Eyes on the Street

DOT reconfigured the southern part of the Kent Avenue bike lane this spring, but that hasn't stopped drivers from taking over the lane and the sidewalk for personal parking.

With construction on the massive Third Water Tunnel shifting east along Grand Street, the section of the street through Soho, Little Italy, and Chinatown is getting repaved for the first time in years. Along with the new surface comes restoration of Grand Street's protected bike lane -- this time with a twist: Unlike other NYC bike lanes, this lane is being repainted in a bright, Kermit the Frog shade of green.

Motorists are ignoring new turn restrictions intended to keep pedestrians safe at a revamped Broadway intersection in Inwood.

Once an extra-wide asphalt expanse, a section of Bushwick Avenue has been reclaimed by the addition of a pedestrian island. The new public space, which makes it easier to cross between Brooklyn Latin School and the Bushwick Library, is joined by smaller changes to an adjacent stretch of Bushwick Avenue installed this spring and summer.

Lesson learned? Last week, DOT wiped away the Prospect Park West bike lane for street repaving without installing any temporary cones to preserve the bike route during construction. Drivers parked at the curb, pushing northbound cyclists into oncoming traffic or onto the sidewalk. Now, DOT has demarcated the bike lane with orange cones as it re-stripes the road.

During the warm summer months, lots of New Yorkers decide to hop on their bicycles and head for the nearest bike lane. That's also when the city does much of its street repaving, and new asphalt is coming to Prospect Park West. But instead of maintaining the heavily used bike path with temporary materials, our bike-friendly DOT has decided that one of the city's marquee bikeways will be erased for more than a week during one of the busiest cycling months of the year.

A simple fix from DOT has made it easier and safer for pedestrians to walk between Woodside and Jackson Heights.

A Streetsblog reader sent in this NYPD flyer posted in the lobby of his apartment building on the Upper West Side, and another reports getting the same notice via email yesterday.

We asked for photos of NYC's worst sidewalk-hogging businesses, and readers responded.