Thursday, March 10, 2011
Is anyone surprised?
From CBS 2:
Angry residents are suing City Hall, and in a first of its kind action, are demanding that a judge order the controversial Prospect Park West bike lane ripped out. They claim the Department of Transportation falsified its information.
Residents, who include former DOT commissioner Iris Weinshall, also claim the agency is in cahoots with pro-bike lobbyists to go after lane opponents.
Through a Freedom of Information Act suit they obtained what they call “stunning” e-mail communications between Ryan Russo, the DOT’s director of street management, and a bike lobbyist.
On June 21, 2010, Russo told the lobbyist: “There are enough important people talking to other important people for me to worry and to require neutralizing.”
The lobbyist offers a proposed counter-flyer and directs Russo to a blog in which the lobbyist called bike lane opponents: “shameless, selfish pigs” and “complete [expletive] troglodytes.”
And he also writes on the blog: “If they won’t shut up and they can’t be ignored, then they need to be publicly disgraced every time they pop their heads up.”
Russo called the comments “very enjoyable.”
From the Daily News:
According to court papers, when DOT proposed the lane to Community Board 6 in April 2009, the department reported there had been 58 crashes on Prospect Park West and side streets from 2005-07 - proving a need for so-called traffic calming. That number was inflated; a more honest accounting wouldn't have included 12 accidents that did not occur on the thoroughfare.
Oops.
The plaintiffs allege more shenanigans: At a followup meeting six months after the bike lane was installed last June, transportation officials declared the path a rousing safety success.
How? They used a three-year average culled from the second halves of 2007, 2008 and 2009 - purportedly showing a decline in the number of accidents from 29.7 to 25 in the second half of 2010.
That was heavy spin - papering over a jump in accidents from 22 in late 2009 to 25 in late 2010.
Why didn't DOT present the raw numbers? Because they didn't help make the case for the lane?
Double oops.
Then there's this. According to the complaint, back in 2007, worried about speeding cars on Prospect Park West, the agency changed the timing of traffic lights to slow vehicles from 30 mph to 20. Crashes dropped from 29 in 2007 to 23 in 2008 to 14 in 2009, and the number of injuries fell as well.
Both those numbers went up after the bike lane, justified by Sadik-Khan on grounds that it would make the roadway safer for all, was installed.
Triple oops.
10 comments:
from cyndi adams,nypost:
to Michael M. Grynbaum of the Times, thanks for mentioning me whilst urinating on psycho bike-o SADIK -KAHN, who considers herself Aga Khan and would turn Earth's capital city into old China's bicycle lanes.
from Michael Goodwin,nypost,3/6/11.
"it is not just that the BICYCLE ZEALOT is hostile to anything on four wheels. it's that her determination to chop up streets for her pet cause is wasting millions of dollars, creating congestion and damaging credibility- hers and increasingly, the mayors.
SADIK-KAHN has a wide reputation for massaging data and for moving the goalposts on things like traffic speed if results don't match her promises.
Both the psycho never wrong car lobby and bike lobby are wrong.
Make the bike lane smaller by the park and start enforcing tickets for reckless bikers and cars for once.
who does the bike lobby represent? why do I suspect it is not schwinn or columbia.
Car lobby?
Is there an organized car lobby or activist group operating? Can somebody please identify by name who is this car lobby and what actions they are taking in this debate?
From what I have seen there is only organized bicycle lobby groups active in all this.
The Automobile Club of New York?
Take a deep breath and consider how much money and influence lies behind the bike industry as opposed to automobiles. We're just trying to save lives.
The bike nuts flooded the community board meeting 8 to 1.
They can get away with this bullshit in Queens, but this is Brooklyn.
"Take a deep breath and consider how much money and influence lies behind the bike industry as opposed to automobiles. We're just trying to save lives."
Take a deep breath and, reach into your wallet and pay for the lanes yourself. Firefighters save lives, cops save lives, hell - even some teachers "save lives", but cyclists? You're not that important.
Eirk Baard said:
"Take a deep breath and consider how much money and influence lies behind the bike industry as opposed to automobiles. We're just trying to save lives."
Response:
BULLSHIT!
Dancing as fast as you can around this bombshell. Face it, Baard, you've lost. All your past arguments on this topic were weak and now most of them are shown to be a passal of lies.
This specious meme about saving lives doesn't excuse an arrogant bully like Sadik-Khan (Critical Mass, TA or her troll minions) from imposing her own whims on us, wasting time and money on your hobby.
What "money and influence" is the so called "car lobby" putting forth in this situation that justfies lying, collusion between city officials and bike advocate groups and ramming your agenda down our collective throats? If you've got proof of this, then let's see it.
Don't worry I'm breathing just fine and I'm not holding my breath to wait for proof of this nefarious car lobby you've concocted (or come up with a good reason for these bike lanes or why bikers shouldn't be registered).
Then there's this. According to the complaint, back in 2007, worried about speeding cars on Prospect Park West, the agency changed the timing of traffic lights to slow vehicles from 30 mph to 20. Crashes dropped from 29 in 2007 to 23 in 2008 to 14 in 2009, and the number of injuries fell as well.
This has been done everywhere. It is Sadik's policy.
This has directly attributed to MORE pollution from idling cars in this city than anything else.
Bloomberg's "Green Initiative".
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