Drawing lines ahead of the new Avenue C bike lanes

From this past week... workers from the Department of Transportation started marking Avenue C for the new bike lanes. 

Dave on 7th shared the top photo from between Ninth Street and 10th Street. He notes that on this stretch, there are also new "No Standing" signs installed. 

The new bike lanes will eliminate some free, non-metered street parking, which was the focus of a story this morning on NY1. Local Uber driver Myen Uddin told the station that he is concerned about being able to find a place to park.

"I already earn so less," Uddin said. "How can I afford a garage? $400 a month. No one can afford that!"

And...

... with outdoor dining structures and Citi Bike stations already replacing what used to be non-metered parking spaces near Avenue C and East 9th Streets, concerned residents like Uddin believe if the free parking spaces go away, he'll soon have to move outside the city.

"It's too much challenge for me for me right now," said Uddin. "I gotta leave the city. Go somewhere else."

NY1 also spoke with a local resident, Thomas Grenier, who welcomed the changes.

"The city is historically centered and organized around cars, so anything that will make the city more friendly to renewable energy and bicyclists is a good thing," Grenier said.

Meanwhile, other markings along the avenue show the buffer zones that will protect cyclists from cars and trucks.

As previously reported, DOT flyers along Avenue C provide details of the coming changes...

Improvements along C include: 

• Curbside bike lanes between Houston and Fourth Street 

• Parking-protected, bollard-protected and curbside bike lanes between Fourth Street and 18th Street 

• Updated parking regulations to provide truck loading zones 

• Neighborhood loading zones on select side streets 

• Painted pedestrian islands between 11th Street and 15th Street 

• New left-turn bays at 10th Street and 14th Street 

You can find many more details in the presentation that DOT officials made to CB3 back in April. (PDF here)

As reported last fall, the DOT is adding the protected north/south bike lanes on Avenue C and East Houston Street to help offset the upcoming closure of the East River Park greenway.

Bike-lane upgrade underway on Houston

Work continues along East Houston Street as the DOT is upgrading the existing bike lanes on Houston Street between Second Avenue and the FDR...

Workers last week milled the eastbound lanes of Houston between Second Avenue and Avenue A. The crew will continue on toward the FDR starting this evening, per the posted warnings...

Here's what is happening with the improvements in the days/weeks ahead: 

• Resurfacing of Houston between Second Avenue and the FDR
• Installing parking protected bike lanes on Houston between Forsyth and the FDR 
• Installing delineator-protected and curbside bike lanes on Houston between Second Avenue and Forsyth .. and between Ludlow and Essex
• Creating painted pedestrian islands along Houston between Ludlow and Avenue C 
• Installing new bicycle parking on Houston at Orchard and Avenue D 

Plans for protected bike lanes along this corridor date to the fall of 2020 ... and put into place to provide cyclists a safer passage on city streets with the closure of the East River Park Greenway until 2026. 

This Houston Street work comes four months after the $1.45-billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project shut down bike access along the East River starting at Montgomery Street. 

The city installed new bike lanes for Avenue C late last summer.

Here come the (unprotected?) East Houston bike lanes

Via a tweet by @felixsalmon this morning ... we see that the long-discussed East Houston Street bike lanes are on the way...

The $60 million Houston Street Corridor Reconstruction started in the fall of 2010, and is to include wider medians, bigger sidewalks, fewer traffic lanes and bike lanes... (Earlier this year, DNAinfo reported that the construction would now last through spring 2014...)

Back in 2009, Streetsblog pointed out that "instead of installing a physically protected path for cyclists, the city plans to paint a buffered, Class 2 lane" on East Houston...

From that Streetsblog article:

Currently, 70 percent of drivers on East Houston Street speed, according to studies conducted by Transportation Alternatives. "It's hard to imagine that paint will offer the kind of protection mainstream New Yorkers will need to feel safe biking on this crucial, yet dangerous corridor," said TA's Wiley Norvell. "The city has innovative physically-protected designs on hand, and to not use them on Houston would be a huge missed opportunity."

Based on the top photo, it appears that the bike lanes won't be protected...

This is the official word on the project via the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center:

To improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists along East Houston Street, DDC will be installing a number of traffic-calming measures. One significant measure is the neck-down. A neck-down is an extension of the curb that shortens the crosswalk distance while at the same time requiring motorists to reduce their speed to turn onto a sidestreet. In addition to the neck-downs, medians will be extended into the crosswalk creating a visible traffic-calming measure and safe refuge area for pedestrians. Other improvements include:

• Dedicated Bicycle Lanes and Bike Racks: The lanes will create a safer environment for bicyclists by calming traffic; while the bike racks will encourage bicycle use by providing users a safe storage option.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

Report: Mayor unleashes the 'Green Wave Bicycle Plan' to address increase in cycling fatalities, make streets safer

To address the rising death toll of cyclists on city streets this year (17 so far vs. 10 all of last year), Mayor de Blasio yesterday released details on a five-year, $58.4 million plan that aims to combine design, enforcement, legislation, policy and education to make the city safer for all street users.

Here's Gothamist with the key details:

Dubbed the "Green Wave Bicycle Plan," the 24-page blueprint calls for the addition of 30 miles of new protected bike lanes each year, up from the current rate of about 20. The Department of Transportation will also begin implementing traffic calming treatments at 50 of the city's most dangerous intersections, while the NYPD's three-week campaign targeting dangerous drivers will be extended indefinitely.

Vision Zero never started with the idea that we'd save only a few lives — it's about saving EVERY life. And a citywide network of protected bike lanes will bring us closer to that goal. pic.twitter.com/UtLuYE99RK

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 25, 2019

The plan includes expanded NYPD enforcement:

• Under the plan, the NYPD will ramp up enforcement at the 100 most crash-prone intersections and target enforcement on highest risk activities: speeding, failing to yield, blocking bike lanes, oversized trucks/trucks off route.
• Maintain continuous citywide implementation of “Operation Bicycle Safe Passage” initiative – extending elevated enforcement of blocked bike lanes and hazardous driving violations. Since implementation of Operation Bicycle Safe Passage, NYPD has doubled enforcement of cars parked in bicycle lanes and issued more than 8,600 summons in the first three weeks of July.
• Specialized units and precincts will increase enforcement against oversized and off-route trucks.
• The NYPD also announced that supervisors would respond to collision sites to determine if the right-of-way laws should be applied — and that it would also discontinue its practice of ticketing cyclists at the site of fatal cyclist crashes.
• NYPD supports new and emerging technology for automated enforcement.

The plan doesn't mention if they'll be an educational component to curb the NYPD's tradition of blaming the victim for his or her own death on the streets, as we saw in the case of Kelly Hurley on First Avenue at Ninth Street in 2017. A detective came to the conclusion that she didn't stop in time and "slipped" under a truck — a truck failing to yield and making an illegal left turn across four lanes of traffic.

You can find plenty more reaction and analysis of "Green Wave" over at Streetsblog — here and here, for starters.

Reader report: Ticketed by the NYPD for double parking in bike lane during Alternate Side Parking

The city is apparently serious about issuing tickets to cars and drivers parking or stopping in bike lanes — at least temporarily.

Yesterday, an EVG reader who lives on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B told me that she received a $110 ticket for double parking in the newly created bike lane while waiting for the street sweeper during Alternate Side Parking.

She explained that the established practice on the block for at least the past seven years is that you double park, often even leaving your car unattended for a short period of time, and wait for the street sweeper to pass ... then you move your vehicle into a freshly swept space. It's the usual game of musical vehicles that takes place citywide on alt-parking days.

Yesterday, every car that was double parked on the block received a $110 ticket — for "double parking in a bike lane." (The ticket would have been far less expensive — $65 — had the drivers simply not moved their cars for Alternate Side Parking.) According to the resident, this was the first time — at least the past seven years — that the city ticketed drivers for such an offense during street cleaning.

The bike lane is new along here, however. In late June, the city added pavement markings and signage on Third Street between Avenue D and Second Avenue.

In response to increased road fatalities this year (an 18.3-percent increase over 2018) and including 15 cyclists, Mayor de Blasio in early July ordered the NYPD and DOT to crackdown on drivers and cars parked in bike lanes.

As Curbed noted, "The heightened enforcement seeks to target violations including speeding, running lights, not yielding to bikers and pedestrians, obstructing bike lanes, and double parking from July 1–21." (Of course, the NYPD is often the worst offenders of parking in bike lanes.)

In any event, cycling activists weren't impressed by the mayor's directive earlier this month. As Jon Orcutt of Bike NY told Streetsblog on July 2. "Treating it like a momentary aberration won’t protect cyclists in August or thereafter."

As for the resident, she wishes at the very least that the 9th Precinct would have given residents a heads up about the ticketing blitz, which will likely cease after July 21.

Your chance to hear about the proposed bike lane for Avenue B

[Photo by Sam Bleiberg]

Updated 6/20: Community Board 3's Transportation, Public Safety, & Environment Committee unanimously voted in favor of asking the DOT to report back on the feasibility of bike lanes on Avenue B.

--

As we first reported on April 15, a movement is underway to secure bike lanes on Avenue B, an increasingly congested 14-block corridor currently without any marked paths for cyclists such as on Avenue A and Avenue C.

You can hear more about the proposal tonight during a presentation before Community Board 3's Transportation, Public Safety, & Environment Committee. The meeting starts at 6:30 at the University Settlement, Houston Street Center, 273 Bowery.

Avenue B bike-lane organizers are hopeful that the CB3 committee will recommend further study by the DOT.

Per organizers:

We need your support at this meeting to send the message that our community needs to prioritize street safety, bike lanes and green infrastructure over space for cars! The East River Greenway will be closing for three years next Spring, and our community needs a protected space for bike riding in the Lower East Side!

Some background: The idea came about via parents who bike their children to area schools — including the East Village Community School, the Children's Workshop School, Tompkins Square Middle School, the Earth School and East Side Community High School.

You can read more via a petition at this link.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Making the case for 2-way bike lanes on Avenue B

Parents, students ride together in bid for 2-way protected bike lane on Avenue B

Reader report: No motor vehicles in the bike lane

EVG reader Garrett Rosso shared this photo yesterday from First Avenue near 13th Street, where someone mounted a "No Motor Vehicles" sign facing this northbound bike lane.

Per Garrett: "Citizenry resort to posting their own signs since electeds leave transportation alternatives largely lawless & unregulated." 

We spotted another sign on First Avenue just past First Street. There are likely more. (Let us know if you spot any elsewhere.) 

There is confusion between legal e-bikes (electrified devices with pedals) and mopeds, many of which are illegal and need to be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles and issued license plates. 

The NYPD also doesn't seem to know the difference, seemingly demonizing, as Streetsblog put it, all electric, two-wheeled devices (save for Citi Bikes). The NYPD later started cracking down on illegal sales before the actual sale.

Streetsblog put out a handy field guide last year (which you can find here). 

As they put it:

"Certainly, New Yorkers are confused about all the new motorized devices that are filling our roadways (and, infuriatingly, our bike lanes), which have become a Wild West of chaotic interactions."

And...

All the two-wheeled motorized devices on the market today are potentially far safer to vulnerable road users than the four-wheeled, 3,000- to 5,000-pound conveyances they seek to supplant. But it doesn't feel that way right now because users of illegal mopeds are often speeding through bike lanes, surprising pedestrians with their speed. Of course moped riders are choosing the bike lane — it’s the only place where they feel safe from the true behemoth on the roads: cars and trucks.

E-scooters — defined by the city as having handlebars and a floorboard or seat, and powered by electric and/or a person — are allowed in NYC. 

Per the Department of Transporation:

• You must not operate an e-scooter in excess of 15 MPH. 

• E-scooters may be ridden in bike lanes and on streets with speed limits no greater than 30 MPH. 

• Do not ride e-scooters on sidewalks.

Back to the signage... yes — the mopeds and various motorcycles need to get out of the bike lanes.

The 8 types of cyclists you'll encounter on East Village streets

At several junctures during the summer, we've had posts updating the developments on the new First Avenue and Second Avenue bike lanes... and each post prompted a spirited debate in the comments: Pedestrians vs. cyclists. Cyclists vs. cyclists. Everybody vs. cyclists. Seemingly.

(You can find some of those posts here ... and here. And here.)


In many cases, all cyclists were dumped into one large "all cyclists are bad" category. While I like nothing more than grotesque stereotypes (woo!), it just seemed too easy to have people list problems that they've had with individual cyclists, which in turn made it seem as if anyone on a bike was a law-breaking cycling commando out for blood.



So! I enlisted the help of someone who knows more about cycling than I do — The Cycling Friend of EV Grieve (CFOEVG), who helped create and write these eight categories. However, CFOEVG is not totally confident that this list is a wholly accurate depiction of cyclists on the streets. So our intention is to illustrate that there is more to the NYC cycling community other than just 100 percent "rogue bikers."

Feel free to add your own categories. Plus, it's probably fair to, at some point, categorize the different types of pedestrians, motorists and bloggers too...

So now, to the list:

• Professionals — Those who work for a business outfit or courier firm. As CFOEVG says, they are "ironically, dangerous riders."

• Restaurant Delivery Workers — Often cooks or dishwashers who are put on a bike. Not to be confused with "all bikers." Some of the worst offenders for sidewalk riding.

• Pro/Amateur Racers — Usually on their way to a race, a park or New Jersey. Members of this group have a tendency to avoid bike lanes because they can't go fast enough in them.

• Triathletes — Typical greenway-variety, some of the most hated riders since they ride so poorly and can be so rude, says CFOEVG. Generally not a problem on surface streets.

• Weekend Warriors — Usually too slow to be of harm, but can end up on sidewalks. Occasionally a problem, but not to be confused with your average cyclists.

• Responsible commuters — Group members here are aware that cyclists are being watched, so they won't block crosswalks or ride on sidewalks. Increasingly, the majority of people you see riding.

• Irresponsible commuters — "Too good/too cool" for bike lanes who like to say that bike lanes are for wusses, but are actually more dangerous to pedestrians.

• Tourists — Uh-oh! Run! Tourists ride the wrong way in the park, too fast on the sidewalk. Just bad all around. Especially when the tourists are riding and unfolding a map at the same time.

P.S. As a bonus for making it this far... From 1986, the "Cocktail" of bike messenger movies...

The Second Avenue bike lanes: What do we think so far?

Well, the bike lanes have been up now for long enough on Second Avenue, complete with a line of parking that's meant to add protection to the cyclists ... for me to hear some grumbling... Not really any kind of cyclist vs. pedestrian thing... but more of a safety issue. Trucks and cabs abruptly pulling over into the bike lane... pedestrians standing or walking into the bike lane... oh surely there are other offenses... soon enough, the First Avenue lanes will be a go (not to mention the dedicated bus lanes for the M15 on First Avenue and Second Avenue)...



So what do you think so far?




The makeover includes a line of parking that's meant to add protection to the cyclists...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Green day: Second Avenue getting its bike lanes

A flyer about protected bike lanes on 12th Street and 13th Street ahead of the L-train shutdown

[Click to go big]

An EVG reader who lives on 12th Street shared the above flyer... found slipped inside the front door of her building yesterday.

The flyer provides information about protected bike lanes that will be implemented starting this month on 12th Street and 13th Street (as well as Horatio Street and Greenwich Avenue) ahead of the April 2019 L-train shutdown.

Back in June, the DOT made public its bike-lane plans... scrapping its original idea for a single, two-way bike lane on 13th Street in favor of two separate, one-way lanes for 12th and 13th streets.

The flyer provides the first details on the timing of the work — starting with this month. The city will install bike lanes on the north curb of 12th Street from Seventh Avenue to Avenue C, and the south curb of 13th Street from Greenwich Avenue to Avenue B separated from traffic with a painted buffer and flexible delineators.

The DOT shared this info in a tweet on Tuesday as well...

In preparation for the April 2019 L tunnel reconstruction DOT will implement safety improvements on 12th St, 13th St, Horatio St, Greenwich Ave from Ave C to Hudson St in Manhattan:
🚲Install protected #bikenyc lanes
🚶Increase safety
🚗Organize & calm traffic
🚶Shorten crossings pic.twitter.com/LFU1oa5v1I

— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) September 18, 2018

The DOT also gave equal time to the 14th Street bus plan ...

This month DOT & @MTA will begin bus & road safety improvements on 14th St from 1st Ave to 9th Ave in Manhattan, in preparation for the L tunnel reconstruction:
🚗Maintains local access
🚌 Improve bus reliability
🚚Improve curb access for deliveries
🚶Improve pedestrian safety pic.twitter.com/Jfh7fSd7eo

— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) September 18, 2018

Ahead of this work on 14th Street ... EVG regular Pinch noted the other day that the city removed the flexible stanchions that helped divide 14th Street at First Avenue...



... now...



You can find the city's full transporation plan during the L-train closure at this link.

Summer Fridays rehash: The Second Avenue bike lanes — What do we think so far?

Hey, we're digging into the EVG archives for these next few summer Fridays... We first posted this one on July 1, 2010...

------------

Well, the bike lanes have been up now for long enough on Second Avenue, complete with a line of parking that's meant to add protection to the cyclists ... for me to hear some grumbling... Not really any kind of cyclist vs. pedestrian thing... but more of a safety issue. Trucks and cabs abruptly pulling over into the bike lane... pedestrians standing or walking into the bike lane... oh surely there are other offenses... soon enough, the First Avenue lanes will be a go (not to mention the dedicated bus lanes for the M15 on First Avenue and Second Avenue)...


So what do you think so far?



The makeover includes a line of parking that's meant to add protection to the cyclists...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Green day: Second Avenue getting its bike lanes

A rally this morning to keep the busway and bike lanes added for the L-train shutdown

[Photo from January by Steven]

This morning at 10, Transportation Alternatives is hosting a "Stay, Bus & Bikeway!" rally on 14th Street at First Avenue.

Here are details, via the Facebook invite:

The L Train bus and bike lanes are halfway done. Join Transportation Alternatives and commuters everywhere to demand that the NYC Mayor commit to the best versions of Manhattan's 14th Street and North Brooklyn's Grand Street

Rally for L Train Bus and Bike Lanes
Feb 6th @ 10 a.m.

The transit advocacy group has said it would be a mistake for the city to reverse course on the 14th Street bus lane additions and the 12th Street and 13th Street bike lanes now that L service between Manhattan and Brooklyn will only be shut down on nights and weekends. You can read more at this Streetsblog post from Jan. 28.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: The L-train's weekend repair plans would mean exit-only stations on 1st and 3rd avenues

L-train non-shutdown fallout: Bike lane battle shaping up along 12th and 13th streets

Bike lane extravaganza

First!
A reminder that tonight is the bike lane/pedestrian island, etc. protest on 14th Street at First Avenue...



We all had a few things to say about this here. (147 comments!)

Second!

Last Friday, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer held a press conference on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place to reveal results of an “unprecedented survey of bike lane safety.”

Stringer and company compiled during data during morning and evening rush hours between Oct. 5 and Oct. 7 And he found down here:

• Dooring (car doors opening as a cyclist approaches) – 19 infractions at St. Marks Place & Second Avenue; 77 total infractions

The Lo-Down was at the news conference and has a full report here.

Columnist Michael Goodwin didn't think much of Stringer's plan at the Post:

Cycle of stupidity

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer sent his staff out to stare at dopey bike lanes popping up all over town. They saw all kinds of what he called safety violations, ranging from taxis and pedestrians using the lanes to cyclists going the wrong way and running red lights.

His answer: a bigger bureaucracy and higher costs. Stringer wants better signs, a public-awareness campaign and strict enforcement by cops.

No thanks. The NYPD is cutting back on anti-terror teams because it doesn't have the cash. Further diluting the force by having cops patrol bike lanes makes about as much sense as the lanes themselves, which is zero.

Third!

How about using these experimental bike lane spotters like the one here on Fifth Street and First Avenue to crack down on law-breaking cyclists, motorists, pedestrians, skateboarders and Rite Aid shoppers...





Fourth!

There are signs up now offering some directions...




Lastly!

When are we getting lanes for unicyclists! These guys are psychos!

New bike lanes next for freshly paved Avenue C

The city repaved Avenue C from Houston to 18th Street in mid-July (maybe your car was towed during the milling/paving process?). 

All this was done ahead of improvements along the avenue for pedestrians and cyclists. 

DOT flyers are up now along Avenue C with details of the coming changes...

Improvements along C include: 

• Curbside bike lanes between Houston and Fourth Street 

• Parking-protected, bollard-protected and curbside bike lanes between Fourth Street and 18th Street 

• Updated parking regulations to provide truck loading zones 

• Neighborhood loading zones on select side streets 

• Painted pedestrian islands between 11th Street and 15th Street 

• New left-turn bays at 10th Street and 14th Street 

You can find many more details in the presentation that DOT officials made to CB3 back in April. (PDF here)

As reported last fall, the DOT is adding the protected north/south bike lanes on Avenue C and East Houston Street to help offset the closure of the East River Park greenway once construction starts someday.

Green paint arrives on the new 12th Street bike lane

On Wednesday, crews painted the new eastbound bike lane on 12th Street... I spotted them between Second Avenue and Avenue A ...







The bike lane for 13th Street arrived at the beginning of the month.

Meanwhile...

Time elapsed between painting the new 12th street bike lanes and people parking in them 1.0234seconds. #bikenyc @bikeblognyc @evgrieve #eastvillageParking #workingclass @bikesnobnyc pic.twitter.com/38ezAPTQFX

— Christopher J Ryan (@ChrisRyanAction) November 21, 2018

As previously reported, the city put in a bike lane on the north curb of 12th Street from Seventh Avenue to Avenue C, and the south curb of 13th Street from Greenwich Avenue to Avenue B separated from traffic with a painted buffer ahead of the April L-train closure.

The bike lanes are just one of the ways the city hopes to keep people/commuters moving during the 15 (or so) months that the Canarsie Tunnel under the East River gets repaired.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Prepping for the new protected bike lanes on 12th and 13th streets

Bike lane line work continues on 12th Street

DOT puts down the green paint on the new 13th Street bike lane (except for one mysterious spot)

Councilmember Rivera introducing new bill to protect bike lanes in construction zones

[EVG photo from June at 75 1st Ave.]

In other bike-related news... District 2 City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, along with advocates and neighborhood residents, is announcing the introduction of a new bill this morning that will require holders of DOT permits that authorize construction or equipment on the street to preserve any impacted bike lanes with a safe and sufficient detour.

Per Rivera's office:

This includes any specifically marked bicycle lane, whether it has painted, separated and protected, or a bike path. Any detour bike lane would have to feature protective barriers and be three-quarters the size of the original lane, unless that would make the detour lane less than 4 feet wide. The bill would also require DOT to notify community boards as well as post on their website when any permitted construction impacts a bike lane.

Councilwoman Rivera is pursuing this legislation after hearing about construction projects in her district and elsewhere where bicyclists were being forced out of protected bike lanes and directly into car traffic with little notice right for riders or drivers.

Rivera recently spoke with Streetsblog about this proposed legislation:

You said a specific location in your district spurred you to introduce this bill.

It’s on First Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets, right on the west side where the bike lane is. There was construction there, and there was no detour. As someone who cycles up First Avenue all the time, I can tell you that as soon as you got to that street, it just said, “Bike lane closed.” So you have to go and venture into the traffic, and you know that First avenue is incredibly busy, not just with [cars], but with the SBS, the M15.

There was no sign. There were no protective barriers. This was something people contacted our office about repeatedly, so we know that we really had to legislate this in order to protect cyclists everywhere.

Making the case for 2-way bike lanes on Avenue B

A movement is underway to secure two-way bike lanes on Avenue B, an increasingly congested 14-block corridor currently without any marked paths for cyclists such as on Avenue A and Avenue C.

The awareness campaign commenced along the Avenue this past Friday...

Big day today! We’re kicking off our campaign for a protected #bikeNYC lane on Avenue B! Can’t wait to make this street safer for all the schools and commuters in the East Village! @TransAlt pic.twitter.com/5RiyA4XQLD

— Sam Bleiberg (@SamBleiberg) April 12, 2019

The idea came about via parents who bike their children to area schools — including the East Village Community School, the Children's Workshop School, Tompkins Square Middle School, the Earth School and East Side Community High School.

After presenting the idea to, and receiving support from, the East Village Community School Parent Association, East Village resident and parent Choresh Wald approached Transportation Alternatives, who has endorsed the proposal and is helping spread the word via #BikeAveB on social media.

East Village knows that #bikeNYC is here, and lanes are coming! 🌸 #BikeAveB kickoff this morning was a huge success. Thanks @TransAlt volunteers @TA_Ambassadors for promoting our May 20th #bikemonth ride-to-school ✏️ 👨🏾‍🏫🚲 on Ave B! Sign the petition: https://t.co/QDwhiv6G2X pic.twitter.com/7Uvdi3Wwub

— Chelsea Skye (@pekochel) April 12, 2019

There's now a petition in circulation, which you can find here.

Per the petition, which is signed by Wald:

A historical source of Alphabet City's fight for tenants rights and neighborhood empowerment, Avenue B today is a vibrant 14-block stretch in the East Village that is lined with schools, cultural institutions and community gardens. Tompkins Square Park, the adjacent libraries and burgeoning night life combine to make Avenue B an increasingly busy corridor for people on foot and on two wheels.

Despite being a narrow avenue, Avenue B allows two-way travel for cars, but has no dedicated lanes for anybody who wants to ride a bicycle. Yet parents and neighbors alike are already choosing to ride down this unsafe corridor.

To make the problem worse, trucks and commercial vehicles have no curbside loading zones. Every day we see them double-parking in order to make deliveries to the dozens of small businesses along Avenue B.


[EVG photo]

We need a safe, two-way protected bike lane on Avenue B, complete with pedestrian safety improvements!

The closure of the East River bike path as part of the upcoming East River Coastal Resiliency plan adds real urgency to the situation. The loss of the East River Greenway park facilities for several years will increase demand to transform Avenue B into a street that can be safer for all users.

By local law, our youngest New Yorkers are allowed to ride on the sidewalk until they are 14 years old. But some of us can't afford to allow them to bike independently given the current conditions of our streets. Community Board 3, we need your help! When our daughters and sons turn 14 years old they will need a safe place to bike on Avenue B.

We've heard from several residents in recent months about an increase in traffic from commercial vehicles in part due to the arrival of Target last summer on 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B (at least one other big-box store is expected in the retail space below the newish residential building EVGB) ...


[EVG photo from February]

... and the ongoing presence of the private trash-truck operators making the early-morning rounds...





Wald and other parents plan to meet with City Councilmember Carlina Rivera's office in the next few weeks to share their proposal. Wald also hopes to present the plan to Community Board 3 early this summer.

Bike lane line work continues on 12th Street

As we reported on Wednesday, crews are laying the pedalers’ paths and new parking lanes for the protected bike lanes on the north curb of 12th Street from Seventh Avenue to Avenue C, and the south curb of 13th Street from Greenwich Avenue to Avenue B.

EVG regular Lola Sáenz noted this morning that workers are creating the bike-lane outlines on 12th Street ... with crews spotted at First Avenue...





... and heading east toward Avenue C...



One worker told Lola that the green machine is on Greenwich today painting the bike lanes... and making its way toward the east...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Prepping for the new protected bike lanes on 12th and 13th streets