Daily News Exclusive: Woman on Bike Sees De Blasio in Street, Stops

Someone should tell Jennifer Fermino that the bikelash is over.

Fermino, who penned the Post’s infamous “bike lanes are messing with bus service” story on the eve of Hurricane Sandy, is now City Hall bureau chief at the Daily News. Her breathless take on yesterday’s encounter between Bill de Blasio and a cyclist boils down to this: Headed to his vehicle after an event near City Hall, de Blasio stepped into the street, where a woman on a Citi Bike stopped to avoid a collision. Period.

Spun through the Daily News Psycholist-O-Matic, the story becomes: “Bill de Blasio almost got mowed down by a zooming Citi Bike Thursday morning.”

Did de Blasio have the right of way, or was the cyclist proceeding lawfully when a pedestrian who happened to be Bill de Blasio walked in front of her? Fermino doesn’t bother with such details. Instead, she would have Daily News readers believe that the man who might be the next mayor of New York City was nearly taken out by a middle-aged lady riding a three-speed home from the grocery store.

Also, contrary to the story, a Streetsblog reader pointed out that there is no bike lane on this section of Broadway.

Another Fermino shocker: Even after yesterday’s brush with Ms. Whole Foods Hell-on-Wheels, the “unfazed” de Blasio “wants to grow the Citi Bike network to include more stations, and wants to add more bike lanes.”