Mayor Adams to remove part of protected bike lane on Bedford Ave

Mayor Eric Adams on Friday announced the city will remove part of the protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn after concerns from local residents. Last year, a 1.5-mile protected bike lane was added to Bedford Avenue from Dean Street in Crown Heights to Flushing Avenue in Bed-Stuy, a section known for being unsafe due to speeding vehicles. But after several crashes between cyclists and pedestrians, particularly with young children, the mayor said three blocks of the protected bike lane will be removed and returned to its original unprotected configuration.

The city’s Department of Transportation redesigned the Bedford Avenue bike lane to protect it from traffic with a parking lane. The agency also added pedestrian islands and new loading zones to allow for curbside access.

This section of Bedford, between Dean and Flushing, was made a Vision Zero Priority Corridor because of its dangerous speeding conditions. According to the city, there have been five pedestrian fatalities there since 2020.

As Streetsblog reported, five months before the implementation of the bike lane in October 2024, there were 88 reported crashes on that section of Bedford Avenue, with 51 injuries, including six cyclists and 10 pedestrians. In the first five months of the installation, there were 72 reported crashes and 38 total injuries.

An online petition calling for the removal of five blocks of the bike lane was started soon after the bike lane debuted last fall. The petition, which claimed the bike lane put 1,500 schoolchildren at risk, has since collected over 3,300 signatures.

“In just the first two days of its implementation, countless parents reported near-miss incidents involving their children being nearly struck by bikers who failed to stop at the bus stop signs,” the petition reads.

Several crashes were caught on video and shared online. One video showed an e-bike rider hitting a young girl who stepped into the bike lane from a double-parked car. According to Gothamist, at a town hall in Williamsburg hosted by the mayor two weeks ago, the Hasidic community criticized the bike lane and recommended its removal.

As a result of “community feedback,” three blocks of the bike lane, between Willoughby and Flushing Avenues, will be removed by the end of June, the mayor announced.

“After several incidents–including some involving children–on a section of the Bedford Avenue bike lane in Williamsburg, Department of Transportation Commissioner Rodriguez and I listened to community concerns and decided to adjust the current design to better reflect community feedback,” Adams said in a statement on Friday.

“In doing so, the city will restore the original configuration of the Bedford bike lane between Willoughby Street and Flushing Avenue, while maintaining existing intersection daylighting treatments to protect pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists alike, and ensuring that pedestrians and cyclists can move safely around the neighborhood.”

On X, the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn thanked the mayor for his decision. “Thank you @NYCMayor for accepting our proposal that was presented at our meeting with the @NYC_DOT Commissioner two weeks ago. This action is essential to protecting children coming and going to school.”

But the move angered bike and street safety advocates. Ben Furnas, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, said removing the lane undermines the “safety of every person that uses the street.” Furnas also said it’s not legal for the mayor to suddenly remove a bike lane under a new law passed last year that requires notification.

“Suddenly removing the bike lane is also illegal — under Intro 417, passed last year, New York City requires notice and potential community board hearing on the addition or removal of a bike lane,” Furnas said in a statement.

“There is no other way to bike safely from much of Central Brooklyn to North Brooklyn — and with this announcement, the mayor is demanding Bed-Stuy residents put themselves at risk just to get home.”

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