Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

Trottenberg: DOT Will Redesign Ninth Street With Protected Bike Lanes

Looking west on 9th Street from Fifth Avenue, the site of Monday’s crash. Photo: Park Slope Neighbors

DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg says the city is moving quickly to implement protected bike lanes, concrete pedestrian islands, and other safety improvements on Ninth Street in Park Slope, where Dorothy Bruns ran over and killed Joshua Lew and Abigail Blumenstein earlier this week.

Trottenberg announced the redesign this afternoon in testimony to the City Council transportation committee. DOT wants to show a plan to Community Board 6 within weeks and implement it "as soon as the weather permits," she said.

"I have directed my planning and engineering experts to analyze and redesign the Ninth Street corridor, including protected bike lanes and other pedestrian safety treatments," Trottenberg told council members. "We will have a more detailed plan to unveil in the next few weeks."

A 2007 redesign added buffered bike lanes to Ninth Street, but it remains wide and prone to speeding.  In 2016, a hit-and-run driver killed 41-year-old Bahtiyor Khamdanov at the same intersection where Lew and Blumenstein were killed. That year, a driver also critically injured a cyclist at the intersection of Ninth Street and Sixth Avenue.

Those collisions occurred a mere 500 feet from the Park Slope YMCA, where Mayor de Blasio exercises almost daily. On Tuesday, after news of Monday's crash had spread, more than 100 demonstrators greeted the mayor on his way into the gym, demanding immediate action to redesign the street.

“We’ve been asking for this street to be fixed for years, and it hasn’t been fixed,” rally organizer Doug Gordon told the crowd.

Two days later, DOT has made a firm commitment to redesign the street.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Appeals Court Halts Adams’s Impending Bedford Ave. Protected Bike Lane Demolition

The judge's ruling came just as the city was set to begin the bike lane demolition process Tuesday evening.

July 15, 2025

New Yorkers Threaten Legal Action If Eric Adams Makes Bedford Ave. Less Safe for Cyclists

Brooklyn cyclists pledged to sue the city if they are killed or injured on Bedford Avenue after Mayor Adams makes it less safe.

July 15, 2025

E-Bike Fans and Foes Agree: Adams’s 15 MPH Speed Limit Won’t Make Streets Safer

A public hearing about the mayor's proposed speed limit devolved into a debate about e-bike licensing, naturally.

July 15, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Wet Wet Wet Edition

New York City experienced its second rainiest hour in history. Plus more news.

July 15, 2025

Civic Panel Dings Adams For Cutting Bike and Bus Lanes Out of Fifth Av. Redesign

Mayor Adams's scaled down redesign of Fifth Avenue isn't a "real solution" to safety issues on the packed retail corridor, Manhattan Community Board 5 said.

July 14, 2025
See all posts