{"id":212679,"date":"2026-04-28T15:03:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/212679\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T15:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:03:22","slug":"tuesdays-headlines-close-the-gap-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/212679\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday’s Headlines: Close The Gap Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know that feeling when you\u2019re biking along all safe and sound in a protected bike lane \u2014 and then suddenly, the protection ends, usually at the most-dangerous clusterfuck of an intersection?<\/p>\n

Well, three Council members from Brooklyn know the feeling and want the Department of Transportation to do something about it.<\/p>\n

Council members Shahana Hanif (D-Park Slope), Crystal Hudson (D-Fort Greene) and Lincoln Restler (D-Downtown) penned a missive to DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn last week to address \u201cshort but critical gaps in the protected bike lane network \u2026 to connect seamlessly into the broader network.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trio praised Flynn for his commitment to soon adding protections<\/a> to the southernmost block of Ashland Place in Downtown Brooklyn \u2014 which would close a huge gap that has existed ever since the Adams administration traded safety for backroom deals<\/a> with special interests.<\/p>\n

But once that one-block gap is filled, Brooklyn still needs three very short gaps closed:<\/p>\n

Schermerhorn Street between Third and Flatbush avenues.<\/p>\n

Lafayette Avenue from Flatbush to Ashland Place.<\/p>\n

Fourth Avenue between Dean Street and Flatbush.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the area looks on a map:<\/p>\n

\"\"Gaps in the bike network (red gaps added by Streetsblog) are exceptionally dangerous, three Council members say. Map: DOT<\/a><\/p>\n

We asked DOT for a timeline on these short projects, and spokesman Scott Gastel said, \u201cImplementation season is just recently underway, and we will have more details to share in the coming weeks and months.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a related story, however, all three Council members are likely to cheer today at 10 a.m. when the DOT has a ceremonial groundbreaking for its largely hailed<\/a> plan for protected, center-running bus lanes<\/a> on Flatbush Avenue. I\u2019ll be there, anchoring the full-team coverage.<\/p>\n

In other news:<\/p>\n

Speaking of dangerous places, sign the petition to make Ocean Avenue safer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And speaking of Restler, he and Assembly Member Emily Gallagher are focusing attention on planned work that will shutter the G train on all weekends in June and December, plus other weekends in between. Gallagher called it \u201cunacceptable<\/a>,\u201d while Restler called for discounts on Citi Bike (in a Mamdani-esque social post<\/a>). Restler will have a presser today at noon with Borough President Antonio Reynoso at the Nassau Avenue G station near where the Bedford Avenue slip lane hits Nassau. (amNY<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The City<\/a> looked at the MTA\u2019s anger over \u201cbillboard lawyers\u201d \u2014\u00a0whose billboards cover the subways and buses.<\/p>\n

Mayor Mamdani unveiled some World Cup viewing parties at various stadia (Politico<\/a>, NY Post<\/a>, amNY<\/a>), but he dodged our question about the smaller open streets events that he\u2019s apparently canceled<\/a>. He did say there\u2019s more to come, so we won\u2019t reset the Mamdani-O-Meter just yet.<\/p>\n

Look out, bus fare evaders. (NYDN<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The Post<\/a> tried out the bus simulator.<\/p>\n

Curtis Sliwa (wearing his radio beret, not his candidate beret) praised our story about the Staten Island cop with the 547 camera tickets, saying he respected it for \u201cgoing full Streetsblog.\u201d (That\u2019s a badge of honor). (WOR<\/a>)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for Jost and Davidson to take this sinking ship and \u2026 sink it. (The City<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Carnage in Borough Park. (Boro Park 24<\/a>)<\/p>\n

So much for transparency at Amtrak\u2019s Penn Station project. (Trains<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Do you want to work on the Roosevelt Island tram? (Click here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Here come the quad-copters. (Hell Gate<\/a>, NY Post<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Paris is still eating our lunch when it comes to car-free travel. (X.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Even when a driver is stopped at a light, he\u2019s not safe from other drivers. (NYDN<\/a>)<\/p>\n

And, finally, I\u2019ve risked my reputation for collegiality by condemning my fellow members of the news media for parking all over the Foley Square plaza where Lorenzo Pace\u2019s monumental fountain sculpture, \u201cTriumph of the Human Spirit,\u201d rises in honor of the enslaved people who were traded and abused there hundreds of years ago. I have long<\/a> complained<\/a> to the Parks Department about the treatment of this sacred space. And the agency once said it agreed with me<\/a>. But yesterday, McRib Hard Seltzer revealed the harsh truth on Twitter: Nobody cares but everybody cars:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You know that feeling when you\u2019re biking along all safe and sound in a protected bike lane \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-212679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}