Judge Dismisses Brooklyn NIMBY Bike-Share Suit

Bike-share NIMBYs have lost another lawsuit.

Owners of 150 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights claimed that the siting of a bike-share station on the sidewalk outside the building was "arbitrary and capricious," according to court documents, and that DOT exceeded its authority in doing so. They dumped their garbage on the station for good measure.

Judge Leon Ruchelsman dismissed the suit last week. Ruchelsman wrote in his ruling that DOT followed its own guidelines and safety criteria when installing the station, and violated no city rules. Building residents had due notice that the station would be located there, Ruchelsman wrote, as their "complaints [date] as far back as the summer of 2012." The station was installed in April 2013.

The lawsuit was the only one filed over the siting of a Brooklyn bike-share station. The city prevailed in suits seeking to have bike-share stations removed from Petrosino Square and from the street in front of 99 Bank Street. Only the highly entertaining Plaza Hotel lawsuit remains.