The purpose of the redesign is to make the corridor safer for drivers, pedestrians and bikers, the city\u2019s Department of Transportation says. But local residents and merchants \u2014 including some bike aficionados \u2014 are saying the redesign does just the opposite.<\/p>\n
Fourth-generation Carroll Gardens resident Mark Scotto said the backlash over the redesign has revived the Court Street Merchants Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen this happened, there was an uproar,\u201d Scotto told the Eagle. \u201cWe feel completely slighted and ignored. The city DOT is saying that they came to the community, and basically they\u2019ve lied to us on multiple occasions. With the Court Street Merchants Association\u2019s lawsuit, we\u2019re asking for discovery. We\u2019re asking DOT, \u2018You reached out to all these businesses and you say 200 businesses have supported this plan? So who are they? And where\u2019s the documentation? You\u2019re telling us that you\u2019ve done all these studies that show Court Street is so dangerous? Then show them to us.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Gridlock](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Court-st-mess-03-Mario-Belluomo-600x400.jpg\")
Gridlock at the southern end of Court Street can be particularly bad. Photo courtesy of Mario Belluomo<\/p>\n
The merchants don\u2019t have a problem with bike lanes, Scotto emphasized. He personally rides a high-end Trek carbon fiber bicycle. \u201cI bike from my residence in Downtown Brooklyn to New Jersey, I bike to Long Beach in Long Island, I bike all over the place. But this bike lane doesn\u2019t work for a host of reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scotto says businesses have multiple concerns. \u201cSafety is the first and foremost thing on everybody\u2019s mind, followed by accessibility, not only for first responders and deliveries but for customers,\u201d he said. \u201cThese electric bikes do not make a sound, they go upwards of 30 miles an hour in both directions, and there\u2019s no buffer off the sidewalk. It\u2019s just a matter of time before somebody gets critically hurt.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emergency vehicles have to drive in the bike lane now, and, \u201cObviously, fire trucks cannot make it down the bike lane. I\u2019m not sure if an ambulance can,\u201d Scotto said. \u201cI personally witnessed police cars doing 40 miles an hour in this protected bike lane, right on the curb. And that is a huge, huge concern.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lease for the CVS on Court Street between First and Second Place is coming due in six months, \u201cand the regional management says if this bike lane stays like it is, and they have that much trouble getting their tractor trailer in for deliveries, they\u2019ll just go out of here,\u201d Scotto said.<\/p>\n
He also cited the traffic jams. \u201cI was on Court Street last night, and a UPS truck \u2014 one of those big brown trucks \u2014 stopped in the middle of the street and the driver went down the block to deliver. The traffic was backed up all the way past Atlantic Avenue. After he cleared the spot and left, a police car came down the emergency lane, and at First Place he couldn\u2019t continue because the CVS tractor trailer was half in the bike lane, so he had to get out onto First Place and go in the regular traffic lane, which was completely jammed up, and he just couldn\u2019t get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many problems that we\u2019re seeing with it, and all we get from DOT when we bring up these issues \u2014 and many of them are safety issues \u2014 is, \u2018Well, the plan is still being implemented, and we\u2019re not at full implementation yet, so it\u2019s going to get better,\u201d Scotto said.<\/p>\n
![\"Cars](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Court-St-mess-02-fire-truck-Mark-Ledzian-600x452.jpg\")
Cars stacked up on Court Street behind a fire truck responding to an emergency. Photo courtesy of Mark Ledzian
\nBusiness down 10-15% at D\u2019Amico\u2019s<\/p>\n
D\u2019Amico Coffee Roasters, at 309 Court St. (between Sackett and DeGraw streets) since 1948, is one of the oldest businesses on the street.<\/p>\n
The lane redesign \u201cis hurting business tremulously,\u201d said owner Joan D\u2019Amico. She is still in the middle of computing the numbers, but says business \u201cis definitely down. I would say maybe 10 to 15% already.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve moved the bus stop to the middle of the block, and where the bus stop used to be there\u2019s now a turning lane,\u201d D\u2019Amico said. \u201cThen they took away all the parking on this block. The only parking there now is commercial parking from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.\u201d<\/p>\n
People used to run in and grab a cup of coffee or breakfast in the morning, or a pound of coffee to take home, and that\u2019s impossible now, she said. \u201cWe open at 7 a.m. That means when my customers come by in the morning, there\u2019s nowhere to pull up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two restaurants across the street from D\u2019Amico have the same problem, she added. Diners will have to feed the meters every hour until 10 p.m. \u2014 if they are even allowed to park in the zone for more than an hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody\u2019s against the bike lane; it\u2019s the way they did it,\u201d she said. \u201cNo one knew the extent of this at all, and they didn\u2019t ask for our input on anything. They ended up hurting us tremendously with such a severe change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Churches also say the design is dysfunctional. Monsignor Guy Massie, Administrator of St. Mary Star of the Sea Church at 467 Court St., told Catholic publication \u201cThe Tablet\u201d that the bike lane would block access to the church.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do I get a funeral in here or a wedding in here?\u201d he asked. \u201cHow do you do this without causing more chaos on Court Street?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Court-St-mess-01-fire-truck-Mark-Ledzian-600x400.jpg\")
This fire truck is parked in the traffic lane at Court and Baltic streets, with traffic jammed up into the distance. Photo courtesy of Mark Ledzian
\nOne FDNY ladder truck can jam traffic to Atlantic\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a bike rider. I appreciate the concept of more bike lanes \u2014 but the new lane on Court Street doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d Brooklyn Heights resident and cyclist Mark Ledzian told the Eagle. \u201cIt was immediately apparent to me that what\u2019s great for the bikes would be a disaster for Court Street, the traffic and anyone in need of emergency assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ledzian sent in photos of a Fire Department ladder truck parked in the traffic lane at Court and Baltic streets, with cars jammed up into the distance. \u201cThis is the scene on Court Street Sunday afternoon,\u201d around 4:30 p.m. on October 19, he said. \u201cWe could smell smoke. The traffic jammed up immediately. Some cars attempted to back out but there was nowhere to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mario Belluomo, a former Kings County Supreme Court officer and photographer, also sent in photos. \u201cWe were driving on Court maybe two weeks ago,\u201d \u201cMy wife and I noticed that something was weird, and I said, \u2018Something\u2019s not right here.\u2019 It took us literally a half hour, to 35 minutes, this was around school time, to get to Ninth Street. It was backed up, between the bus and the lights not being synchronized. I said, \u2018I\u2019ve never seen anything like this.\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cI don\u2019t know how people are going to make deliveries. It\u2019s crazy. It\u2019s just a crazy idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Overview](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Court-st-mess-06-DOT-600x335.jpg\")
Overview of some of the design elements in the Court Street redesign plan. Graphic: NYCDOT
\nNinth Street especially bad<\/p>\n
Industrialist John Quadrozzi Jr., who owns the Gowanus Bay Terminal, said that the Ninth Street truck route \u201ccan get pretty bad, as gridlock frequently occurs, coupled with turning buses and trucks that cannot swing the turn onto Court due the car parking in the middle of the street. This is the issue on many of the busier cross streets, but not as frequently as Ninth Street, being it\u2019s the lower end and backed up from Hamilton Avenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSadly, Court Street was the last semi-functional street in the area,\u201d Quadrozzi said. \u201cTo me, it seems that the anti-car climate of city government is at play, and it\u2019s narrow minded, impractical and a disservice to public interest and needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overview of some of the design elements in the Court Street redesign plan. Graphic: NYCDOT
\nDOT says be patient<\/p>\n
The New York City Department of Transportation told the Eagle on Friday that the redesign is ongoing, and they will monitor and make adjustments as needed. They expect to wrap up the project in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cCourt Street is actively being redesigned, with much more work to come to repaint the road, retime signals, and add loading zones for businesses,\u201d DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone said. \u201cIt\u2019s far too soon to judge a half-finished design, and we expect traffic to flow smoothly on Court\u2014protecting New Yorkers from dangerous crashes and supporting local businesses\u2014when it\u2019s completed, as we\u2019ve seen with countless projects across the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agency cites studies showing that adding bike infrastructure like this is good for businesses, with sales revenue increasing after such lanes are installed. One is DOT\u2019s \u201cThe Economic Benefit of Sustainable Streets<\/a>,\u201d and another is Streetsblog\u2019s study showing business improvement after a protected bike lane was installed on Skillman Avenue<\/a> in Queens in 2017.<\/p>\n In her recent newsletter, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon said she shared her concerns with DOT about the need for increased communication and engagement, and to address safety issues during the rollout. Several changes have already been made to the original design, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cLocal merchants expressed to me that they feel they weren\u2019t consulted and have ideas for how to resolve what they believe is a problematic approach that will interfere with regular deliveries,\u201d Simon said. \u201cI encouraged DOT and the Court Street merchants to discuss their concerns.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n You can learn more by viewing the DOT\u2019s June presentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAugust 13 | \t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760679729_608_ultima-reader-response.png\"\/)
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Greenway-map-nyc-250x250.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCity officials release plan for expanding NYC greenways<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMary Frost\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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