BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) — A controversial protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg is being removed and replaced with a painted, unprotected bike lane following strong community pushback from parents concerned about their children’s safety.
The change comes after a prolonged legal battle and heated debate, with city crews now in the process of dismantling the protected lane along three blocks between Flushing and Willoughby avenues.
Joel Weberman, a Williamsburg father of nine whose children rely on the school bus daily along this route, expressed relief at the decision.
“It’s a sigh of relief. A long fight came to an end,” Weberman said. He and other concerned parents argued that the protected bike lane posed unique dangers during school bus pick-up and drop-off, as young children sometimes run or step into the bike lane when boarding or exiting the bus.
“Just that design just happened to be a miscalculation, and our kids were at stake,” he added.
While NYC Department of Transportation data showed a 47% decline in injuries on this stretch with the protected bike lane in place, many local residents insisted the risk to children was specific and urgent.
An anonymous parent emphasized the importance of safety at bus stops, saying, “The effect this is going to have on the children. The safety and the security they’re going to feel when they get on and off the bus every day. This is something as a parent that I’m so glad the mayor did this for us.”
Weberman highlighted the practical benefits of removing the protected lane, “Now the children will be safer when they go on a bus. The bus will be able to block the bike lane at all when he makes that stop. And everyone will stop according to the law and the kids will just go up.”
He also noted the chaotic nature of small children at bus stops, saying, “You know, small kids, they all always run. You can’t, uh, stop them. You could stop the bikers for that minute. The bus is putting it on and, uh, we hope that’s going to take it safe.”
The decision follows months of legal wrangling.
Mayor Eric Adams sided with parents and community leaders, authorizing the removal of the protected bike lane despite opposition from transportation advocates and data warning that the change could increase risk for all street users. Courts upheld the city’s authority to proceed with the removal, dismissing legal challenges from bike safety groups.
Opponents of the removal criticized Mayor Adams’s choice. Executive Director with Transportation Alternatives, Ben Furnas said, “Thanks to Mayor Adams, Brooklyn just got more dangerous. By reverting a safer street to a more dangerous one, Mayor Adams has made a blatantly self-interested decision, putting New Yorkers at increased risk of injury or death for the sake of his own political prospects.”
For Weberman and families like his, the restoration of a painted bike lane is a cause for gratitude. “It took longer than we thought. Harder than we thought, but we thank God that be the end of it,” he said.
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