Fighting for a bike lane on Houston Street

Houston Street is a major commercial traffic thoroughfare bisecting lower Manhattan in New York City, and it has the dubious honor of being one of the most dangerous streets for pedestrians and cyclists, dotted with memorials, plaques and "ghost" bicycles dedicated to fallen riders. Three cyclists were killed in Houston Street traffic last year alone. The Department of Transportation (DOT) is in the middle of a multi-year, multi-million-dollar reconstruction of the Houston Street roadway, which is listed on the City of New York's 1997 Bicycle Master Plan map as an official cycling route. Yet, DOT is proceeding with the reconstruction without committing a single bike lane to the project!

To redress this folly, a rally and press conference was held Wed. Aug 30th by local Community Board 2 members, elected officials, local businesspersons and cyclists, who all demanded protected cycling space on this dangerous street. Two weeks earlier, Community Board 2 passed a formal resolution imploring DOT to include bike lanes, but had not received any answer. The rally was an attempt to raise awareness of the resolution and put pressure on DOT to revise its master reconstruction plan. Local Councilmembers Alan Gerson and Rosie Mendez and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez are now sending written requests to the DOT and Deputy Mayor of New York Dan Doctoroff to include protected cycling space in the Houston Street reconstruction.