Judge halts Adams’ removal of Bedford Avenue protected bike lane

A disputed stretch of protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn was spared demolition for a second time, after a state judge blocked the Adams administration from removing it just hours before construction was set to begin. On Tuesday, state appellate court judge Lourdes M. Ventura issued a temporary restraining order, halting the city’s plan to shift the lane from the curb to the center of the avenue between Willoughby and Flushing Avenues. The decision came less than a week after another judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by street safety advocates, ruling that Mayor Eric Adams could move forward with the redesign because it “is not a major transportation project.”

Judge Ventura’s order bars the city from “removing or modifying the parking-protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue between Willoughby Avenue and Flushing Avenue” until she issues a ruling, according to Streetsblog. The Adams administration has one week to respond to the decision, after which the court will determine whether to extend the block on demolition for the duration of the appeal.

The bike lane was built in October 2024 and is protected from traffic by a parking lane. It also implemented new pedestrian islands and loading zones for curbside access. The city designated this stretch of Bedford Avenue a Vision Zero Priority Corridor due to dangerous speeding conditions, with five pedestrian fatalities since 2020.

In June, Mayor Adams announced plans to remove a section of the protected bike lane following several crashes involving cyclists and pedestrians—particularly young children—and to restore it to its original, unprotected design.

In response, Transportation Alternatives filed a lawsuit against the administration, claiming that Adams couldn’t relocate the bike lane without an environmental study, prompting a temporary pause on the project.

However, on July 10, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Carolyn Walker-Diallo gave the city’s Department of Transportation the green light to remove part of the protected bike lane, noting that the removal was based on “community feedback, continued illegal parking in drop-off zones, and underutilization of drop-off zones by school bus drivers.” She added that “a bike lane will still exist at that location,” as 6sqft previously reported.

Ben Furnas, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, criticized the ruling, claiming it would make Bedford Avenue unsafe for everyone. He also noted that the ruling failed to mention Exhibit B—a June 2025 DOT report warning that removing the protected bike lane could make the avenue less safe while exposing the city to liability. 

According to Transportation Alternatives, the DOT presentation showed that injuries between DeKalb and Flushing Avenues had dropped 47 percent and stated, “removing the protected bike lane (PBL) won’t remove cyclists—it will only make the street less safe.”

In an official statement, Furnas praised Tuesday’s ruling and vowed to continue fighting to preserve the bike lane.

“The bulldozers might be ready to destroy the Bedford Avenue safety improvements, but the Adams administration is going to have to spend their night preparing their legal case, not ripping out a critical safety project and central Brooklyn’s only protected bike lane,” Furnas said.

“The fight to save the Bedford Avenue safety improvements continues, and we won’t back down until everyone can get home safely.”

An Adams administration spokesperson told Streetsblog that the “unnecessary” appeal will only delay addressing local residents’ concerns.

“After several dangerous incidents—many of which involved children—the Adams administration listened to the community’s concerns and moved to reconfigure the bike lane to its original model while still maintaining safety measures.”

They continued: “Last week’s ruling clearly affirmed that the reconfiguration of this bike lane is fully within our legal authority. This unnecessary appeal will only delay easing the safety concerns plaguing Williamsburg parents. We will revisit this matter in court, where we are confident we will prevail yet again.”

The city has until July 23 to argue for lifting Ventura’s injunction, which will be followed by a hearing on the plaintiff’s case against the city.

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