March 6, 2024

NYC proposes revamped Second Avenue with ‘offset’ bus lane and wider bike lane

New York City wants to redesign a three-mile portion of Second Avenue to improve bus service and make it safer for cyclists. During a presentation to Manhattan Community Board 6 on Monday, the city’s Department of Transportation revealed a proposal to revamp the avenue from East 59th Street to Houston Street with a new "offset" bus lane in the center of the street, to allow for buses to maneuver around commercial curbside loading and unloading. The plan also includes widening bike lanes from six to eight feet, and even 10 feet at some sections.
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December 14, 2023

NYC unveils new protected bike lane on 10th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen

The city on Wednesday unveiled the first phase of safety upgrades to a stretch of 10th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen. Installed between West 38th Street and West 52nd Street, a new 10-foot wide northbound bike lane will more safely accommodate the growing number of cyclists, e-bike riders, and micro-mobility device users. Additional improvements include new concrete pedestrian islands, new bike corrals, and redesigned intersections to slow down drivers when turning.
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November 22, 2023

City unveils new bike boulevard on Berry Street in Williamsburg

New York City has transformed Brooklyn's Berry Street into a permanent two-way bike boulevard. Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez on Tuesday unveiled the new street design, which includes the reconfiguration of every intersection, new loading zones, and a series of one-way vehicle traffic reversals from Broadway to North 12th Street in Williamsburg. The street design builds upon the corridor's success as a pedestrian-focused open street and better connects to Domino and McCarren Parks and the Williamsburg Bridge.
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August 14, 2023

NYC pushing for bigger, wider electric cargo bikes

New York City is looking to permit bigger electric cargo bikes to deliver more goods more sustainably. The city's Department of Transportation on Monday announced a proposed rule allowing the use of pedal-assist bikes that are up to 48 inches wide with four wheels, compared to the currently permitted 36-inch-wide bikes with three wheels. The extra width and wheel would make the bikes easier to use, reducing the number of delivery trucks on city streets and cutting vehicle emissions and traffic. The announcement kicks off the 30-day public comment period, with a public hearing scheduled for next month.
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July 19, 2023

40 blocks of Manhattan’s Third Avenue to be transformed with bike and bus lanes

New York City is moving forward with its redesign of a 1.9-mile stretch of Manhattan's Third Avenue. Construction will begin next week on the "complete street," which will span from East 59th Street to 96th Street and include a new dedicated lane for buses and a parking-protected bike lane, the Department of Transportation announced. The redesign aims to make Third Avenue safer for pedestrians and cyclists; according to DOT, six pedestrians and one cyclist have been killed between 59th and 96th Street since 2016.
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October 13, 2022

Two-way bike lane opens on Downtown Brooklyn’s chaotic Schermerhorn Street

One of Brooklyn's busiest and most dangerous streets became safer this week. The city's Department of Transportation on Wednesday unveiled the Schermerhorn Street redesign, which includes a two-way protected bike lane, one-way vehicle traffic, and new pedestrian space. The street is an essential east-west route that connects cyclists to and from the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.
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August 2, 2022

Manhattan pol wants to turn lane of traffic on West Side Highway into a two-way bike lane

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine wants to turn one lane of car traffic on the West Side Highway into a two-way protected bike lane. The proposal aims to reduce pedestrian and cyclist congestion on the Hudson River Greenway, the busiest bikeway in the nation, by repurposing one of the highway lanes into a four-mile bike lane between Chambers Street and 57th Street.
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April 25, 2022

Adams announces nearly $1B investment for NYC Streets Plan

City officials are continuing their efforts to ensure the safety of New Yorkers traveling the streets. Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday announced a historic $904 million investment to help fund the NYC Streets Plan and address the city's traffic violence problem by creating a safer and more environmentally friendly transportation infrastructure. Over the next five years, the investment will be used to expand bike lanes and bus lanes throughout the city and will be put towards the creation of new pedestrian spaces.
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April 19, 2022

NYC restores alternate-side parking to clean streets and bike lanes

New York City officials announced plans to allocate millions of dollars to better clean city streets and bike lanes. Mayor Eric Adams and just-appointed Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Monday announced an $11 million investment for new street cleaning initiatives and better mobility for the sanitation department. Under the initiative, alternate-side parking will return in full force starting July 5. New Yorkers will have to move their cars twice per week, up from once a week during the pandemic, to clear the way for street sweepers and avoid getting a parking ticket.
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April 5, 2022

Council wants additional $3.1B to build up ‘NYC Streets Plan’

The New York City Council is calling on Mayor Eric Adams to allocate an additional $3.1 billion to build more bike lanes, bus lanes, and space for pedestrians. In a response to the mayor's preliminary budget for the fiscal year 2023 published this week, the council said the mayor would not be able to fulfill his campaign promise of building 300 miles of protected bus lanes during his first term due to a lack of funding. According to the council, the increased investment would allow for 500 miles of protected bike lanes, 500 miles of bus lanes, and 38 million square feet of open pedestrian space, according to the Council's proposal.
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February 22, 2022

NYC begins effort to ‘harden’ 20 miles of protected bike lanes

The New York City Department of Transportation is implementing new strategies to keep cyclists safe while navigating the hectic city streets. Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez on Friday announced the start of a new project that will fortify half of all delineator-protected bike lanes in NYC, which better protects cyclists and keeps lanes clear of vehicles. Originally set to be completed within the first 100 days of Rodriguez's term, as Streetsblog reported, the city now aims to harden 20 of the city's 40 miles of delineator-protected bike lines by the end of 2023.
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September 15, 2021

The Brooklyn Bridge bike lane is finally open

A long-awaited two-way protected bike lane officially opened on the Brooklyn Bridge Tuesday. Advocated for years by cyclists, the new path replaces the innermost car lane of the Manhattan-bound side of the iconic bridge and leaves the existing elevated promenade for pedestrians only. Both foot and bike traffic on the bridge, nicknamed the "Times Square in the Sky," skyrocketed in recent years, leading to dangerous, crowded conditions.
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January 29, 2021

Bike lanes to replace car lanes on the Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges

New York City plans to ban cars from part of two major East River bridges and reserve them for cyclists. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday unveiled a proposal to transform the innermost lane of the Brooklyn Bridge into a two-way protected bike lane and convert the north outer roadway of the Queensboro Bridge into a two-way bike-only lane. The "Bridges for the People" plan was announced as part of the mayor's final State of the City address, "A Recovery for All of Us."
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June 17, 2020

New report calls for a 425-mile protected bikeway that would connect NYC’s five boroughs

When the coronavirus pandemic hit New York City earlier this year, many New Yorkers swapped the subway for cycling as a more socially distant way to commute. Now as the city enters its COVID-19 recovery phase, a planning group is calling on officials to build a network of protected bike lanes across the five boroughs. The Regional Plan Association (RPA) on Wednesday released a report that details plans for a 425-mile bikeway that could be constructed over the next five years and provide a continuous, safe connection between the boroughs.
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December 19, 2019

See BIG and WXY’s vision for a pedestrian-friendly Downtown Brooklyn

A plan to improve the streets and public space of Downtown Brooklyn was unveiled on Thursday, as officials look to accommodate the area's booming population. Created in collaboration with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, Bjarke Ingels Group, and WXY architecture + urban design, the "Public Realm Action Plan" calls for fewer cars, more bike lanes, a bus-only lane, and more parks and plazas. As first reported by CityLab, the proposal takes ideas from already-implemented street redesigns, like the new 14th Street busway. 
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December 5, 2019

Electric cargo bikes will replace some delivery trucks in NYC

Nearly two million packages on average are delivered in New York City each day, causing vans and trucks to clog already congested streets. Looking to address delivery-related traffic, as well as cut vehicle emissions, the city announced on Wednesday a pilot program that would encourage companies to use cargo bikes instead of trucks to deliver parcels in Manhattan below 60th Street.
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December 4, 2019

Work starts on transforming Hudson Street to a ‘grand allée’ with wide sidewalks and bike lanes

In May, the city announced plans to make Hudson Street between Canal and West Houston Streets in Hudson Square into a grand boulevard with wider sidewalks, parking-protected bike lanes, and small outdoor "living rooms" with seating surrounded by greenery are moving forward with design and construction teams on board. And now, work has officially commenced on the first phase of the project, shortly after Disney revealed its forthcoming Hudson Square headquarters, which will bring 5,000 new employees to the area.
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October 31, 2019

NYC Council passes $1.7B plan to add 250 miles of protected bike lanes and 1M sqft of pedestrian space

On Monday, after initially expressing concerns over City Council Speaker Corey Johnson's "Streets Master Plan," Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council came to an agreement over the bill, which passed yesterday. The sweeping $1.7 billion plan will require the city to build 250 miles of protected bike lanes and 150 miles of protected bus lanes. In addition, it will add one million square feet of pedestrian space over the first two years.
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August 1, 2019

After local condo board sues, judge rules that Central Park West bike lane can go forward

Earlier this week, a group of Upper West Side residents from the Century Condominium filed a suit against the city for its plans to install a protected bike lane on Central Park West, attempting to cease its construction immediately. As 6sqft previously reported, the bike lane plan consists of installing a northbound protected lane from 59th Street to 110th Street–eliminating 400 parking spots in the process (another point of contention for the plaintiffs). But yesterday, Supreme Court Justice Lynn Kotler ruled against their request for a “temporary restraining order” and expressed skepticism over their claims that the bike lane would bring “immediate and irreparable harm to the neighborhood,” as Streetsblog reported. Work crews will continue putting in the bike lane—which doesn’t actually involve any construction, just painting street markings—until city lawyers and plaintiffs reconvene in court on August 20.
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July 29, 2019

Ranking the city’s most dangerous intersections for NYC cyclists

Just days after Mayor de Blasio unveiled a new plan to make the city’s streets safer for cyclists, another fatal accident occurred when a 30-year-old cyclist was struck near the intersection of Third Avenue and 36th Street in Sunset Park around 9 a.m. this morning. As Streetsblog reported, the incident brings the year’s death toll up to 18—nearly double what it was all of last year. Redesigning intersections is a component of De Blasio’s new $58 million initiative, which says it will ramp up NYPD enforcement at the 100 most crash-prone intersections and renovate 50 intersections. While the Department of Transportation hasn’t yet disclosed what those intersections will be, home-search platform Localize.city has created a list of the top ten most dangerous intersections for cyclists.
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July 25, 2019

De Blasio to announce $58.4M bike safety plan after uptick in cyclist deaths

Update 7/25/19: De Blasio unveiled on Thursday his "Green Wave" plan, which includes spending $58.4 million over the next five years on making city streets safer for bikers. In addition to adding more protected bike lanes and redesigning intersections, the plan calls for a media campaign on cyclist safety, as well as community engagement programs.  Following a recent spike in cyclist deaths, Mayor Bill de Blasio will unveil on Thursday a $58.4 million plan to make streets safer. As first reported by the New York Times, the plan includes constructing more protected bike lanes, redesigning intersections, and hiring 80 new transportation workers over the next five years. The proposal comes after 17 cyclists were killed in New York City so far this year, seven more fatalities than all of 2018.
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July 3, 2019

Protected bike lane coming to Central Park West after community board approval

A community board on Tuesday approved a plan to build a new protected bike lane along Central Park West, about one year after a cyclist was killed by a truck there. As West Side Rag reported, Manhattan's Community Board 7 voted in favor of the city's plan, which consists of a northbound protected lane from 59th to 110th Street. Ahead of the bike lane's construction, 400 parking spaces will be eliminated on Central Park West.
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May 21, 2019

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s new bill is a ‘roadmap to breaking the car culture’

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson's comprehensive "complete streets" bill arrives just three months after he proposed a five-year plan to make New Yorkers who take mass transit, walk and bike a priority over motor vehicle drivers. Johnson plans to introduce legislation next week that would require city officials to build 150 miles of dedicated bus lanes and 250 miles of protected bike lanes within a five year period, Streetsblog reports. Johnson said, “I want to completely revolutionize how we share our street space, and that’s what this bill does. This is a roadmap to breaking the car culture in a thoughtful, comprehensive way.”
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May 8, 2019

LPC approves new bike lane for Prospect Park’s perimeter

Brooklyn is getting a new bike lane. The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday approved a plan from the city's Parks Department to build a protected bike lane on Ocean Avenue around the perimeter of Prospect Park. But two LPC commissioners opposed the design because it calls for removing 57 healthy trees to make way for the new path, the Brooklyn Eagle reported.
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November 15, 2018

De Blasio announces new Delancey Street bike lanes ahead of L train shutdown

Mayor de Blasio has announced the opening of a new quarter-mile, two-way protected bike lane along Delancey Street on the Lower East Side. The stretch connects to the Williamsburg Bridge, the most traveled by cyclists of all the East River crossings, and is "expected to play a central role during the shutdown of L train service between Brooklyn and Manhattan" when it begins on April 27th. Currently, 7,300 cyclists cross the Bridge each day, and the Mayor expects the new bike lanes to double or even triple that number.
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