Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Today's Headlines

Monday’s Headlines: Manhattan Needs Better Crosstown Bike Lanes Edition

Manhattan's crosstown protected bike lanes are a disaster. Plus more news.

Video Still: Streetfilms|

A typical scene on a Manhattan crosstown protected bike lane.

The Manhattan crosstown bike lanes came as a revelation for two-wheelers when the city installed them around a half-decade ago, but now need some serious love — as Clarence Eckerson of Streetfilms shows in the video below:

As Eckerson documents, the bike lanes are often too narrow and frequently blocked by parked cars and other obstructions. The buffer zones along the lanes are also filled with parked cars — which mean turning drivers can hardly see cyclists as they approach intersections.

The solution here is obvious: more concrete to prevent illegal parking, more enforcement to stop it where concrete fails and — crucially — fewer parking spots.

The latter is particularly important in Midtown, where the city opted for the narrowest possible bike lane designs back in 2020 in order to avoid the political headache of repurposing parking spots. But with congestion pricing expected to reduce car and truck traffic below 60th Street by at least 17 percent, the time for Mayor Adams and his Department of Transportation to fix this mess is now.

In other news:

  • New York again plans to allow so-called "self-driving cars" on city streets — to the chagrin of safe streets advocates. (Gothamist)
  • Taxi Workers Alliance loses bid to prevent TLC's "green" vehicle runaround. (The City)
  • Brooklyn senior "clinging to life" after driver struck her Friday in Borough Park. (Daily News)
  • Janno Lieber: "About time" for congestion pricing in New York City. (amNY)
  • NYPD brass spent the weekend picking fights with their critics on Twitter:
  • City's AI chatbot repeatedly encourages business owners to break the law. (The City/The Markup)
  • How NYC's "specialized" homeless shelter system failed one "subway shover." (NY Times)
  • WNYC/Gothamist checked in with drivers unsurprisingly upset about congestion pricing.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

New Bill Would Block Apps From Deactivating Workers Without Cause

A Brooklyn Council member wants delivery app companies to be more human and less robot.

July 18, 2025

Friday Video: Is Berlin a Great Biking City?

Have recent moves by anti-bike, pro-car legislators ruined the experience in the capital of a unified Germany? Sort of!

July 18, 2025

Eyes on the Street: Meeker Avenue Bike Lane Is a Failure

The Department of Transportation still hasn't finished a critical bike lane under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that the agency has been stalling for over four years even after identifying the strip's danger and lack of proper signals.

July 18, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Cuomo’s Road Rage Edition

Why does Andrew Cuomo drive so recklessly? Plus other news.

July 18, 2025

Fixing Third Ave. Was Once ‘Top of List’ For Eric Adams — But as Mayor He Backed Off

Mayor Adams has delayed a redesign of Brooklyn's Third Avenue despite once saying safety fixes there should be "at the top of our list."

July 17, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Jerry Nadler Edition

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler faced off with Sean Duffy on Capitol Hill. Plus more news.

July 17, 2025
See all posts