‘Game Changer’: DOT To Add Southbound Bike Lane Through Key Gap in Village

Going south on a bike through Greenwich Village will no longer go south.

The city will turn an existing northbound protected bike lane between Union Square and Prince Street into a two-way cycle track, finally creating a protected north-south bike network between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Flatiron District, Department of Transportation officials told the Transportation Committee of Manhattan Community Board 2 on Tuesday night.

It’s an epic improvement for downtown-bound cyclists because south of Union Square, there is no southbound protected bike lane between Second and Fifth avenues — and as a result, many cyclists defy death on Broadway instead.

“Broadway south of 14th Street, it’s just a painted lane [to Houston Street], and those things are not very effective,” said Janet Liff, a CB2 member. “It’s sort of no man’s land from 14th Street all the way to Spring Street.”

Liff called the plan a “game changer” and thinks it’ll be “hugely popular.” The redesign goes further than CB2 sought when it passed a resolution in April 2025 in support of expanding the two-way bike lane on Lafayette Street from Prince Street to Astor Place.

The street redesigns will:

• Grow the Lafayette Street bike lane from five feet wide to 11 feet wide to accommodate two-way cycling traffic.
• Add a two-way bike lane on a block of Astor Place between Broadway and Lafayette Street and a standard bike lane on E. Eighth Street.
• Harden the current westbound protected bike lane on E. 13th Street between Broadway and Greenwich Avenue with new concrete.
• Relocate a Citi Bike station from the sidewalk of Lafayette Street, between Eighth and Ninth streets, to south of the Astor Place intersection into the roadway to create more pedestrian space.
• Nearly double the pedestrian space on the east side of Fourth Avenue between Ninth and 13th streets, with an additional 10 feet of painted sidewalk space.
• Add nine new concrete pedestrian islands between Spring and E. 14th streets along Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue later in 2026 and 2027.

DOT officials said they want to move quickly, emphasizing the urgency of completing “key improvements” before the World Cup comes to the area this summer, when Union Square and Astor Place will be even busier. Officials also recently announced a redesign on Ninth Avenue for the same reasons. 

“These world-renowned destinations draw thousands of visitors on a given day and are expected to see increases this summer as the World Cup begins,” DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said in a statement. “Mayor Mamdani has tasked us with acting with urgency, and we’ll be taking advantage of our upcoming paving schedules in these neighborhoods to redesign our streets and put people first.”

Similar street redesigns have reduced traffic deaths and serious injuries by 30 percent for all road users, according to DOT. Expanding the bike lane will also reduce the time to cross the street, which has been shown to reduce pedestrian deaths and serious injuries by 31.7 percent.

Liff, a Lower Manhattan local, said she’ll feel much better biking downtown with the street redesigns.

“I do think this infrastructure is a big deal,” she said. “I know I will be more likely to go down into the financial district now, because it will be far more pleasant.”