Battle for Brooklyn Bridge continues
An opinion piece appeared this weekend in the New York Times about the ongoing (tiresome) beef between cyclists and pedestrians as they (some anyway) try to avoid killing each other on the Brooklyn Bridge (and elsewhere in the city).
I don’t have to ride to Manhattan much, but every time I do it’s over the Brooklyn Bridge, and every time it’s a pain making my way over it in less than a week.
Getting both bikers and peds to use the bridge peacefully is a complex problem that too many people often look at myopically. Many of said folks seem to have bold opinions too.
I don’t think you can expect happy-go-lucky tourists to be mindful of speeding cyclists, even though they should be. It’s just not realistic. When I’m on vacation I’m often, well, in another place.
At the same time you can’t just ban bikes from the bridge. That’s not giving respect to people who want to use bikes to help the environment and lessen the congestion of cars in the city, among other things.
I wouldn’t mind it if the city banned cars on the Brooklyn Bridge and allowed bikers to ride on the road and let pedestrians foot it the way they do now.
Or tried separating with a physical barrier the paths between bikers and walking folks.
Next time, I think I’ll just use the Manhattan Bridge. Or bunny hop the damn water. Well, if I had any cyclocross skills, that is.
