The south will ride again
Grass-roots group of Southern Brooklyn cyclists push local leaders for new bike lanes
CYC-OLOGISTS: From left, Bike South Brooklyn members John Tomac, Kerrin Stokes, and Brian Hedden want local civic leaders’ support for their
campaign to create a robust network of bike lanes in Southern Brooklyn. Bike South Brooklyn
COURIER LIFE, MARCH 2 M BR B G 9–APRIL 4, 2019 3
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
They’d wheely like more bike
lanes!
Southern Brooklyn civic
leaders must advocate for
more dedicated bike paths
in the area, according to local
cyclists, who claimed the
leaders of local community
boards routinely thwart their
efforts to promote the form
of alternative transportation
in traditionally car-heavy
neighborhoods.
“The community boards
are skewed toward preserving
car culture, so we don’t
have a lot of sensible bike access,”
said Bay Ridge–based
bicyclist Ed Yoo. “They think
status quo is fi ne. I think it is
absolutely not.”
Yoo recently moved from
Greenpoint to the Ridge, where
he quickly noticed a dearth of
the dedicated pedaler’s paths
common in the northern
neighborhood, prompting him
to join local cycling-advocacy
group Bike South Brooklyn,
which since 2018 has pushed
for more lanes across the area.
“When I moved, I noticed a
huge difference in the biking
and pedestrian infrastructure
between the neighborhoods,
and I was interested in getting
more involved,” he said. “The
great thing about the group is
we’re providing a voice to cyclists
in the community. We’re
providing the part of the conversation
that’s been missing
for a long time.”
But getting the city to signifi
cantly expand that infrastructure
will require
the support of civic gurus,
some of whom show a partiality
toward drivers, according
to Bike South Brooklyn’s
founder, who said his growing
coalition of local cyclists
— which now includes more
than 100 members — helps to
turn the wheels of change at
the grass-roots level.
“We’re able to get organized,
and focus our advertising
and PR on local issues
in Southern Brooklyn, doing
things like getting more
people to show up to community
board meetings,” said
Dan Hetteix . “We’re fi ghting
against the general car culture.
They’re not organized
but they’re coddled. They
expect things to be given
to them. They have traditionally
been getting things
handed to them.”
One of the group’s major
goals is to revive a plan to lay
a bike lane from Bay Ridge
through Southern Brooklyn to
Queens along parts of the Bay
Ridge Parkway, Avenue P, and
Flatlands Avenue — a scheme
the city considered back in
2011, before abandoning it after
getting pushback from locals
and pols, including Mayor
DeBlasio, who then served as
the city’s public advocate.
“I commend the city for responding
to community concerns
by halting its plans,” De-
Blasio said at the time. “This
was an important step forward
that shows a willingness to respect
the input of residents
and community leaders.”
City transit chiefs understand
the need for such a
cross-borough bike lane, according
to a Department of
Transportation spokesman,
who claimed the agency is
working on new plans for
that infrastructure.
“Our planners are aware
of concerns about the need
to improve east-west connections
across South Brooklyn,
an issue that came up during
two public bike workshops we
have held in Bay Ridge,” the
rep said. “We look forward to
presenting proposals for potential
projects soon.”
Bike South Brooklyn also
hopes to convince shot callers
to install a Ridge-to-Rock
bike lane across the Verrazzano
Narrows Bridge, which
cyclists can now only cross
aboard Metropolitan Transportation
Authority buses
equipped with bike racks.
The city previously considered
a plan to add suspended
bike lanes to each side of
the bridge, before scrapping
the idea due to its $300
–$400 million price tag — a
cost Hetteix claimed offi cials
dramatically infl ated.
“Even when the bridge was
built, people were complaining
about a lack of a pedestrian
path,” he said. “Much of that
cost was due to huge, ridiculous
ramps that ran down the
big anchorage towers, rather
than just using the existing on
and off ramps.”
Other cycling infrastructure
the group wants includes
a bike lane over the Marine
Parkway Bridge linking Marine
Park and Queens, and
an extension of the in-theworks
Fourth Avenue bike
lanes, which when complete
will run from Atlantic Avenue
to 65th Street in Bay Ridge,
but should go further south,
according to Bike South
Brooklyn members.
The group’s efforts will
only be amplifi ed by state
Sen. Andrew Gounardes’s (DBay
Ridge) recently formed
pedestrian-safety task force
— whose ranks include Bike
South Brooklyn member
Brian Hedden — according to
Hetteix, who called a recent
March 27 meeting of the task
force and offi cials including
Gounardes, Councilman Justin
Brannan (D–Bay Ridge),
Assemblywoman Mathylde
Frontus (D–Coney Island), and
Transportation Department
Commissioner Polly Trottenberg,
an important step toward
making the desired new
bike lanes a reality.
“I’m happy to see a wider,
cross-community-board coalition
to focus on possible districtwide
solutions,” Hetteix said.
“Lots of times, transit issues
stop at each community board’s
boundary, and this could get
good, local, cross-neighborhood
feedback to act on.”