jar) created these unnecessary bike lanes between the curb and the park vehicles overnight! Thank you for all those involved for creating deadly and dangerous Conditions for families trying to take their kids to the park.
Using both your eyes to cross the street must be too hard for you.
Who takes their kids to the park at midnight???
Yes, separating bikes from cars, making streets safer to cross by shortening crossing distance with pedestrian islands, and causing cars to slow down has created “deadly and dangerous conditions.”
In other news, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, and we’ve ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia.
Kids are watching worst shit online/social media/in school on their phones and in the bathrooms with their friends. Probably writing worst shit too. Bike lane profanity should be the least of anyone’s worries. You should be more concerned about what’s happening across the street.
“We don’t want something like this to happen. I guess whoever did this was upset at the bike lanes, but that’s not the way to do it,” Gomez said. He said that Queens Streets for All agrees with the statement but was set up so people could speak out in a respectful manner.
Outraged…hahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahah
He’s sorry the children had to see it? Has he heard the way parents speak in front of their children? On the other mano, it’s just a word. I doubt it will have any affect on any kid.
“I’m really sorry your kids would be forced to see this. We will get it cleaned up ASAP,”
My kids have to see homeless people defecating, shooting up and hooker trannies on Roosevelt avenue. How fast are you going to clean that up?!?!
Such a true statement has never been written
Vulgar or truth???
And honking
“We don’t want something like this to happen. I guess whoever did this was upset at the bike lanes, but that’s not the way to do it,” Gomez said. He said that Queens Streets for All was set up so people could speak out in a respectful manner.
Cue the disrespectful comments below…
At this point you have to ask the simple question: if there were no Queens Streets for All rallies or online presence would this happen?
If the answer is no, then we should all unite to run Queens Streets our of our neighborhood. There is no place for a group promoting violence. Period.
Glad your last paragraph mentions thumb tacks. Exactly how many thumbtacks were found? Waiting on your answer Shane O”Brien. Maybe JVB or someone from the 108;can answer that.
What’s the number at which it becomes too many?
They probably fell out of the garbage. I see nails, screws and tacks on the sidewalk frequently, especially after the trash is picked up. That is why someone is asking how many. 2 or 3 is nothing, 20 in one spot, that’s a different story
Well, the guy who first reported it said he pulled 3 out of his tires, which doesn’t happen unless there are A LOT more than 3 in the road. He also said he found a lot more strewn about on a 4-block stretch and picked up all the ones he saw, which certainly sounds like more than 2-3 to me. Does the exact number matter?
Well, Well, Well, Well, Well, if you look what we have here a good old fashioned vandalism. No one, whos a true sunnysider, born and raised ever asked for these bike lanes. I could hear the crying hipsters now of sunnyside, there good for the environment, blah blah blah. Well you know whats good too walking. So if you want to ride on the street, do so with the motor vehicles.
I can’t wait to see more signs like these spread all around these useless bike lanes.
Maybe you’d prefer border crossings to keep the hipsters out. Tear up the bike lanes and put up a wall!
Whether you think so or not, protected bike lanes actually encourage walking and make the whole neighborhood safer for pedestrians.
Take for example this post –
https://peopleforbikes.org/blog/it-turns-out-that-protected-bike-lanes-are-fantastic-for-walking-safety-too/
Or this one from the super anti-elderly safety organization AARP –
https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/getting-around/info-2016/why-bicycling-infrastructure-is-good-for-people-who-dont-ride-bikes.html
And then consider that more biking and walking results in more money for local businesses –
https://www.treehugger.com/urban-design/study-shows-people-who-walk-and-bike-main-streets-spend-40-percent-more-people-who-drive.html
How exactly do bikers going through lights all day with peds in the crosswalk make the neighborhood safer?
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that everything was completely ignored for anecdotal evidence that bike riders are terrible.
Improving infrastructure for bikes means that fewer people will be on sidewalks and breaking rules – when they added a protected lane in Prospect Park the number of bikes riding on the sidewalk fell from 46% to 3% (you can find and ignore the details here – http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/20110120_ppw.pdf). The other thing to consider is that most (but certainly not all) cyclists go through red lights because it’s safer than sitting at the light at an unprotected section and having a car hit you, which happens. This threat goes away with a protected bike lane so the numbers will reduce but I’d also like to point out that most of the time the cyclist stops at the light, checks both ways and then continues, similar to jaywalking. I’m sure you’ll counter that the other day someone on their bike blazed through the light and that happens and they are idiots (just like many idiots run red lights in their cars but that is for some reason forgiven). But the majority do not do this and instead check first before continuing because, you know, they can die if they don’t.
Unless you’re a direct descendent of the Lanape or Canarsie tribes, your claim of being a “true Sunnysider” is meaningless. It holds as much weight as somebody in Kansas saying New Yorkers aren’t “real Americans.”
Your vote matters no more than any other resident. And you’re also part of a much larger city that has to consider things larger than any particular neighborhood. But it’s interesting that you apparently condone graffiti in your neighborhood.
Please wait to comment until my popcorn is done popping.
Lol Those bike lanes ?
What did people complain about before there were bike lanes? THOSE were the days!
They complained about Dog runs.