“Today, we are all breathing a sigh of relief as the suspect behind eight vicious muggings of Asian-American East Harlem residents has finally been apprehended by police,” Mark-Viverito said. “These brutal robberies have shaken all of us.”

FURRY FRIENDS FOR SALE!
This February, bring home a puppy or kitten without breaking the bank. Bideawee, the pet welfare center located on East 38th Street at First Avenue, will be holding a monthlong “Name your own price” sale. The sale is in celebration of Valentine’s Day, and is Bideawee’s first adoption promotion this year.

Plus, if you think your brand-new pet is super-photogenic, Bideawee will be taking photos of each new adoption and putting them up for a public vote. The winner will have their pet featured as Bideawee’s Facebook timeline image. This promotion will run until Feb. 28.

DOT ANNOUNCES NEW SAFETY PROCEDURES FOR DELIVERY BIKES
The DOT announced recently that they have teamed up with Delivery.com to provide 1,500 commercial cyclists with free bike lights, bells and reflective vests. Delivery cyclists from all over the city can attend one of the multi-language commercial bicyclist forums to receive the safety equipment. Other bicycle safety efforts include NYPD enforcement and inspector visits to businesses that use delivery cyclists. These inspectors serve to both inform and enforce regulations.

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan notes, “Safety is everyone’s business, so it’s significant when the private sector steps up to the plate to make efforts in the public interest.”

Jed Kleckner, CEO of Delivery.com, is one of many who share in this sentiment. “In a city where food, groceries and wine can be at your doorstep in moments,” he said, “We empower the neighborhood economy by equipping our merchant partners with the right tools for making safe and speedy deliveries.”

TWO U.E.S. BAKERIES NAMED IN FOURSQUARE’S ‘BEST OF’ LIST
Foursquare, the social app that lets friends check in to restaurants, bars and other places, has sifted its data of more than three billion check-ins and pulled up a list of the best New York City has to offer—from best eateries and clubs to best sights and theaters. And there’s good news for Upper East Siders with a sweet tooth. Two of the top 10 New York bakeries are on the Upper East Side: Sprinkles Cupcakes on Lexington between 60th and 61st streets and Two Little Red Hens on Second Avenue between East 85th and 86th.

Both of these bakeries offer tempting cupcakes. At Sprinkles, many of the fans on Foursquare rave about the “best cupcake place in the city,” and suggest trying the Red Velvet. At Two Little Red Hens, fans love both the cakes and cupcakes, and suggest going for the “Brooklyn Blackout,” a dangerous, chocolaty confection.

SECOND AVENUE SUBWAY NEWS
On Wednesday, Jan. 30, MTA held its fifth Second Avenue Subway workshop at Temple Israel on East 75th Street. The meeting brought together MTA employees and contractors to discuss how negative impacts or effects from the construction can be mitigated.

“It’s impossible to build a subway here without disturbing the people and environment around us,” said MTA Capital Construction President Michael Horodniceanu. “We’ve learned from past experiences that building on this scale requires more than a business-as-usual approach, and that working closely with the community is one of the best means of learning how we can become a better neighbor.”

Phase One of the new subway line, which will extend the Q line, is expected to be complete by 2016.

contact Bette Dewing at dewingbetter@aol.com

CBS News radio says the “taxi of tomorrow” has a partition that softens the blow to passenger’s heads when drivers make an emergency stop. An emergency room surgeon reported, “Every week, at least two such facial injuries occur.”
Who knew? Not this “traffic safety trailblazer” (Rep. Carolyn Maloney called me that in a 2006 tribute) who only takes cabs in an emergency and says that what’s needed—besides safe drivers—is a cab that won’t move until its passengers are seat-belted. Until then, let’s all tell the driver, “Don’t drive off until my seat belt is fastened!” And, please, won’t somebody up there (Rep. Maloney?) follow my life, limb and money-saving trails?
Ah, but 19th Precinct Officer Liam Lynch did say at the Community Council meeting on traffic safety that the flashlight I have attached to my cane “should be patented.” But how to light up every walker after dark? All-out enforcement of the bike head- and tail light law would give us a fighting chance. As usual, citizen traffic laments at the meeting were often about scofflaw biking, and a number of people attended because the subject was traffic safety.
Among them were 20th Precinct Community Council president Ian Alterman and traffic safety activist Susan Siskind, who shared fears and solutions. Alterman and Siskind are both great letters-to-the-editor writers, and Siskind speaks out most effectively at civic meetings. If only more people did.
Though a bike rider, Alterman is greatly opposed to the law-breaking kind. So here’s to the 19th and 20th Precinct people blazing some trails together to stop all crimes of traffic—kamikaze biking and walking and, the most lethal, motorists failing to yield when turning into crosswalks.
I gave Alterman a copy of Charles Komanoff’s trailblazing manual, Death by Automobile, with statistics and tragic stories to back up this claim. We must never forget how longtime 19th Precinct volunteer Alberta Kenny was killed by a school bus’s illegal turn at York and 79th Street.
Lynch also warned the East 79th Neighborhood Association about bicyclists who swoop in and steal iPhones. Police and civic activist Joy Zagoren also alerted us to covering our cards when using an ATM or bank machine because of a recent string of PIN thefts.
Infinitely more must be learned about the planned replacement of the staircase that connects John Finley Walk with the river walk before the 18-month-long work on it starts next spring. The “staging area” is the 81st Street cul de sac where 45 East End’s service entrance and 33 East End’s front entrance are located.
Loretta Ponticelli, who called attention to heedless kid scooter riders, was able to attend the meeting because Community Council officer Mary Ford could escort her there. The able-bodied helping those who are not is surely a trail to be followed. Photos help, like one of Ponticelli and Ford walking safely together, and of younger Council member Christine Donavan offering me her arm as we crossed Third and Second avenues on the way to our mutual bus stop.
The community relations officer said police will try to keep things “quiet” on St. Patrick’s Day. Helping one another not drink more than two a night is a trail in urgent need of following. And information about open-to-the-public A.A. meetings is an education everyone needs, especially after reading this paper’s story about pub-crawling’s appalling excesses. Intervention is another trail to be widely followed.
Some trailblazing hopes and prayers—not only for St. Patrick’s Day or the Lenten and Passover season.

According to the New York Post, the trouble began when one gang confronted another in Central Park. One group fled, heading down into the subway station at West 72nd Street and Central Park West and jumping the turnstiles. There, four teens surrounded a 21-year-old Brooklyn man who was accused of being involved with another teen’s girlfriend; he was punched in the head and stabbed in the back, police said.

The attackers—one of them a 15-year-old girl—ran out of the station and were arrested, with the three older teens getting slapped with gang assault charges.

Last year, subway agents used the emergency broadcast system inside kiosk booths approximately 500,000 times to summon police. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

While injuries from that incident were confined to the two groups who were fighting, straphangers who witnessed an earlier incident weren’t as lucky. The Post reported that another gang that had been in the park was accused of robbing and assaulting two passengers, and two other afternoon subway attacks were the handiwork of teens who had been hanging out in the park.

Of course, serious incidents like these are a rarity when it comes to trouble on our transit system. Every day, millions ride New York City’s subways and buses without any problem. But smaller crimes are more common, like the pickpocket who targeted two women on the M11 bus earlier this month. The young man was so charming that one of the women jokingly offered to let him sit in her lap. He didn’t do that, but he did allegedly reach into her bag to snatch her wallet.

“We were so shocked because we liked the guy so much,” said one of the women, who asked to remain anonymous.

They weren’t the thief’s only victims, either. In the last few weeks, two other older women were pick-pocketed as they boarded the M11 bus, which runs on Amsterdam and Columbus avenues.

And then there is the recent data showing that violent crime is on the rise in New York City. Homicides are up almost 22 percent this year, compared with the same period last year. On Easter Sunday, an unruly crowd rampaged through Times Square on a spree that left three people dead. Mayor Bloomberg described the event, which resulted in 33 arrests, as a “wilding.”

With 70 subway kiosk booths slated to close, and 3,150 fewer police officers on the ground due to state budget cuts, some New Yorkers wonder if there will be a return to the “bad old days” of subway crime in the early 1990s.

“The police department is extraordinarily stressed because of the massive reductions,” said John Jay College of Criminal Justice lecturer Eugene O’Donnell. “The table is set for problems.”

O’Donnell subscribes to the “broken windows” theory of crime, which suggests that a society that appears to be lawless will itself breed lawlessness. In the 1980s, police began prosecuting minor offenses such as turnstile jumping, often catching criminals with outstanding warrants in the process. The physical infrastructure of the transit system underwent an overhaul, and graffiti-ridden subway cars were removed from service. Crime dropped dramatically and ridership soared. Now, some are wondering if these gains will be reversed.

“There is a palpable feeling of neglect now,” said O’Donnell, who is also a former police officer and prosecutor at the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.

Whether recent transit budget cuts will impact safety on the subways remains to be seen. The most recent report released by the MTA details felony crimes perpetrated in the subway over a 12-year period. In the months of January and February, robberies declined steadily from 404 in 1997 to 123 in 2009. Assaults were cut in half, and overall major felonies fell from 965 to 370 during the 12-year period.

According to a press representative for the New York City Police Department, transit crime currently averages 5.6 crimes per day—in a system that transports more than 10 million people on an average workday. By contrast, there were 11 crimes per day in 2001 and 50 crimes per day in 1990. Police officials dismiss reports of increased subway crime as bogus.

“One week’s data comparison have too small a data base,” wrote a member of the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information in an email. “It’s cherry picking, and produces wildly distorted results.”

Nonetheless, subway crime seems to inspire fears that have nothing to do with statistical tables and crime reports. The reasons for this may be partly psychological. Many subway stations are underground. There is usually only one or two immediate means of egress. Stations are dirty and rat-infested. And it’s common to cross paths with panhandlers and mentally ill passengers who travel through—or live on—the subway, which can be disconcerting for some passengers.

Statistics reveal that New Yorkers are safer in the subways than above ground, where 99 percent of crimes occur. Yet this is cold comfort to straphangers such as the 31-year-old man who was mugged by two men—one of whom flashed a silver revolver—on the No. 6 train this month, and a Westchester woman who discovered her wallet was missing at the entrance to the East 86th Street train station. The thief treated himself to a $500 spending spree at Best Buy.

Others remain optimistic about subway safety. Ernestine Trapp, a home health aid who travels from Far Rockaway to her job on Central Park West each day, does not think the MTA staff reduction will affect how she feels about the subway.

“Sometimes I don’t get in until 10 at night, but I feel safe,” she said.

“I’ve never felt unsafe in the city,” said Columbia Law School student Andrew Cascini, as he rode the C train from his home in Harlem. “I know there was a stabbing a few weeks ago, and while that was certainly tragic, I don’t think that all crimes are inherently preventable.”

But Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, a rider’s advocacy group, is concerned that recent gains against transit crime might not hold up against budget cuts. Police presence in the subway system, he explained, was stepped up after the 1986 stabbing of Bryan Watkins by a group of young men, who approached his vacationing family to demand money. Afterward, cops began to conduct sweeps that targeted turnstile jumpers, which allowed them to catch criminals before they could enter the subway system. In 1990, Russianoff said, 19,000 felonies were recorded in the subway; by 1997, that number had gone down to about 3,500. And by 2009, felonies had shrunk to just more than 2,000.

But last year, he noted, subway agents used the emergency broadcast system located inside kiosk booths approximately 500,000 times to summon police. With the closing of many subway kiosks, there will be fewer agents to alert authorities when emergencies do occur.

And if NYPD budgets cuts go through, there will be fewer officers on the ground to rush to the rescue.

Former transit Police Chief Vincent Del Castillo, now an associate professor at John Jay College, would not speculate about whether the citywide spike in violent crime, MTA service cuts and possible reduction in police patrols would lead to a surge in crime below ground. But he does think the economic downturn is likely to impact safety.

“There is a general trend for crime to increase during poor economic times,” he said.

For O’Donnell, the John Jay lecturer, the service cuts and physical deterioration of subway stations is an uncomfortable reminder of the way things used to be. This may, he suggests, lead to a transit system that is less safe.

“We never want to get back,” O’Donnell said, “to the Russian roulette where we say, ‘Maybe we’ll have safety and maybe we won’t.’”

As a veteran public transit activist and critic who is especially focused on buses, I have qualms about the “select bus” plan for First and Second avenues, as seen in various diagrams displayed by the MTA in the temple’s auditorium. Might all special project funds go instead to help reduce drastic cuts in existing subway and bus service? The hoped-for select bus’s “speedier ride” worries this crusader for safety first. So do designated street lanes for bus riders and cyclists. Will lanes be observed? Will cyclists stop for the light? Stores lament being cut off from curb access. And what about First and Second avenues’ washboard surface conditions, especially for speedier buses, which also have street level doors?

The MTA representatives there didn’t know if the new model of articulated bus will have a quieter climate control system and kneeling step alarm than current models. They didn’t know such toxic conditions have plagued riders and drivers for 11 years, or that some horns are way too loud, and some lighting excessive. Nor did they know whether the new model’s heating and cooling systems would finally be controlled. Like Jean Arthur wryly mused in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, “It’s kind of a curse to be so wised up!”

The providential aspect to this event was finding an invaluable intergenerational action-oriented Passover message on the temple’s information table. Part of a flyer describing a service for “tots,” siblings, grandparents, mothers and fathers also included a mini-sermon with universal application in the prevention of human suffering—yes, in seemingly small matters like the unhealthy, uncomfortable and unsafe bus ride.

“How does God make things happen? With little hands, and big hands. With young hands and old hands. With your hands,” the flyer said.

We must remember this!

Let’s include middle-sized/middle-aged hands. Too often, believers feel praying for someone or something is sufficient. Using our hands to make things happen means using our voices and our pens. The noisy bus might have been quieted had initial protests continued. Does select bus service concern you? The West Side may be next. Make your voice heard on a public level, as in letters to the editor and to me. Sure, it also helps to contact elected officials, civic groups, the MTA and the New York City Department of Transportation’s outreach coordinator for bus rapid transit, Kate Mikuliak, at 212-839-6429 or kmikuliak@dot.nyc.gov.

Also check www.nyc.gov/brt.

But again, most policymakers, including journalists, transit advocacy groups and bloggers, know little about the bus experience because they only take the subway.

Attention must be paid! And yes, to safe traveling conditions for pedestrians who observe traffic laws and bring only themselves into this high-density city. Just a few examples of what all-age hands can do to help bring about a life, health and planet-saving world. Justice would be better served, too. The possibilities are endless when all-age prayers are followed by action whenever possible, not only at Passover and Easter time. 

dewingbetter@aol.com

Government evidently needs to learn that moving traffic violations are life and death matters. And bicycling violations are not mere quality of life offenses, especially when they are everywhere—even on low-traffic East End Avenue. Walking just one block home from the East 79th Street Neighborhood Association meeting, Ruth S. was almost struck by a delivery food bike speeding along the sidewalk. I yelled, “Off the walk!” The problem is, nobody else ever does, even though lawless biking is often deplored at civic meetings.

Nor is it talked about much elsewhere. Thankfully, neighbor Claire R. does. She said that after being narrowly missed by a bike careening around the corner into the crosswalk at East 80th Street, she recently learned to cross at East 81st Street, “where cars and bikes rarely turn into you, and you can see them coming!” I’ve preached this “don’t cross where they can turn into you” basic gospel for decades. Be very, very visible too. To stress the latter, I brought my new battery-lit cane to the association meeting to wave around as I urged the attending police and legislative aides to “at least enforce the bike light law to give us a fighting chance. And let’s light ourselves up—be visible.” I am very saddened by the middle-aged man who was fatally injured by a car as he crossed East 79th mid-block last week. While a risky thing to do, crossing with your light at the corner is not safe enough.

Again, make yourself very visible, swing your arms or a newspaper, wear something light colored, and holler at those wheelers who come too close. Don’t be silent.

I’m also grateful for our building staff member, Michael Kearney, who warned passersby about melting ice slabs falling from upper windows of our and other apartment buildings. And the Daily News thankfully reported about young men who got their kicks tossing ice off a building, with one piece striking a pedestrian.

Related was Claire R.’s report about another youthful reckless endangerment, which lamentably did not make the news. Leaving Hunter College about 4 p.m. March 10, she was aghast to see about 10 or so high school students race into moving traffic.

“It’s a miracle no one was hurt as brakes screeched and horns blared and the kids broke up laughing when they reached the other side,” she said.

Would that photos were taken, 911 called and nearby schools alerted. I did report it to the 19th Precinct. Our doorman, Martin Griffin, reports seeing a similar reprehensible scene on East 86th Street.

But back to two-wheeled anarchy and motor vehicles’ deadly failure to yield. I’ll protest both at Transportation Alternatives’ public meeting March 16, and hope you will, too, at the March 23 meeting from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the fifth floor conference room of the Vanderbilt YMCA, 224 E. 47th St. The group needs to hear about bike violations—big time. More complex is Council Member Jessica Lappin and AARP’s “Take Back Our Streets—Making New York Walkable for All New Yorkers,” scheduled for April 19 through 23, “to survey and evaluate your neighborhood intersections for walker safety.” Call Jane Swanson at 212-980-1808 for more information.

But that evaluation business has been done and redone when the foremost needs are for all-out enforcement on the law to yield to pedestrians on turns, and an all-out crackdown on bike violations. That would do more to make it a safe and low-stress traveling city for me than anything else. Then we can push for a lower speed limit! It can be done if enough of us try.

dewingbetter@aol.com

Duane sent a Feb. 9 letter to the department, signed by other West Side elected officials, asking for the plans to be sent to Community Board 7.

“The Department of Transportation’s outreach efforts and consultation has been excellent to date,” Duane said. “And there’s no reason to think releasing the proposal and subjecting it to final review would derail their proposal.”

These new bicycle lanes will drastically change the character of Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, between West 59th and 110th streets. Unlike the painted bicycle lanes that run through Central Park West and on West 77th and 78th streets, the new lanes will be physically separated from automobile traffic, possibly by a row of parked cars or a concrete barrier.

A bike lane like this is slated for Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, between West 59th and 110th streets. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Businesses that need street access for deliveries and cab drivers who need to pick up and drop off passengers usually complain when street space is taken away. But if the final plans are released early, Duane argued, stakeholders will be able to make suggestions and have these concerns addressed before the lanes are installed.

Duane is speaking from experience on this issue. When the city’s first protected bicycle lane was installed in the Chelsea part of Duane’s district, modifications were required.

“Some of the discussion and debate continues [in Chelsea],” Duane said. “Though I don’t expect zero controversy, I do think there will be a minimal amount of controversy if the Department of Transportation follows what we’ve asked for on the West Side.”

Scott Gastel, a spokesperson for Department of Transportation, said the department will consider the request as the plans for the protected bicycle lanes are developed.

Peter Arndtsen, district manager for the Columbus/Amsterdam Business Improvement District, said that the department has been responsive to community needs and has been inclusive of the stakeholders affected by a protected bicycle lane.

“There are some businesses that are excited about it. There are some that are very concerned with it and would be opposed to it if they couldn’t talk through some of their concerns,” Arndstsen said.

Wiley Norvell, spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives, said that the department has reached out to a broader group of community stakeholders in the Upper West Side since the Chelsea bicycle lane was installed. Norvell said he expects the department to release the plans to the community board.

“Generally speaking, there’s almost always a community board presentation and comment period that takes place on bike lane projects,” Norvell said. “The difference is at what stage they are presented.”

A bike lane on the Upper West Side is especially bad for bicyclists, according to a new study by Hunter College.

The observations by Hunter students show that the West Side’s bike route ranks as one of the most obstructed lanes.

On a Tuesday morning, between 8 and 9 a.m., there were 17 obstructions on the West 106th Street lane, between Riverside Drive and Central Park West.

Cars made up 30 percent of bike lane blockage, according to the study. Small trucks and taxis made up 17 and 14 percent, respectively.

However, one bike lane, Central Park West from West 79th to 85th streets, had no obstructions during an observation on a Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m.

Wiley Norvell, communications director for Transportation Alternatives, said the report confirms what bicyclists throughout the city see first-hand.

“Our bike lane network is, in many cases, rendered dangerous or unusable,” Norvell said. “There’s some hope around the corner. We encourage the city to expand the number of protected bike lanes.”

It’s all about the glow December bestows—in the lighting, the music and more frequent smiles and kindly exchanges. Whatever our background, we are affected by places, sounds and social mores whether we know it or not. For those of us who most keenly see, hear and feel it, keep a string or two of decorative lights burning at home, in public places and on every street block throughout the year for that visual glow. And, of course, eschew the people- and place-hostile energy-efficient bulbs. The official earth-saving emperors blindly decree that these will soon be the only bulbs that can be manufactured legally. No smiling at that, rather some real getting mad as you-know-what and shouting, “No way! Excessive lighting’s gotta go, but not only in entertainment venues.”

And doggone it, also lower the speed limit to reduce emissions and traffic-tragedy injuries, too, many of which are heart-breakingly lasting or fatal. Surely the resulting grief is permanent. Traffic tragedies are enormously dollar-costly, which seems to concern most emperors more than their cataclysmic human cost. What’s needed, you unclothed emperors, is all-out support for life and planet-saving mass transit with expanded, not reduced, service. And no free rides for those who can afford it—or for those people using pedal-powered vehicles in a high-density city.

A Santa concerned with traffic safety would bring no more scooters to ever-more crowded streets and walkways. Indeed, if Santa saw how many kids—and some parents—now scooter, instead of walk to and from school, he’d order an immediate recall.

Forget high-speed rail plans; restore the more affordable, enjoyable and safer medium-speed kind. Ditto for buses. Slower’s the way to go—on foot, too. My umbrella sports both “Slow Down, Please!” and “Smile!” directives. My gifts this year are stocking caps, gloves, tote bags, kitchen potholders and towels inscribed with the word “smile.” Use magic markers, nail polish or, if ambitious and able, embroider, knit or sew peace-, goodwill- and health-enhancing reminders.

And to keep that holiday/holy day musical glow, sing alone or together some G-rated lyrics and music. Yes, Virginia, they do exist, like son Jeff’s, “Happy Birthday to a Little Girl” country ballad. Singing, like smiling, is good for what ails us—and especially for the “youngers,” who’ve been conditioned to think smiling and family love songs are strictly uncool.

Conditioned as well is the notion that these December holidays are only for children and young people. As with birthdays, the more there are, the more they deserve celebration. And December birthdays should never be short-shifted, nor should any birthday be anything to hide or make snide or rueful jokes about in a just society.

And in that just society, grandmas in the White House and everywhere else would be seen, heard and heeded, at least as much as the grandkids and the family dogs are. So would grandpas and all responsible elders—another countercultural message/lyric to hammer out big time—all over this land!

dewingbetter@aol.com

But this decades-old story may be about to change, as the city is likely to install protected bicycle lanes on Amsterdam and Columbus avenues. Unlike the painted lanes drawn on asphalt throughout the city, protected lanes are strictly for bicyclists. The city does not have a definite design for the Upper West Side lanes, but a buffer of some sort—such as a concrete divider or a row of parked cars—would be included to block traffic from driving or double parking where bicyclists ride. The dedicated bike path would also remove one lane of motor vehicle traffic from both avenues. But instead of complaints of congestion, the lane is lauded for slowing down traffic, much to the delight of pedestrians.

Community Board 7 hopes to work with the city this winter to map out protected bike lanes for the neighborhood. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

The design is modeled after a pilot program in Chelsea, where bicyclists ride safely to the left of parked cars on Eighth and Ninth avenues, and it was originally inspired by the streets of European cities like Copenhagen, Denmark, considered one of the best cities for bicycling in the world.

With the Chelsea lanes up and running for two years now, advocates hope that expanding to the Upper West Side will be a major improvement in the city’s bicycling infrastructure. But the Chelsea lanes weren’t always so warmly embraced, and how protected lanes are created and installed will likely determine how successful they are with the West Side community.

Bicycle infrastructure has been an integral part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s environmental and transportation agendas. In Bloomberg’s 2007 manifesto for the future of New York City, PlaNYC 2030, he proposed an additional 1,380 miles of bike lanes, for a total of 1,800 miles.

In the two-year progress report since PlaNYC 2030 was released, the city has installed 141 miles of new lanes, and the Department of Transportation estimates that the number of bicyclists in the city has grown 26 percent since last year.

Though the new lanes have certainly encouraged this growth, many cyclists complain that painted lanes are more like obstacle courses than bike routes. Bicyclists are constantly swerving into traffic to avoid swinging car doors, motorists driving in the lane or double parked cars.

One solution has been protected bike lanes, which were first piloted on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea in 2007. Now widely considered a success by bicycling advocates and pedestrians alike, the lanes were initially fairly controversial, especially among area businesses. The Department of Transportation installed one bike lane on Ninth Avenue between West 14th and 23rd streets seemingly overnight. Some business owners and community members felt blindsided. Parking was the main complaint.

“We were a little annoyed at the process,” said Christine Berthet, chair of Community Board 4’s transportation committee. “We didn’t have the time really to sort out the small things that need to be adjusted when you put in a bike lane.”

Changes to delivery zones and parking spots were made after the lane was installed. A deli’s business took a hit when the bike lane prevented his taxi driver customers from parking and getting a quick bite to eat. Board 4 had to find an alternate location for the taxicabs to make a pit stop.

However, the second and third set of protected bike lanes, on Eighth and Ninth avenues between West 23rd and 31st streets, were installed after hearing from business owners. This made for a smooth installation with minimal problems.

“It’s very important to go to those stores and understand their pick-up and delivery needs so they have the sense that their need is taken into consideration and they don’t feel that they’re being run over,” Berthet said.

The change has been paying dividends, according to Transportation Alternatives, one of the most well-known transit advocacy groups in the city. The group said that not only has cycling increased because of the safe lanes, but a study found that Chelsea saw an 80 percent reduction in sidewalk cycling. With traffic moving at a slower speed in only four lanes, pedestrian injuries from motorists and bicyclists declined by more than a third, according to the report.

Now Transportation Alternatives is shifting its focus to the Upper West Side, where the group is joining with the Department of Transportation and Community Board 7 to push for these lanes on Amsterdam and Columbus avenues.

The Upper West Side only has one painted bike lane—on Central Park West—that runs the length of the neighborhood, in addition to five bike lanes painted on area side streets.

A protected lane “sort of corrals [bicyclists], if you will, and it gives sidewalk walkers more safety and space,” said Lisa Sladkus, an organizer for Upper West Side Street Renaissance, a pedestrian and bicyclist advocacy group.

On the Upper West Side in 2005, there were 346 pedestrian and bicycle accidents, with five fatalities, which is the most recent information culled by Transportation Alternatives from city data.

Board 7, which has traditionally been friendly to pedestrian concerns, passed a resolution last month, 28 to 7, to collaborate with the Department of Transportation on the protected bike lanes.

“There has been such a call for them,” said Helen Rosenthal, former chair of Board 7. “We’re very enthusiastically participating.”

So is the area’s business community, which is becoming an integral part of bringing new lanes to the neighborhood. Rather than fight business interests, groups such as Upper West Side Streets Renaissance are courting business owners to support bike lanes and make the city plan around parking and delivery concerns. The group collected signatures from 108 businesses along Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, thanking Board 7 for passing the resolution and supporting the city’s bike lanes efforts.

“One of the rhetorical questions was, will businesses hate it,” said Peter Goldwasser, general counsel to Transportation Alternatives. “It’s clearly not the case.”

Eric Graff, a manager at Planet Kids, at 191 Amsterdam Ave. and West 69th Street, was more concerned with treacherous biking conditions along the avenue rather than with delivery problems for his business.

“There’s still going to be a spot by the curb,” said Graff, who signed the petition.

David Endo, a bicyclist and owner of Vitamin Peddler, at 364 Amsterdam Ave. and West 78th Street, also dismissed possible disruptions in his deliveries from a full lane being dedicated to bicycles.

“Potentially it could be [a problem],” Endo said. “But UPS, Fed Ex—they’ll just double park [on the other side of the lane] as usual.”

A concrete proposal from the Department of Transportation is still a long time off, and developing a timeline for this project is difficult, even with the city’s experience in Chelsea. But Board 7 wants to have its own design team working in tandem with the Department of Transportation throughout the winter. By spring, they are hoping to have a hard proposal for the community to review. Both biking advocates and the city are putting a premium on neighborhood input for clear signage to prevent pedestrians from walking into these lanes and for maintaining delivery space.

Keeping businesses abreast of new bike lanes would help stakeholders avoid some of the headaches Chelsea experienced with its protected lanes, said State Sen. Tom Duane, who represents both neighborhoods. He suggested getting ample community consultation.

“My experience,” he said, “is that including all of the stakeholders in the discussion before bike lanes are actually put in place makes a very big difference in acceptance of and, frankly, the use of bike lanes.”

–

Beyond Bike Lanes

As the site of the city’s first protected bike lanes, Chelsea gets to boast of being at the forefront of a new age of urban bicycling. But advocates hope the Upper West Side can become the first neighborhood to take part in a bike share program.

Modeled after similar programs in Washington, D.C. and Barcelona, Spain, residents could rent a bicycle at a designated station, then ride to their destination, leaving the bike for another cyclist.

This program would likely be popular among commuters, those who use bikes for small errands and tourists.

In a spring 2009 report on implementing a citywide program, the city suggested an initial plan to put 10,500 bicycles in a high-density area, funded through membership fees.

Council Member Gale Brewer, in a letter to Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, wrote that the Upper West Side would generate enough user data to plan for a citywide bike-sharing program. If the bike-share catches on for the Upper West Side, the city would be encouraged to expand the program, Brewer argued.

“The Upper West Side has a growing biking community that would embrace a bike share system,” Brewer wrote. “I foresee such a pilot program forming the basis of a permanent bike-sharing infrastructure.”

Council Member Gale Brewer and Margaret Forgione, Manhattan Borough Commissioner for the Department of Transportation, led a panel that detailed the transportation issues between West 55th and 86th streets. The study is a continuation of a 2007 survey that culled pedestrian concerns from West Siders.

The most frequently mentioned complaints—aside from bicyclists—were intersections congested with pedestrians and high-speed automobile driving. The survey highlighted 27 problem intersections.

There were four intersections in the study area that averaged 10 or more accidents a year between 2006 and 2008. One intersection, West 56th Street and Eighth Avenue, had five pedestrian accidents in a year.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) increased pedestrian crossing time at five avenues, including West End and Amsterdam avenues between West 60th and 81st streets. The change was intended to allow the neighborhood’s senior citizens to safely navigate large intersections.

“The DOT sees some very challenging intersections,” Brewer said. “I think the main goal is to slow down the traffic and figure out the best signal and best traffic pattern for such a pedestrian-heavy neighborhood.”

This year, the department also surveyed 99 small businesses in the area and found that more than half of them don’t offer employees incentives to take mass transit, and 66 percent were unwilling to accept night deliveries to alleviate truck congestion.

During the question and answer portion of the evening, more than two dozen West Siders made comments and asked questions, mainly about police enforcement of unruly bicyclists and automobiles.

One resident asked police to crack down on trucks that back up into crosswalks along the West 82nd Street truck route. Residents also complained of illegal left-hand turns at the intersections of West 79th Street and Riverside Drive, and West 72nd Street and West End Avenue.