Williamsburg

Back in July, New York City's Department of Transportation built sidewalk extensions and bike racks on a few automobile parking spaces-worth of street space near the Bedford Avenue subway stop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was the first time ever that on-street car parking had been replaced by bike parking in New York City.

Streetsblog has gotten word that bike lane construction is set to proceed next month on several streets in Brooklyn Community Board 1 territory.

The Daily News reports that more cyclists are getting hit by cars in Williamsburg and Greenpoint -- an increase of 38 percent and 188 percent, respectively, over last year.

The new bike racks have been installed at the Bedford Avenue L subway station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As the Dept. of Transportation announces in today's press release, "The facility marks the first time car parking spaces have been removed to accommodate bicycle parking in New York City."

In other rock star news, Williamsburg resident John Flansburgh -- one half of the esoteric duo They Might Be Giants -- issued an unprompted endorsement of congestion pricing on Daily Intel earlier this week:

Police officers from Brooklyn's 94th precinct are, at this moment, clipping bike locks and seizing bicycles parked along Bedford Ave. according to Community Board 1 Transportation Chair Teresa Toro. The precinct gave Community Board members no advanced notice of the police action. Phone calls to the precinct have gone unanswered. Toro, who also works for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, reports that Council Member David Yassky's staff is looking into the situation and says:

All of the bicycles parked on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg had these flyers stapled to them recently. The reverse side of the flyer has translations in Spanish & Polish.