At a Build the Block meeting at Cobble Hill Nursing Home in September, Officers John Asanesco and Lauren Maragni stood before a room of about 40 residents to hear their complaints. The number one topic: reckless bikers. But complaint data shows that drivers may also be blocking bikers’ paths.
“When your path is blocked and you’re in the bike lane, you have to go out into oncoming traffic and then come on back into the bike lane,” said Dulcie Canton, Brooklyn organizer at Transportation Alternatives, an organization that advocates for bikers, pedestrians and better public transportation in New York City.
“It’s a very nerve-wracking maneuver and sometimes cars, they don’t anticipate you going into their lane. That’s when you have crashes happen.”
Complaints of blocked bike lanes in Community District 6 have been on the rise as tension between bikers and drivers mounts. The number of complaints in the district increased by 70 percent since January 2017, which may be due to more bike path obstructions or more reports being made.
Most complaints result in police officers not being able to observe the violation once they arrive on the scene.
Most of these complaints were directed to the New York Police Department, which may result in a summons for the driver obstructing the bike lane. But most complaints result in police officers not being able to observe the violation once they arrive on the scene.
Although the NYPD is responsible for keeping bike lanes unobstructed, Canton says she would rather avoid any police involvement.
“I think it should be about design so that we don’t need to involve the NYPD,” she said. “This is a big problem, infrastructure-wise,” she said. “Bike lanes are the best, I feel, when they are curb sided — when they’re parking protected.”