Bike Path Not Gay Enough for 8th Ave Gay Boulevard?

A DOT plan [pdf] to install a protected bike path on Eighth Avenue – similar to the one that’s already been implemented on Ninth Avenue from 14th to 23rd Street – has been rejected by Manhattan Community Board 4, which includes Chelsea. The proposal, which would not require the elimination of any traffic lanes while buffering cyclists from motorists, was previously approved by the board’s Transportation Planning Committee, as well as Community Board 2.

Chelsea Now reports that the committee “enthusiastically” presented the DOT proposal at Wednesday night’s meeting and recommended it for approval, but seemed unprepared “for the onslaught of opposition from the rest of the board.” Board member and long-time gay rights activist Allen Roskoff led the dissent:

I refer to Eighth Ave. between 14th and 23rd Streets as ‘Gay Boulevard.’ Large numbers of gay people go there… It’s where we feel at home… The atmosphere there—the restaurants, the activity, the people walking— it’s a home to many of us that no other avenue is. I don’t think these changes are for the positive in any way, shape or form.

The board voted against the change, but the DOT could still push the project through against the their wishes. Beyond painting the bike lane pink, it's unclear how the city would win over dissenters like Roskoff. [Via Streetsblog]

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on August 1, 2008 3:07 PM

Comments [rss]

JenChungsBaby

But bike paths are totally gay.

usernamee

what if they made a provision that all cyclist had to remove their seats and sit directly on their seat post before riding down gay boulevard?

would that be gay enough?

annieuro

Um. I like the illustration.

That is all.

GlennQuagmire

Does this meen the NYCDOT has to paint the bike-lane surface in purple or rainbow colored?

zstone

Seems like a sound plan, didn't strike me as anti-gay.

starrygordon

I believe the real objection to the bike lane has nothing to do with being Gay or with introducing outside agitators. Here's what it has to do with, from the article in gaycitynews.com: "McCall said negative impacts have already been felt on Ninth Avenue for vehicles making deliveries and patrons using cars to access the stores."

In other words, the real concern is money -- the money of the proprietors of the stores along the avenue -- and the business about the Gay community is just an angle.

zodak

these "protected bike lanes" suck, pedestrians just walk in it, so it's almost as dangerous.

ed_Extinct

this! is! so! gay!

so1337

You want equal rights? Get treated like every other New Yorker. And just deal with it.

babyhitler

gay people don't bike. they rollerblade. Remember back in the day when Rollerblading was cool in the mid 90's? the gays took it over and then all the heteros stopped doing it.

NannyState

Fear of change? That the introduction of an attractive and safer corridor for cyclists might introduce a "new element" into the neighborhood that might not appreciate all that fabulous gayness?(!)

JMH

Most of the dissent, however, focused on noise, traffic and the affects on local businesses.
Why would providing a space for bikes ADD noise? And the bike lane certainly hasn't hurt business on 9th Avenue, why would it do so on 8th?

glennQNYC

It isn't needed... There is a bike path just one block over!

rhonda718

No, it's true. Roskoff led the Community Board in a rousing rendition of "Keep It Gay" from the Producers.

jenspellnogood

2102, please please please tell me you're gay, and will NOT be reproducing. you certainly are the stupidest poster i've had the displeasure of reading in some time.

randomdilemma

Wow, what a crappy and misleading Gothamist post.

Allen Roskoff did not LEAD the dissent. He did have the most obtuse dissent, which is agreeably quite ludicrous and amusing.

Most of the dissent, however, focused on noise, traffic and the affects on local businesses.

interlard

I think Gothamist is being shamelessly lazy and one-sided in this report. If there was an "onslaught" of opposition, why aren't we told what is was other than the stupid gay bashing?

This plan obviously has merit and Gothamist obviously supports it. But you won't garner support by treating your readers like Fox News monkeys.

One problem that I can see with the current plan: pedestrians will wonder onto the bike path without looking causing injury to themselves & others (like they do on the west side bike path). It needs some kind of barrier. I recommend little metal posts far apart enough to accommodate strollers & delivery carts.

doramittelbau

So Christopher Street is no longer gay blvd?

ny2102

George Carlin was an outspoken supporter of gay rights. Guess you'll need a new idol.

jenspellnogood

hey 2102 that's something to be really proud of. by the way, i was referring to the fact that mass is now recognizing out of state fag marriages, not the inception of the promiscuity plague.

#22 is spot on, present company included, ;)

political correctness has run amok in this fucking society, and humor was the first victim. god bless, oops, george carlin.

hungryghoast

proof that idiots and assholes come in all shapes, sizes, denominations, and sexual orientations.

virgil

I believe the biker in the illustration is wearing purple. By the caftan of Harvey Fierstein, what more does Roskoff want?

Splicer

A bike path won't stop anyone from acting overly flamboyant or showing off the fact that they have nothing better to do than work out all day.

DarkGemini

I can haz Napoleon Complex?

Oh, wait...

Jerky

Fu*ck Roskoff, build it anyway!!!

slyseekr

Roskoff wants Go Go Boys and Pole Dancers dancing on every 3rd planter!

ny2102

Buy a clue jenspellnogood, it was the homos in NYC that STARTED the modern gay rights movement when they beat the shiat out of the NYPD officers that wouldn't stop harassing them. In Germany they even call Gay Pride "Christopher Street Day."

mrguy

just scanned the whole pdf- this is a very good looking project. Ubelievable that anybody would object.

ny2102

As a gay man: WTF!?!? If anything a bike lane with a freaking flower-planted median would ADD ambiance, not take away from it. Jebus H. Creist Community Boards are full of wankers.