Bike Lanes

New York City's tabloid media simply can't stop seeing the city's bike boom as a mortal threat to pedestrians. Even research showing a decline in the number of bike-ped crashes was somehow spun to say the opposite, that more cyclists were hitting pedestrians than ever. Now, new peer-reviewed research confirms once again that bike lanes don't endanger pedestrians and don't cause more crashes. If anything, researchers say, they make streets safer.

With his skeptical reaction to the latest poll showing majority support for cycling infrastructure, James Vacca has established himself as the city's most authoritative voice for anti-bike nonsense.

It seems nowadays you aren't truly a bike-friendly city until you've had your first civic dust-up over bike lanes. And by that standard, Memphis, Tennessee has arrived.

Think twice before blocking that bike lane.

The transportation committee of Manhattan Community Board 2 voted unanimously on Tuesday to endorse a community-generated plan to upgrade the Hudson Street bike lane to a parking-protected lane.

Brownsville wants safer streets for biking.

Yesterday the City Council passed Lew Fidler's Intro 412 -- the bill mandating community board notification about the installation of bike lanes -- setting the stage for some showboating from Fidler, Speaker Christine Quinn and Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca.

Several surveys this year by top polling organizations have found citywide support for bike lanes. And in Park Slope and the Upper West Side, questionnaires put out by local elected officials have shown consistent neighborhood-level approval for new bike infrastructure. Now, another member of the City Council has found widespread enthusiasm for the city's bike lane program among his constituents -- and he doesn't represent the heart of the NYC bike belt.