{"id":359517,"date":"2026-09-29T04:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T04:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/359517\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T04:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T04:32:15","slug":"eyes-on-the-street-bedford-avenue-remains-mayor-mamdanis-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/359517\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyes On The Street: Bedford Avenue Remains Mayor Mamdani’s Mess"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, on a bicycle, time travel is possible. <\/p>\n

Where the protected bike lane abruptly ends at Willoughby Avenue, northbound cyclists are pushed back to the unsafe past: an unprotected \u201cbike lane\u201d that does little but serve as overflow parking<\/a> for the many scofflaws of the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

This barrier between the present and the unsafe past is a symbol of how New York City\u2019s streetscape has been shaped<\/a> by political power and moneyed interests instead of by the principals of safe design. The protected bike lane, which was installed under Mayor Eric Adams, once reached all the way to Flushing Avenue. Adams had his DOT un-protect the final three blocks after the local Hasidic community complained that the cyclists were endangering children getting on and off school buses.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one clip showing a cyclist endangered:<\/p>\n

When then-Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani was vying for the office, he told Streetsblog<\/a> that \u201cthe major obstacles\u201d to making streets safer have been a \u201clack of political will and an administration that leverages streets usage and design to broker political deals rather than advancing the wellbeing of New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Reset because of Bedford Ave.<\/p>\n

As mayor, Mamdani has made it a point to re-start the projects Adams stymied \u2026 except for Bedford Avenue, a notable exception<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor, he made a lot of promises, but then he realizes once you\u2019re in office, you have to make some compromises. So there\u2019s one of the compromises he seems to have made is that it\u2019s not that important for him to continue this bike lane, he\u2019d rather continue his relationship with his community,\u201d said Baruch Herzfeld, a cycling advocate and Brooklyn resident who, along with his son, Rafe Herzfeld<\/a>, sued the Adams administration for removing the lane.<\/p>\n

The community<\/a> in question, the Satmar Hasidim of South Williamsburg, has been publicly supportive<\/a> of Mamdani, even as the larger Jewish establishment leans into Islamophobic tropes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It has now been over three months since Streetsblog reset out Mamdani-o-meter because of Hizzoner\u2019s failure to commit to fixing the mess on Bedford. So, on Thursday morning, Streetsblog camped out where the bike lane ends and spoke to cyclists about to cross the threshold.<\/p>\n

\"\"Matjaz Vidnar, who is from Europe, said he can\u2019t believe how many drivers get away with parking in the bike lane. Photo: Sophia Lebowitz<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople park more in the bike lane there,\u201d Matjaz Vidnar said pointing to the next block where the design reverts back to the unprotected style. \u201cIt\u2019s very not safe because I always have to ride with the cars because there are cars parked in that part.\u201d <\/p>\n

Vidnar, who is from Slovenia and has been living in New York for two years, said he takes Bedford Avenue to commute from Flatbush to Williamsburg for school. <\/p>\n

\"\"A clear bike lane would be the exception, not the rule. Photo: Sophia Lebowitz<\/p>\n

\u201cI generally like Bedford, especially this part here, because its the safest part,\u201d he said of the green protected lane. \u201cI\u2019m from Europe and I\u2019m used to biking all the time and I am very frustrated in New York because of cars parking in the bike lane all the time. In my country, if a car parks on the bike lane, they get a ticket in a minute, the police are there in a minute.\u201d <\/p>\n

Every cyclist to whom Streetsblog spoke could feel the difference when they crossed Willoughby Avenue. It doesn\u2019t take a traffic engineer to understand that when cyclists are forced to merge with car traffic, it\u2019s dangerous. But still, the DOT\u2019s own traffic engineers agree!<\/p>\n

DOT provided evidence<\/a> during the Herzfeld suit that removing the bike lane would \u201creduce overall safety along the corridor.\u201d And the department observed a 47-percent reduction in injuries on Bedford between Dekalb and Flushing when the protected infrastructure was in place.<\/p>\n

\"\"Once cyclists cross Willoughby Avenue when riding on Bedford the bike lane design reverts back to a primitive, unsafe model. Photo: Sophia Lebowitz<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s dangerous and it sucks,\u201d CJ Kent said of the intersection and subsequent primitive street. \u201cIt\u2019s my morning bike ride. A lot of these cars are coming this way and they don\u2019t see you merge. Especially at night, I know a lot of people get hurt.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"At Bedford Avenue and Myrtle Avenue there is a confusing set up that sends cyclists right into oncoming traffic, and then again into traffic with an illegally parked car. Photo: Sophia Lebowitz<\/p>\n

Kent was unsatisfied with the bike lane\u2019s current state, but added that he thinks Mamdani will eventually get it done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust him that he\u2019ll do it,\u201d he said before pausing. \u201cI hope so.\u201d <\/p>\n

The three blocks after Willoughby, where the DOT removed the protected bike lane in favor of the dated painted lane, are almost always blocked with illegally parked cars. There is no way to keep a continuous line while biking on this part of Bedford unless you ride in the middle of the traffic lane, which many cyclists opt for.<\/p>\n

\"\"Three cyclists ride with traffic, it\u2019s easier than weaving in and out of a blocked bike lane! Photo: Sophia Lebowitz<\/p>\n

Until Mayor Mamdani fulfills his campaign promise and restores the original Bedford Avenue design, or even better, comes up with something that satisfies everyone, Streetsblog\u2019s Mamdani-O-Meter remains at zero<\/a>. <\/p>\n

We reached out to the Department of Transportation and will update this story if we hear back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, on a bicycle, time travel is possible. Where the protected bike lane abruptly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-359517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359517","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=359517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}