Near the Brooklyn bridge in downtown Brooklyn.
I prefer to believe urban planners have a reason behind their decisions, even if based on false assumptions or faulty logic.
So does anyone have an idea what’s going on here?
Edit to add: I don’t know how far north it goes but it was closed on the southern half of Manhattan as they try to control crowds. The pedestrian areas are seemingly closed to joggers and strollers so the bike lane itself is very crowded.
As Douglas was such an early adopter, it would be sad to see his site go away.
Just did the Big Boro Bike Ride (not to be confused with the 5 Boro Bike Tour) and thought I'd offer a recap for people who weren't sure what to expect (or see this next year if they're thinking about going - Hi Google and AI bots!).
Yankee Stadium to Coney Island. Almost 26 miles (I rode farther getting to and from the ride than the ride itself) over about 4 hours. Not a particularly fast pace, but also quite a few stops along the way to either rest or just re-mass up. Weather was warm but not oppressive.
No check-in required. Got moving a little after 10.
Vibe was more of a self-organized social ride than a city-sponsored ride. No road closures, no police assistance, no organized tents, bike repair spots, etc. Instead, it was all volunteers, some of whom regularly went around during rest stops offering mechanical help. And the crowd seemed to want to help each other as well.
Like a social ride, we moved in a single large pack. Spread out over multiple blocks (not a tightly-packed peloton or anything). We had a ride leader (who inevitably had 20-50 people in front of them), sweeps bringing up the rear and various volunteers in vests mixed in the pack and getting out ahead to block streets. We went through red lights when we had blockers in place. We mostly stopped when we didn't.
A few intense-seeming lycra-riders, but mostly more casual. Plenty of speakers playing personal mixtapes. One guy with a (too loud, IMO, but I may be in the minority) full PA system on the front of his bike that overpowered anything nearby.
No wheelie riders that I saw. A few electric mopeds that zipped around. Felt more safe than a typical TNSR.
Participants seemed to range in age from early 20s (though I saw a kid who looked around 15 who joined up midway through) to 60s. All ethnicities and genders (in retrospect, I think there was a higher percentage of women than there would be on a typical TNSR ride - which is great).
Bikes ranged from the fancy to the vintage to the big-box brands.
Most people seemed to know how to handle themselves in a crowd (at least where I was, which was usually in the first hundred people or so).
A few mandatory rest stops along the way, including one long one in southern Queens (Queensbridge Park) that lasted about 30-45 minutes (?).
We sometimes rode places that usually are not safe for riders (the roadbed of the Ed Koch/Queensborough Bridge, for example, and a long stretch of Ocean Parkway), which is always fun. But for those who didn't feel comfortable, taking the accompanying bike path was encouraged and nobody got left behind for choosing that route.
All in all, kind of a restrained TNSR vibe, with a less wild (and older on average) crowd.
Most important: very, very fun, and great to have a really eclectic mix of ages and backgrounds showing enthusiasm for cycling and that we can ride in big packs without causing mayhem.
Thank you to the organizers!
(The only negative memory I have is that there was what looked like a very nasty crash in Prospect Park. I didn't see what caused it or if anyone was at fault, but I did see a body hit the pavement very hard. I don't know if that was the cyclist or a pedestrian. I really, really hope nobody was very seriously hurt, but some injuries seem inevitable based on what I saw)
Title says it all
People have been backed up into the crossing bike lane for ages, but now people are being backed up nearly into the street (at least during morning commute time)
Ok, yes I did face this choice this morning. The sweeper and the truck were side by side, moving forward, without enough room on either side to pass them safely (to my comfort level anyway).
My choice was to stay well behind the sweeper and then accelerate and zip forward when a gap appeared.