From the Brooklyn Paper:Brick-tossing teens have turned a major cycling route through a public housing project in Fort Greene into death trap, injuring or terrorizing at least six cyclists — one seriously — in a spate of attacks this year.
The attacks are launched from the maroon-colored pedestrian bridge that links the Walt Whitman and Ingersoll houses between Myrtle Avenue and Tillary Street.
In the most violent crime, the attackers pelted a computer programmer from Park Slope in the face with a brick, cracking his helmet and ripping a gash in his cheek on Aug. 12.
The brick busted his teeth and knocked him off his bike, requiring emergency surgery. The physical wounds have healed, but the mental scars linger; Arthur said that he has had trouble sleeping and has given up cycling, which he used to do every day.
“I don’t think my life will ever be the same,” he said.
The footbridge is a cowardly sadist’s dream: It sits above a well-used bike route that links Fort Greene and points south with the Manhattan Bridge, has a mesh cover that hides the perps, and is fenced off from the street, providing an easy get-away route.
33 comments:
So your problem is with the bike lane? It seems your problem should be with the projects and the thugs that live in the area. Hipsters have infiltrated the inner city areas such as bushwick and bed stuy, but not without incidents of crime and assault. This really has nothing to do with bike lanes and more to do with the gentrification of poorer neighborhoods. There are million dollar homes up the block from the projects in clinton hill, brooklyn. Not very safe, but it is the reality. Trying to use this type of story against bike lanes or JSK (who I also dislike) is nothing more than spin.
Arthur, get back on your bike! Don't let the skels win!
SHUT DOWN NYCs housing projects...NOW!!!
You know what would solve this? More money and more "programs". Just ask any Brooklyn politician or activist.
We warned them about the natives, but they knew better than us Archie Bunkers. Thankfully for our idiotic urban pioneers, their heads are too thick for a mere brick to crack open. Maybe the bop on the head will make them smarter, but I seriously doubt it.
No my problem is not with the bike lanes. My problem is with the mayor and transportation commissioner acting like "NYC is safe! Crime is down!" and literally leading people like this poor chap into areas that can get him hurt or worse. When you put a bike lane down a road through the projects, you give it an air of safety, when in fact it's nothing but. Would this rider and many other have chosen to bike down this road if the lane wasn't there? My guess is no.
LOL...
maybe a ton of bricks needs to fall on Bloomberg's head 'til he gets the message to stop wasting NYC's needed money on frivolous yuppie/hipster endeavors.
"A"-hole hipsters!
Serves you right for riding through a war zone.
How about a bike lane through Afghanistan?
When will these pampered yuppies learn that the city wasn't built just for them?
These wussie cyclists couldn't afford a good Harley and join "Hell's Angels".
Maybe "Arthur" should name his club the "Sissy Cycle Circle".
During this plummeting economy,
NYC does not need to waste its money on bike lanes!
Crispy yuppie bikers taste real fine with a little barbecue sauce slathered on their ribs.
Welcome to "the hood" you fools!
their heads are too thick for a mere brick to crack open.
Had me laughing for a good 3 minutes.
They're lucky their bikes weren't stolen!
Wah, wah, wah....I want my mommy!
If you're dumb enough to wanna drive through one of these tough nabes.... do it in a armored Hummer!
LOL!
Too bad that biker's brain wasn't a 12 speeder.
So the local "Indians"
ambushed their wagon train.
That's parr for the course on the urban frontier.
"Circle yer bikes 'n start loadin' for bear"!
Stay away from the projects. No reason to have anything to prove to people with little to nothing to lose. That is a bit radical but true nonetheless.
There are days where no harm can come to you but then one day something could and may happen.
I remember seeing brand new condos being built right across the street from both the projects near Vinegar Hill and Queensbridge.
Who the hell would buy those?
Lo and behold most units were purchased. I would rather rent an apartment in a safe neighorhood than own a 22-room mansion in a shady area without a mortgage. Your safety is more important than a piece of property.
Everyone; natives, hipsters, yuppies and out-of-towners alike need to become aware of the dangers here. Try not to even drive near these areas. You play Russian roulette by living near them.
DESTROY THE PROJECTS NOW!!!
You run the risk of something happening anywhere. Like that lady who was hit in the head with a Target shopping cart. Should they not put box stores in Harlem because the neighborhood has dangerous elements? Lots of people take the subway and some of the subway stations in Brooklyn are right next to the projects.
I agree though, I would avoid biking next to the projects, and certainly wouldn't want to live near them like these people.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/nyregion/brownstone-brooklyn-between-2-housing-projects.html
Painted bike lane does not automatically equal safe, and any cyclist with half a brain knows this.
Years ago I was riding my bike around Queens (I lived in Astoria at the time). In my travels I innocently came to ride down Bedford Avenue. Big mistake. I had cans and bottles thrown at me as I rode (none hitting me). One guy on the sidewalk summed it up: "You're in the wrong neighborhood". "No shit", I thought to myself and peddled my ass out of there as fast as my two legs allow me to.
Wow some of you aholes are vicious bastards.
"Serves you right for riding through a war zone." - This is America not a war zone.
"Crispy yuppie bikers taste real fine with a little barbecue sauce slathered on their ribs." - Asshole!
"their heads are too thick for a mere brick to crack open.
Had me laughing for a good 3 minutes." - Jackass!
I can't believe you people think it's funny that someone got hurt.
Crapper is right "my problem is not with the bike lanes. My problem is with the mayor and transportation commissioner acting like "NYC is safe! Crime is down!"
Yes it's stupid to ride in a neighborhood you shouldn't be in but I don't want to see someone get hurt or laugh at them when it does happen...
Nice sentiment during the holidays or anytime for that matter.
What did I tell ya? Keep those bricks away from those Hasids.
I remember the days when teens from Fort Greene would solve simple mysteries that would seem to last 4-5 weeks with the help of a floating, glowing circle with several arches who only knew how to read words.
One of those teens later in life came out of the closet, went to Philadelphia, and started laying his man-parts out all over that town.
is not this Project where some of the senior citizens from Pomonok in Queens may be transfered to , by the NYCHA, because of the need for their two bedroom apartments?
what a disgrace !
Let's get to the root cause of why cyclists are terrorized as they pass thru Fort Greene.
DESTROY THE PROJECTS NOW!!!
DESTROY THE PROJECTS NOW!!!
DESTROY THE PROJECTS NOW!!!
Urban planners:
1. WHO designed and WHO approved a "major cycling route through a public housing project" ?
2. How many other similar bike routes are there throughout the city?
3. And at what cost?
CIS
I think too many bikers have forgotten to wear their helmets and fallen on their heads too many times.
That would explain their stupidity!
Like, NYC revolves around your biking privileges. "F" off you "A" holes!
These dumb babies belong on tricycles not bikes.
WTF were you doing on that route you spoiled hipsters?
I'm with the ghetto kids that have to watch you upscale brats bike by when they can't get decent police protection for "the projects" you racist bastards hate so much.
Your f-----g bike lane money could have paid for more cops!
The free ride is over people, DESTROY THE PROJECTS NOW!!
Some really ignorant and hateful comments on this site, which seems to par for the course here.
Some education -- all of the bike lanes installed in the last 4 years have cost the City a mere $2 million. Compare that to the $400+ million the City is spending on rebuilding the Brooklyn Bridge ramps along, not to mention the hundreds of millions more DOT spends on paving every year.
If you have such a hatred for people who get around by bike, that's your own psychological problem to deal with. But at least learn the most basic facts before you open your mouth.
RIP UP THE BIKE LANES NOW!
And fire Sadik Khan!
The projects have got to be the worst thing to happen to people since segregation. It's like a prison segregation, but for poor people.
The city needs to rid itself of the projects and integrate those who need help into a more economically diverse neighborhood. This is how we crack down on 'project-crime.' When you keep people in the ghetto with each other, they lack hope or motivation and think that that's all they can achieve. (Kinda like how drug addicts in rehab nearly always return to drugs. They're stuck with like-minded individuals that provide them with more contacts.)
Also, NYCHA turnover rate is only 2.97%, so people aren't working to get out, they're working to stay on gov't aid. That's ridiculous, gov't aid shouldn't be forever, it should be a nudge to help a fella out.
We need to get rid of clustered project-housing and integrate neighborhoods with trickled assistance - complete with a timeline to get out.
If they don't look like you,they are not your friends..........
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