This Bridge Should Be Seen And Not Crossed

Photo by Jake Offenhartz, for the Gothamist

 The new Brooklyn Bridge bike lane opened on Tuesday. However, I probably won’t be using it any time soon.

The old joke about compromises is that they make no-one happy.  The thing about jokes is, of course, that they convey truths.  Such is the case for the new lane.

Mayor de Blasio was opposed to any lane on the bridge.  Advocates wanted a single lane in each direction.  The new lane is two-way, on the Manhattan-bound part of the bridge.  While it is separated from traffic by concrete barriers connected with chicken wire, cyclists who’ve used it report feeling nervous about traffic so close by.

What would concern me more , though, is some of the traffic allowed in the lane: motorized bikes and scooters, including those making deliveries for Doordash and other services. Anyone who’s used the Queensborough/59th Street Bridge lane can recount all-too-close encounters with them.  Well, the new Brooklyn Bridge lane is even narrower: six feet for two-wheeled traffic in both directions.

Such claustrophobic conditions pose another hazard:  If a cyclist has a flat or other issues, there is no room to pull over, let alone fix the problem.

So, while cyclists will no longer have to dodge selfie-taking and otherwise bike-oblivious pedestrians on the wooden upper deck, I don’t see how the new lane makes cycling safer, let alone more pleasurable, on the Brooklyn Bridge.  For now, I will stick to my tried-and-true New York wisdom that the Brooklyn Bridge should be seen and not crossed!