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Mean Streets

May, 2012

Drivers fear bike-share will replace parking in W’Burg, Heights

Mean Streets: Some Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights residents are concerned that bike share docks could sacrifice on-street parking, but cyclists say bike docks are just another form of parking. Comments (33).

Rack-y road! Parking spot becomes bike slots in Slope

Mean Streets: Replacing a parking spot with bike racks is a different kind of fair trade for the owners of a famous Park Slope coffeehouse. Comments (37).

Slope bike lane critics: Put Plaza Street West cycling path on the sidewalk

Mean Streets: Opponents of a much-anticipated cycling route that connects the Prospect Park West bike lane with Park Slope and Prospect Heights want the city to push aside the new path — literally. Comments (54).

Prospect Park West pedestrian islands cost lots

Mean Streets: Painting the Prospect Park West bike lane isn’t the only part of the controversial project that took a lot of green. Comments (23).

Bad parkers get passive aggressive notes on Prospect Park West

Mean Streets: A diehard parking vigilante is trying to rid Park Slope of spot-hogging drivers — one homemade “citation” at a time. Comments (42).

April, 2012

Ridge motorists to city: Keep your hands off 4th Ave. driving lanes

Mean Streets: Borough President Markowitz wants to breathe new life into Fourth Avenue from Atlantic Avenue to the Verrazano Bridge, but motorists say the Beep shouldn’t remove any car lanes from the busy thoroughfare. Comments (1).

Island, ho! Prospect Park West bike lane to get pedestrian islands

Mean Streets: Bicycle boosters say a city plan to install raised concrete islands on the Prospect Park West bike lane proves the cycling path is there for good — but lane opponents claim the cement lumps actually provide a new legal outlet in their fight against the route. Comments (4).

War of words: Driver fights PPW parking ticket over meaning of ‘to’

Mean Streets: Justice is blind — and it doesn’t understand English very well, according to one angry Park Slope motorist. Comment.

Red Hook cyclist will make your bike glow in the dark

Mean Streets: Brooklyn’s streets would be safer if all of the cyclists looked like extras from “Tron.” Comment.

Re-lane-carnation! City brings Plaza Street West bike path back to life

Mean Streets: A proposed cycling path that veered off-course amid the controversy surrounding the Prospect Park West bike lane is rolling again. Comment.

What a drag: Majority of McGuinness drivers break traffic laws

Mean Streets: Drivers on McGuinness Boulevard are speed demons. Comment.

March, 2012

Proposed bike law would force cops to investigate all serious crashes

Mean Streets: A Williamsburg lawmaker is pushing a bill that would force police to investigate all serious car-on-bike crashes — not just ones in which cyclists lose their lives. Comments (35).

Cyclist and pedestrian collide in another Prospect Park crash

Mean Streets: A bicyclist struck a young woman on Prospect Park’s accident-plagued roadway, where the city plans to remove a lane of car traffic to bring order to the street. Comments (77).

Cyclists and pedestrians mourn those killed in car crashes

Mean Streets: It was a day of love and rage. Comments (21).

Hit-and-run trucker goes free because cyclist partly to blame: NYPD

Mean Streets: The driver who struck and killed Mathieu Lefevre escaped prosecution because cops say the bike rider was partly at fault. Comments (30).

Stats prove Prospect Park bike crackdown is real

Mean Streets: Riding a bike too fast in Prospect Park can cause some serious damage — to your wallet. Comments (57).

Councilman targets speeding motorists on Atlantic

Mean Streets: Steve Levin’s got a gun, and he’s not afraid to use it! Comments (30).

February, 2012

Plan cuts Prospect Park car lane, makes more room bikes and peds

Mean Streets: A revolutionary roadway redesign will bring transportation equality to Prospect Park’s main street by removing a lane of car traffic and giving the space to pedestrians and cyclists, park officials say. Comments (58).

Traffic barrels removed from Prospect Park bike lane

Mean Streets: City transportation officials removed dozens orange traffic barrels intended to slow cyclists on a crash-prone hill in Prospect Park — and now they want your advice on what to do next. Comments (45).

Defending the Prospect Park West bike lane isn’t cheap

Mean Streets: The city has already spent $140,000 on legal fees to protect the Prospect Park West bike path — and it will likely spend more thanks to an appeal filed by cycling lane opponents. Comments (66).

Drivers cry foul over Fowler Square pedestrian plaza plan

Mean Streets: Fort Greene motorists are lashing out against the city’s plans for a pedestrian plaza between Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue, saying the tiny block of S. Elliott Place is better used as a roadway than as a leafy hangout. Comments (32).

Lawsuit rolls on: Bike lane opponents appeal Prospect Park West ruling

Mean Streets: Like a bike with no brakes, the fight over the Prospect Park West bike lane just keeps rolling. Comments (45).

The need for speed bumps: Parents try to tame Cobble intersection

Mean Streets: Children walking to school will be hit by unseen, speeding cars unless the city installs bumps and mirrors at a dangerous Hicks Street intersection, claim Cobble Hill parents. Comments (72).

Lower speeds for Greenwood Heights?

Mean Streets: Greenwood Heights residents want to reduce the speed limit on Sixth Avenue, beginning their own push for a “slow zone” after protesting a similar traffic safety plan in Park Slope that emerged without their input. Comments (24).

Woman injured after SUV crashes into Downtown condo

Mean Streets: A motorist ran a red on Sunday night, struck another vehicle and crashed into a fancy Downtown high-rise on Boerum Place, according to a witness. Comments (11).

Foot patrols for footbridge

Mean Streets: Cops say they’re planning to increase enforcement on a treacherous Fort Greene overpass where teens have tossed bricks at cyclists and started targeting cars. Comments (26).

January, 2012

Slow down, Kent! Three new stoplights headed for W’burg waterfront

Mean Streets: Three new traffic lights will tame Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, slowing motorists and cyclists while protecting pedestrians who are beginning flock to the neighborhood’s burgeoning waterfront, city officials say. Comments (15).

Slower Slope speed limit would make Greenwood Heights a race track, locals say

Mean Streets: Park Slope residents who want the speed limit reduced think “twenty is plenty” — but Greenwood Heights neighbors say not so fast. Comments (50).

Dead cyclist’s family says trucker should be charged

Mean Streets: The parents of a cyclist killed by a trucker driver in Williamsburg say newly obtained survaillenace videos and police documents prove the man behind the wheel should be held responsible. Comments (14).

City admits Atlantic Avenue right on red is wrong

Mean Streets: Crossing Atlantic Avenue to reach Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 will no longer be a dangerous game of “Frogger” for park-goers after the city stops allowing motorists to make right turns on red. Comments (11).

Public housing residents: Bike lane fence is offensive

Mean Streets: Residents of two Fort Greene housing projects want the city to come up with a way to protect cyclists from brick-throwing teens that’s smarter and less stigmatizing than a cage-like fence. Comments (65).

Another pedestrian struck by a cyclist in Prospect Park

Mean Streets: What can the city do to make Prospect Park’s dangerous downhill safe for pedestrians and cyclists? Comments (126).

Family of dead Williamsburg cyclist sues NYPD for video footage

Mean Streets: The parents of Mathieu Lefevre say that surveillance footage from a Morgan Avenue warehouse will reveal the truth about how their son died. The artist was killed three months ago in a tragic hit-and-run but cops never pressed charges. Comments (19).

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