Prospect Park West Bike Lane Lawsuit Reinstated

Opponents of Prospect Park West's bike lanes Brooklyn’s will be heading back to court after an appellate panel overturned a lower court ruling.

Brooklyn 

The fight over a Prospect Park bike lane has peddled its way back into court.

An appellate panel ruled Wednesday that a lower court improperly tossed a suit brought by irate opponents of the controversial Prospect Park West bike lane trying to force the city to rip out the cyclist path, according to the New York Daily News. 

They charge that the city lied about figures on the Park Slope lane’s benefits-and improperly plotted with pro-bike groups to stymie opposition.

The opponents of the lane are a politically-connected bunch that includes former Department of Transportation commissioner Iris Weinshall-the wife of Sen. Chuck Schumer-and former deputy mayor Norman Steisel.

They say the lane clogs traffic, reduces parking and makes it hard to cross the street safely.

But last August a state Supreme Court judge dismissed the case, arguing it had not been filed in time to meet strict statute of limitation regulations.

The opponents challenged that ruling and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in their favor, setting the stage for a hearing on the controversial lanes.

“We are gratified by the court’s decision and we look forward to forcing the truth from the Department of Transportation,” said Jim Walden, the lead attorney for the opposition groups.

City officials have scoffed at the suit, citing data that car crashes have fallen substantially since the lane was installed.

“We're confident that the Prospect Park West bike lane is here to stay,” said a DOT spokesman, adding the judges’ decision was based on a technicality. “In the meantime, local residents will continue to enjoy the safety that this community-requested and supported lane has provided every day for the last two and a half years,” the spokesman said.  

An appellate panel ruled yesterday that Supreme Court Judge Bert Bunyan erred in August 2011 when he dismissed a lawsuit seeking to remove the two-lane path. Bunyan tossed the suit on the technicality that it was filed late.  The case returns to Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Read More:

Foes of controversial Prospect Park West Bike path win appeal to block the lane, new 
hearing planned  - Appellate panel ruled lower court improperly tossed suit 
New York Daily News - December 19, 2012 - Reuven Blau

Panel rules Prospect Park West bike lane case was erroneously tossed

The Brooklyn Blog - December 19, 2012 - By Rich Calder  

Bike ruling KO’d
New York Post - December 20, 2012 -  By Rich Calder

Lawyer Sued For Assaulting Cyclist In Bike Lane By Central Park

Courtney Fullilove sued lawyer Marshall Feiring this week as a result of a June 13 incident when she was riding in a bike lane near W. 108th St. & Central Park West where she was allegedly assaulted. 

Manhattan

In June, Courtney Fullilove, an assistant professor of history at Wesleyan University, was riding her bike in the bike lane on Central Park West when she was allegedly assaulted by Manhattan-based attorney Marshall Feiring, who resides near the park. Feiring was charged with two counts of assault and harassment, and it's still unclear what may have motivated his alleged actions. But Fullilove believes she did nothing to provoke Feiring before he allegedly grabbed the security chain tied around her waist and violently yanked her off her bike, according to gothamist.

According to a civil lawsuit against Feiring, Fullilove was seriously injured in the crash, "suffering a severe concussion, memory loss, psychological trauma, fatigue, loss of vision, recurrent disabling headaches, spinal derangement, contusions to the right hip, abrasions to the nose and face, and other injuries, requiring emergency treatment at a hospital, and additional medical care and assistance thereafter. Fullilove sustained pain, suffering and mental anguish due to these injuries."

The crash happened in the bike lane near the intersection of West 108th Street and Central Park West around 7:45 p.m. on June 13th. Fullilove lost all memory of the incident due to head trauma, but her lawyer, Steve Vaccaro, says bystanders witnessed the assault and have given statements, and police responding to the scene arrested Feiring, who lives near the park. His attorney, Sanford Talkin (visit him at TalkinLaw.com!), declined to comment on what his client's motivation may or may not have been, telling us only that Feiring "maintains his innocence and looks forward to his day in court."

Feiring's next court appearance is in December. In a letter to Manhattan DA Cy Vance, Fullilove's lawyer urged the DA to "vigorously prosecute Fiering," arguing that his client "was wearing a helmet but still sustained a severe concussion, and continues to suffer the apparently permanent effects of traumatic brain injury. The circumstances of the assault bespeak malice. There is no evidence that Fullilove... violated any traffic law or otherwise threatened or provoked Feiring. Indeed, Feiring illegally entered the bike lane to reach Fullilove."

Her civil lawsuit against Feiring seeks unspecified damages, and also serves as a reminder of the media-amplified tension between pedestrians and cyclists in the park. One month after Fullilove's crash, a legally blind lawyer was jogging in Central Park when he was hit by a cyclist—he suffered a fractured pelvis and hip, and lost some teeth—he also couldn't get out of his hospital bed for two days. In the wake of that high-profile accident, the NYPD started handing out brochures to remind cyclists that the speed limit in the park (25 mph) also applies to cyclists.

Read More:

Manhattan Lawyer Sued For Allegedly Assaulting Cyclist By Central Park  

gothamist - November 28, 2012  - By John Del Signore

Teed-off tax attorney wrenched cyclist to the ground near Central Park and gave her severe concussion that derailed her academic career, lawsuit claims
New York Daily News - November 28, 2012 - By Stephen Rex Brown

Wesleyan history professor ‘pulled from bike’ sues Manhattan lawyer
New York Post - November 29, 2012 -  By Dareh Gregorian and Kirstan Conley

Battery Park Bicycle Path Plan Orphans "The Sphere" - 9/11 Symbol

"It simply cannot be mothballed in some musty hangar at JFK," Schumer said. "It must remain, like now, accessible as a public touchstone for New Yorkers and the visitors from the four corners of the globe." - Senator Charles Schumer.

The Sphere, the Fritz Koenig designed sculpture had stood between the two Twin Tower buildings as a symbol of world peace. It was moved to Battery Park after the destruction of the World Trade Center. A controversial $18 million Battery Park & Perimeter Bikeway project moves will move the sculpture to an unknown location. The eternal flame was dedicated on September 11, 2002.

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

The Sphere "endures as an icon of hope and the indestructible spirit of this country," and was placed in Battery Park as a temporary memorial to all who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, according to the city's dedication plaque.

However plans for a Battery Park bicycle path call for restoring and relocating twelve monuments to along the perimeter of the park. Despite being in the works for years a new location has yet to be found.

The Port Authority and Parks Department initially planned to store the now ionic sphere at a storage hanger at Kennedy Airport - which many found to be is unacceptable including Senator Charles Schumer who recently weighed in on the subject. Some Sept. 11 victims' family members have been pushing officials to return it to its original spot and incorporate it into the National September Memorial at the World Trade Center or the yet to be built Liberty Park, south of the World Trade Center site.

Over 7,200 hundred people have signed an on-line petition demanding its relocation to the 9/11 Memorial site.

PEDAL TO MEDDLE: Plans for a Battery Park bicycle path call for relocating several monuments, including "The Sphere." The sphere from the original World Trade Center was moved south to Battery Park. The 22.5 ton sculpture was rededicated with an eternal flame as a memorial to the victims of 9/11. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images) (Photo: Chad Rachman/NY Post)

"The designers of the memorial have ruled that it CANNOT be returned. In order, they said, to protect the integrity of the design," the petition states.

"The memorial design will include over 500 trees. Mayor Bloomberg and his deputy mayor, Patricia Harris, will not permit any of those trees to be cleared to create a proper space that allows the return of the Sphere and respects its history and significance."

After a barrage on new negative publicity last week on Friday the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said they were close to finding a temporary new home that will keep it in the public eye but they wouldn't say where. The agency is continuing to look for a permanent place for the sphere.

The approximately. .3 mile portion of the Manhattan Greenway will connect with the Hudson River Park bikeway to the west and the bikeway built as part of Peter Minuit Plaza to the east.

The $18 million Battery Park & Perimeter Bikeway project was funded through State and Federal grants and over $10 million in MTA mitigation funding, and $300,000 in design fees contributed by the LMDC.

The project was supposed to break ground in 2011 and construction expected to last eighteen months.

Dedication Plaque - Battery Park.

The cash-strapped Parks Department will spend millions of dollars to dig up and move more than 10 Battery Park memorials, statues and sculptures -- including "The Sphere," which has stood as a tribute to 9/11 victims – to gussy up a new bicycle path, the New York Post wrote last year.

Even as Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe is threatening to raise fees and lay off groundskeepers, he allocated $4.75 million for the project that would relocate the memorials -- many unmoved for decades -- along an expanded 600-yard Battery Park bikeway and "monument walk."

The change "will result in improved, dignified settings for each of the monuments, as well as creating more open, uninterrupted green space," say planning documents for the Battery Park & Bikeway Perimeter.

The expanded bikeway along Battery Place and State Street is scheduled to be completed in 2012. It will eventually link the Hudson River Park Bikeway to the East River Esplanade.

It is part of an $11.8 million "master plan" by the nonprofit Battery Park Conservancy to overhaul much of the park.

The 25-foot bronze Fritz Koenig designed sculpture stood between the two Twin Tower buildings for thirty years as a symbol of world peace.

Read More:

Sen. Schumer: Move World Trade Center sphere to somewhere prominent!

New York Daily News - May 12, 2012 - By Jonathan Lemire

World Trade Center Sphere Being Moved From Battery Park To Storage

WCBS 880 - April 6, 2012 - Sean Adams

An assault on Battery Bike path to uproot park monuments

New York Post - April 2, 2011 - By John Doyle and Chuck Bennett

Another Cyclist/Pedestrian Collision In Prospect Park

Another cyclist collided with a pedestrian on the accident-plagued Prospect Park roadway near the Lincoln Road entrance on Tuesday night. The accident comes after several near-fatal bike-pedestrian collisions and a ticket blitz against cyclists on the park’s well-used loop. It’s unclear exactly how many crashes have occurred on the roadway, but The Brooklyn Paper has tallied at least five in the past nine months.(Photo: Courtesy of Stephen Brown via The Brooklyn Paper)

Brooklyn

Another cyclist collided with a pedestrian on Prospect Park’s accident-plagued roadway, where the city plans to remove a lane of car traffic to bring order to the street, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

A male biker in racing garb hit a young woman near the park’s Lincoln Road entrance on Tuesday night. Neither was seriously injured, according to park-goers and city officials.

Two police vehicles responded at around 8:30 pm on the west side of the street, in a lane where park-goers have long complained abouthazy right-of-way rules.

Cops at the 78th Precinct did not immediately have details about what caused the crash or who was at fault.

The accident comes afterseveral near-fatal bike-pedestrian collisions and a ticket blitz against cyclists on the park’s well-used loop. It’s unclear exactly how many crashes have occurred on the roadway, but The Brooklyn Paper has tallied at least five in the past nine months.

In response to the accidents — one of which landed a park volunteer in a medically induced coma — the city first installed cones to slow cyclists then unveileda roadway redesign plan that will remove a lane of car traffic to grant cyclists, walkers and cars a roughly equal amount of space.

Prospect Park Spokesman Paul Nelson said the roadway design would be installed by early May.

“We think it’s an opportunity to improve safety,” said Prospect Park administrator Emily Lloyd.

Read More:

PROSPECT PARK BIKE CRASH Cyclist and pedestrian collide in Prospect Park … again

The Brooklyn Paper - March 23, 2012 - By Natalie O’Neill

Prospect Park Cyclists Ticketed After Several Near-Fatal Bike-Pedestrian Crashes

A Walk In The Park - March 17, 2012

New park lanes won’t curb the real problem — speeding

Brooklyn Daily - By Geoffrey Croft

Prospect Park Cyclists Continue To Ride At Unsafe Speeds Despite Recent Accidents

A Walk In The Park - November 27, 2011

Woman Hit By Cyclist In Prospect Park Sues City For $3M

A Walk In The Park -November 18, 2011

Enforcement, Rule/Design Changes Sought For Unruly Prospect Park Cyclists After Spat of Serious Accidents

A Walk In The Park - November 17, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Woman Struck By Bike In Prospect Park In Coma

A Walk In The Park - November 9, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Central Park: Two-Way Bike Lane To Cross 72nd Street- One Car Lane Gone

In Central Park, 72nd Street is going to have more space for bicycles and one less lane for cars come June.

Manhattan

At a meeting of CB 7′s Parks Committee last night, Central Park Conservancy President Doug Blonsky announced that the Department of Transportation will paint a new two-way bike lane along 72nd Street all the way between Central Park West and Fifth Avenue, reducing the number of motor vehicle lanes on that stretch of the park road from two to one, according to Streetsblog.

Unlike the new cross-park bike route near 96th Street, this one won’t be a shared path for cyclists and pedestrians, nor will it include dismount zones at either end of the park. Blonsky said the redesign should be in place by June.

“This is a significant step both toward making crossing the park on a bicycle less perilous and toward a car-free park in general,” said Manhattan Community Board 7 member and car-free Central Park advocate Ken Coughlin. “For the first time, cyclists will legally be able to traverse the entire park without walking their bikes at any point or risking their lives on the sunken transverses.”

At the meeting last night, Blonsky said that reviews of the designated bike route along 96th Street have been positive so far, but that no additional crosstown bike paths through the park are planned until the Conservancy has more time to observe the first two, according to Coughlin. Previously, the Conservancy floated plans for additional cross-park paths at 102nd Street and 86th Street.

The removal of a traffic lane from 72nd Street, which is open to cars during rush hour, marks another step in the incremental reclamation of Central Park from motor vehicles. ”The fact that non-motorized transportation now has priority on a park road bodes well for a return to the true urban refuge the park’s designers envisioned and created,” said Coughlin.

Last year, several community boards surrounding the park and the Manhattan Borough Board voted in favor of a summer car-free trial. In response, the Bloomberg administration apparently began to measure traffic volumes on the park road so the effect of a trial can be quantified.

Read More:

Two-Way Bike Lane Will Cross Central Park Along 72nd Street

Streetsblog - March 20, 2012 - by Noah Kazis

Central Park To Lose A Car Lane, Gain A Bike Path

gothamist - March 20, 2012 - By Garth Johnston

Prospect Park Cyclists Ticketed After Several Near-Fatal Bike-Pedestrian Crashes

NYPD and PEP officers issued cyclists 188 tickets in Prospect Park over the past four months compared to zero over the same period last year. The public has been calling for greater enforcement after several near-fatal bike-pedestrian crashes on the popular roadway. (Photo: (Vitaliy P.).

Brooklyn

Riding a bike too fast in Prospect Park can cause some serious damage — to your wallet.

Park cops slapped cyclists with a whopping 188 tickets over the past four months compared to zero over the same period last year after several near-fatal bike-pedestrian crashes on the popular roadway, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

“Cyclists need to know that a ticket is a very real possibility,” said Prospect Park Alliance President Emily Lloyd.

Parks Department officers wrote summonses ranging between $50 and $200 for “failure to comply with bicycle restrictions” including running red lights, speeding, and riding against traffic as part of a ticket blitz intended to improve safety along the loop, according to city officials.

(Photo: Debbie Egan-Chin/New York Daily News)

The summons figures obtained by The Brooklyn Paper are the first concrete evidence that the city wasn’t just spinning its wheels when it promised to crack down on rogue cyclists in November.

But some bike riders say stopping at every red light is unnecessary and difficult, especially when riding downhill.

“It’s hard — they’re asking us to screech to a halt,” said cyclist Anthony Lowe.

“Pedestrians are part of the problem, too.”

Others cyclists who train for races on the loop say the lights should be set to blink yellow all the time — letting pelotons cruise through without facing the risk of tickets — because there are few other places in the city where they can train.

Too much enforcement, they say, could morph Brooklyn’s backyard, and the outdoor culture it attracts, into what feels more like a Singapore-style police state.

Park activists, however, contend serious enforcement is necessary because the roadway was not designed to be used as a velodrome.

“The very first concern must be for the safety of the public,” said Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates. “A number of cyclists [are] moving way too fast.”

The bicycle crackdown comes on the heels of several high profile crashes, including one that landed 54-year-old walker Linda Cohen in the hospital in a medically induced coma.

Those collisions sparked an impassioned movement to make the roadway less chaotic, starting with a controversial effort to slow cyclists on a dangerous downhill by funneling them into a narrow chute lined on both sides by traffic barrels. Workers yanked the barrels before a panel of city officials and park advocates unveiled a plan to redesign the roadway that promises to give less room to motorists and more space to pedestrians and cyclists — but also calls for more outreach and enforcement along the drive.

The ticket blitz pleases Nancy Moccaldi, a close friend of Cohen, who suffered brain damage after a cyclist hit her in the park.

“It will make people more aware,” she said. “These laws exist for a reason.”

Read More:

Stats prove Prospect Park bike crackdown is real

The Brooklyn Paper - March 12, 2012 - By Natalie O’Neill

Cops Really Did Crack Down On Prospect Park Cyclists

gothamist -March 12, 2012 - By Garth Johnston

New park lanes won’t curb the real problem — speeding

Brooklyn Daily - By Geoffrey Croft

Prospect Park Cyclists Continue To Ride At Unsafe Speeds Despite Recent Accidents

A Walk In The Park - November 27, 2011

Woman Hit By Cyclist In Prospect Park Sues City For $3M

A Walk In The Park -November 18, 2011

Enforcement, Rule/Design Changes Sought For Unruly Prospect Park Cyclists After Spat of Serious Accidents

A Walk In The Park - November 17, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Woman Struck By Bike In Prospect Park In Coma

A Walk In The Park - November 9, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Judge Dismisses Groups’ Effort To Remove Brooklyn Bike Lane - Foil Not Complied With

Two groups sued to remove a hotly contested bike lane that was installed in 2010 along Prospect Park West in Brooklyn. A judge dismissed the case yesterday, finding that the residents’ lawsuit was filed after the statute of limitations had expired for a legal challenge to the lane. The judge did find however that the Transportation Department had not adequately comply with a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for internal statistics and documents related to the bicycle lane. In one instance, the judge said the agency’s denial of a particular request made “no sense.” (Photo: Michael Kirby Smith for The New York Times)

Brooklyn

A judge on Tuesday dismissed an effort by Brooklyn residents to remove a hotly contested bicycle lane installed by the city on Prospect Park West, in one of the most closely watched controversies over a signature policy of the Bloomberg administration, according to the New York Times.

The decision represented a significant victory for the city and its transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, whose campaign to create streets more oriented to pedestrians and bicyclists has divided New Yorkers and prompted a fierce political debate.

The judge, Bert A. Bunyan of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, found that the residents’ lawsuit was filed after the statute of limitations had expired for a legal challenge to the lane, a mile-long, two-way path installed last summer along one of Brooklyn’s wealthiest boulevards.

The plaintiffs, a pair of well-connected civic groups in Brooklyn with ties to Iris Weinshall, a former city transportation commissioner, had accused the city’s Transportation Department of cherry-picking statistics to create a favorable portrait of the lane and misleading residents about its benefits. The judge’s decision did not address those claims or the merits of the lane itself.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Jim Walden of the Manhattan firm Gibson Dunn, said in a statement on Tuesday that he disagreed with the court’s decision and that the plaintiffs would review it “before deciding on our options.” Mr. Walden, who argued the case pro bono, did not rule out an appeal.

Protesting the Bike Lane. (Photo by Paul Martinka/ The Brooklyn Paper)

The suit, filed in March, had come to encapsulate a moment of unusual civic strife over one of City Hall’s most notable policies. The city and its supporters say bicycle lanes are progressive, healthy additions to streets that reduce traffic accidents and promote more environmentally friendly modes of transport. Opponents have accused the city of neglecting the needs of car drivers and say the lanes can create dangers for pedestrians.

“This decision results in a hands-down victory for communities across the city,” Ms. Sadik-Khan said in a statement on Tuesday that described the plaintiffs as “dead wrong” in their arguments.

“Merely not liking a change is no basis for a frivolous lawsuit to reverse it,” she added.

The opponents of the lane had sued on the basis of a state statute that allows government actions to be challenged on the grounds that they are arbitrary or unfair. But their complaint incorporated broader arguments often levied against the Transportation Department by its critics, who say the city has been selective in the information it presents on its projects for public review.

The judge’s decision ultimately turned on a dispute over whether the lane had been installed on a trial basis, similar to the so-called “pilot” approach taken by Ms. Sadik-Khan on other high-profile projects, like the pedestrian plazas in Times and Herald Squares.

In court papers, the opponents argued that the Transportation Department had suggested that the lane was an experiment and would be made permanent only after the release of statistics demonstrating its effect on traffic and pedestrian safety along Prospect Park West. Those statistics were presented at a community board meeting in January.

The opponents argued that the city decided to make the lane permanent only after those statistics were released, thus putting their suit within the statute of limitations. But the city argued that the lane had been intended as permanent all along, and the judge found that the opponents “presented no evidence that D.O.T. viewed the bikeway as a pilot or temporary project.”

Mr. Walden, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said in his statement that “the judge had a very different and very independent view of the facts,” and noted that the judge had dismissed some claims “without prejudice,” meaning that another filing on the topic is still possible.

The opponents did score one legal victory, however, as the judge found that the Transportation Department had not adequately complied with a Freedom of Information request for internal statistics and documents related to the bicycle lane. In one instance, the judge said the agency’s denial of a particular request made “no sense.”

The Transportation Department was directed by the judge to furnish the opponents with the requested documents or provide a detailed explanation of why the agency was justified in withholding or redacting certain information related to the lane.

Read More:

Judge Rejects Groups’ Effort to Remove Bike Lane

New York Times - August 16, 2011 -By Michael M. Grynbaum

Ride on! City wins Prospect Park West bike lane suit

The Brooklyn Paper - August 17, 2011 - By Natalie O’Neill

Calls On The City to Extend East Side Bike Lanes

Michael Appleton for The New York TimesCyclists gathered on the City Hall steps Wednesday to demand that the city finish the last three-quarters of a promised six-mile bike lane up Second Avenue from 34th Street to 125th Street on First and Second Avenues.

Bike advocates would like to keep the Upper East Side from becoming a kind of Waterloo for protected bicycle lanes.

So along with riders and elected officials from the Upper East Side and East Harlem, they gathered in front of City Hall on Wednesday to demand that the city extend protected bike lanes from 34th Street to 125th Street on First and Second Avenues.

The city’s handling of the East Side lanes has been a source of frustration for neighborhood cyclists since June, when the Transportation Department abruptly altered its plan to build physically separated bicycle lanes from Houston Street to 125th Street, instead running them only as far north as 34th Street. The department has insisted that the lanes have simply been delayed and that they will be extended in 2011, but outcry from uptown cyclists was swift, and many remain skeptical that the city will return to the area.

The tussle represents a rare locus of conflict between the city and bike advocates, who have seen many of their long-dreamed-of plans realized under the Bloomberg administration.

Since June, Transportation Alternatives has gathered about 2,500 handwritten letters addressed to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg from lane supporters at community events on the East Side. The weighty, ribbon-wrapped stack of those letters figured prominently in Wednesday’s rally, as it was passed between speakers and the crowd before being delivered to the mayor.

Read More:

Calling On the City to Extend East Side Bike Lanes

New York Times City Room - November 10, 2010 - By J. David Goodman

Cop Blocks Bike Lane To Ticket Cyclists For Not Using Lane

gothamist - October 27, 2010 - By John Del Signore