Lawyers must prove the city was not acting “arbitrarily, capriciously, and illegally” in ordering the hasty removal.
In a victory for Brooklyn bike advocates, a judge ordered New York City to stop its planned removal of a protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue. Although the judge has yet to issue a final ruling, “For now, street safety advocates crowed that they had, at least for now, halted the city's plans to put cyclists back in harm's way on a notoriously dangerous street.”
According to the suit, “Despite the completion of the upgraded lane’s installation in October 2024; and, despite data showing both that the old [painted lane] was not safe or effective and safety of all road users has improved since the upgraded design was installed, the city improperly, irrationally, without proper legal notice and in an abuse of discretion announced on Friday, June 13, 2025 that it would remove the upgraded bicycle lane.”
As Gersh Kuntzman explains in Streetsblog NYC, “Leaders of the Hasidic community — who have long complained that bike lanes bring outsiders to their enclave — claimed that it is unsafe after several minor crashes involving children running into the bike lane from illegally parked cars or buses.”
According to Kuntzman, “The city made several design tweaks, but illegal parkers consistently thwart the city's effort to provide daylighting so cyclists and kids can see each other.”
The judge ordered the parties back to the courtroom on August 6.
FULL STORY: BREAKING: Judge Halts Mayor’s Plan to Tear Out Bedford Av. Bike Lane
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San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
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Judge Halts Brooklyn Bike Lane Removal
Lawyers must prove the city was not acting “arbitrarily, capriciously, and illegally” in ordering the hasty removal.
Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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