Monday’s Headlines: Chambers Street Edition
Back in May, Council Member Chris Marte and Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal called on the city to put a crosstown bike lane between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Hudson River Greenway — just not on Chambers Street, the only crosstown street in the area and the obvious choice for the proposed bike connection.
Fortunately, the two pols have wisened up a bit.
Hoylman-Sigal and Marte’s initial letter described the obvious and best location for bike lane, Chambers Street, as “less suitable” than other, more indirect routes. Then a teenager died on an illegal e-moto near the intersection of Chambers Street and Centre Street in July, and Marte explicitly called on Mayor Mamdani and the Department of Transportation to put a bike lane on Chambers Street.
Now both elected officials are back with another statement finally full-throatedly endorsing a protected bike lane on Chambers Street.
The statement released on Friday explicitly mentioned the importance of reducing conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians in City Hall Park — something their first idea to steer cyclists away from Chambers Street would have likely encouraged.
“We are calling on the Department of Transportation to advance a protected bike lane along Chambers Street, helping create a continuous, safe connection between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Hudson River Greenway while reducing conflicts with pedestrians in City Hall Park,” Marte and Hoylman-Sigal said in their latests statement, before urging DOT to act with haste.
“We welcome DOT’s ongoing work to improve crosstown bike connections, but our community needs a clear timeline for turning proposals into safer streets. We urge DOT to prioritize this connection and bring a concrete plan to the community.”
In other news:
- The Post rediscovered Canal Street’s out-of-control sidewalk crowding for its ex-pat readers in Florida. (1, 2)
- A woman died after flying out of a crashing car on the Grand Central Parkway. (PIX11, amNY)
- Season parking meters are coming to Shore Front Parkway in Rockaway Beach. (The Wave)
- Bruce Blakeman wants to build a wider Goethals Bridge. (CBS New York)
- A Manhattan graphic designer photographed the evolution of the pandemic-era streetery. (Curbed)
- “AI whistleblower” Jacob Coxon will testify to the City Council on Monday, as Mayor Mamdani’s consumer regulator Sam Levine pledged to protect New Yorkers from AI market manipulation in The Nation.
- Times Square and Herald Square are slowly transforming into a pedestrian-first amusement park (and that’s probably a good thing). Can the streetscape keep up with the demand? (Curbed)
- The MTA conductor whose train dragged a man to death last week told investigators he was scared of sticking his head out of his window to do a required safety check because of a previous on-the-job assault. (Gothamist)
- DOT released this year’s list of Halloween car-free “Trick or Streets.” (Patch)
- The L train was closed between Manhattan and Brooklyn this weekend and will be again next weekend. (ABC7)
- The Post editorial board went straight for the anti-immigrant argument in its latest screed against e-bikes — whose riders haven’t actually killed anyone so far this year while car and truck drivers have killed more than 100. (NY Post)
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