Locals: Ninth is no safer
Residents claim new Ninth Street bike lanes make road more dangerous
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BY COLIN MIXSON
A stretch of Ninth Street in
Park Slope where a driver hit
and killed two children last
year is now more dangerous
to pedestrians than ever, following
a redesign that brought
new protected bike lanes to the
road, locals alleged.
The new bike lanes —
which run on either side of
Ninth Street between Prospect
Park West and Third Avenue,
and are separated from traffi c
by a parking lane — embolden
cyclists to speed, according to
Ninth Street residents, who on
Jan. 24 met with a representative
for Borough President
Adams at Seventh Avenue’s
All Saints Episcopal Church
to share their concerns about
the infrastructure.
An organizer of the meeting
told its roughly two dozen
attendees that her neighbor,
whom she described as a
93-year-old World War II veteran,
nearly died when a bicyclist
almost hit him as he recently
attempted to cross one
of the bike lanes.
“There’s a deep concern
about safety, and that’s the reason
we’re here tonight,” said
Myra Manning.
Another Ninth Street resident
told the room his 13-yearold
son was skateboarding to
school in one of the protected
bike lanes in December, when
a truck driver turning onto
Sixth Avenue struck him. And
that incident, coupled with the
open invitation to speed given
to cyclists, has cast serious
doubts on the infrastructure’s
effi cacy, according to the local.
“I’m afraid of getting out of
my car, and I’m afraid of my
son getting out of the car,” said
Jeff Raheb.
Last year, some Slopers
warned the city that redesigning
Ninth Street would do little
to protect pedestrians if offi
cials did not simultaneously
crack down on truckers who
illegally use the local street as
a thoroughfare into Southern
Brooklyn.
And those predictions are
coming true, according to a
crossing guard for Sixth Avenue’s
PS 39 between Eighth and
Ninth streets, who said truckers
that in the past used Ninth
Street as an illicit shortcut now
drive even closer to the school
down Eighth Street, because
the redesign of Ninth Street
narrowed its driving lanes, resulting
in more traffi c.
“I have huge trucks coming
down, making wide turns. It’s
inconvenient and it’s dangerous,”
said the crossing guard,
who only gave her name as
Liz. “It’s not just my life, I’m
there for the kids.”
Other locals, of course,
blasted the Department of
Transportation for removing
26 Ninth Street parking spaces
to accommodate the redesign,
claiming the agency scheme
to make the street safer came
at car owners’ expense.
“The DOT overkill, without
any community involvement,
was let’s make it safe and take
parking spaces without any regard
to the people living here,”
said Ninth Street resident the
Hon. Bernard Graham, who
serves as a judge on the Kings
County Supreme Court.
Safe-street advocates also
turned up for the meeting, one
of whom did his best to sow
chaos among the disgruntled
Ninth Streeters by interrupting
them as they spoke, and at
one point accusing Manning of
pulling information “out of her
a--,” a comment that almost induced
a fi st fi ght with Raheb.
Other proponents of the
new bike lanes, however, argued
their points more civilly
and effectively, citing city
studies that show how dedicated
pedalers’ paths reduce
injuries and fatalities.
“These protected bike lanes
really in every case have been
proven to protect the safety of
not just bicyclists, but everyone,
including pedestrians,
and drivers too,” said William
Farrell, a traffi c engineer who
lives in Boerum Hill.
And most in the room
praised Adams for being the
only elected offi cial willing to
entertain their complaints, after
Park Slope’s Councilman
Brad Lander and Assemblyman
Robert Carroll declined
to attend the meeting, according
to Manning.
CURSE THEE: Ninth Street resident
Jeff Raheb, left, confronted
a safe-streets advocate who interrupted
some speakers at the meeting
about the bike lanes.
Photo by Colin Mixson
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