well no shit only one bike would go by! it's fucking December, idiot! Wait until the Spring, and when more people find out about this safer route across the borough, and there will be a lot of bike traffic.

I do, however, have sympathy for some of the people here. And why not? It's a lot of change in the short amount of time it takes to paint some the lanes. They should just double park outside the bike lane. I think that'd be fair.

Maybe they should put both lanes on one side of the street. Sure, you'd have to cross both lanes to get to it half the time, but wouldn't that solve a few of these issues?

I keep hearing that there aren't that many bikers on the lanes: did anyone consider that, when you're looking at these lanes, it's either been raining or freezing cold for the last few weeks? It sucks that fewer bikers are out now and these people are getting inconvenienced, but check back in March or April and I'm sure there will be more bikers to "justify" this lane. Because after all, if nobody drives on a normal street frequently it should be removed, right?

This is very sad. I love how the first email says how she was carrying her sick daughter in the “freezing cold”. It was over 50 DEGREES last night! “I want to invite you to my house, and give you a consignment, come with your car, find a legal parking spot within 5 blocks of my house, walk down to our building very slowly and count how many bikes pass by. I bet U, it wont be more then 1.” The DOT counted over 500 cyclist in 12 hours! Ripping it out is totally unnecessary. What needs a little work got the ax. I want to go to that neighborhood and take some pictures. Do you know that there is 90 Degree parking in that neighborhood to accommodate parking? Why doesn’t Manhattan get this to “accommodate” the residents?

LAMe. Shame on these politicians for bowing down to this type of whining pressure. Sorry if you lost your subsidized parking but it is a personal choice to own a car. And since when was free, on-street parking a guaranteed right.

Besides, this was passed 30 to 2 in a community board meeting. The bike lane went through lots of community meetings......people should of being showing up then. Complaining after the fact is super weak!

Not to mention that both Yassky and Reyna voted for the re-zoning which pretty much added way more people to the hood without giving any real thought to parking or train over-crowding. HELLO, what did they think would happen?

what are the chances Google would capture a bicyclist on Kent Ave. when photo-mapping the street view?

http://tinyurl.com/6z344c

Let's be clear here... The person complaining in this post LIVES IN A HIGH-RISE APT BUILDING WITH A PARKING GARAGE. Sorry, I have no sympathy.

I defy anyone to recall reading anything quite as mindless as that said by a representative of city building owners, Sylvester Giustino who took issue with garage owners having to make space for one bike for every ten cars. He wondered how the city expects owners to "screen bicycles and bicyclists for terrorist activity."

Uh, Sy, I'd say the very same way garage owners screen every car that enters a garage: inspect the trunk and the glove compartment of the bike. Check underneath the bike and see if a bomb is taped to it.

Oh, you don't do that with every car entering a garage? But a bike is able to conceal and carry more than can a car or truck, which you are only too happy to have in your parking lots for an exhorbitant cost, right?

And as for the Hasidim being offended by the manner of dress of, presumably lycra-clad, cyclists (which, I guess, explains why we don't see any Hasidic football players, tennis players, figure skaters, speed skaters, ballerinas, boxers, wrestlers, etc., if they bar me from their streets, is it not similarly fair and right that I can bar them from mine because of their appearance?

This Woman should consider herself lucky her child is still alive and think about the parents who's children have been killed by careless drivers while riding their bikes.

Now I know how to spell brew ha ha.

=v= There's smart growth and there's dumb growth, and car-oriented infrastructure is pretty much the definition of dumb growth, especially in an area as rich and dense as Brooklyn! The solution to growing pains is smart growth.

I wish the writer of the letter, and the members of this community, only endless personal turmoil and strife. I find the fact that the preferences of a very specific self-righteous group of religious fundamentalists are being applied to those outside of their sequestered regiments depraved on any standard, and second only to the cowering of those who are willing to allow such blatant use of religious bullying.

What year is it? What city is this? How soon will it be before they begin building their wall to keep the goyim out? Though a subtle reference to a different story, we must not forget to check our footnotes.

Though only a bike lane, the lengths taken by this community (maliciously putting a bike rider into oncoming traffic) to keep out infidels is troubling and infuriating. I am livid that a single community's wishes is impacting an entire borough+ - a community who would not even give you the time of day on a subway or a sidewalk. Regardless of how trivial the ends, the means are very telling.

To: Resident of 450 Kent Ave.

Re: Lack of parking spaces

It's a shame the new bike lane is underused. How many families in Brooklyn own 2, 3, or even 4 cars? Hopefully a bike-friendly New York encourages less motor vehicle indulgence so that more parking spaces will be vacated by those whose vehicular necessity is really a luxury, thereby allowing people like yourself who may need a car to park closer to their home.

"I bet U, it wont be more then 1."

Why use correct words and punctuation? No need, i r pissed @ byks!

i often ride down from north to south brooklyn via kent, and i can say, i'm thankful for the bike lane.

i can also say, in south williamsburg, bike lane or not, the people that live around there disregard it and / or use it as a parking lane and it's a constant source of frustration and near death experiences.

i'm not saying bikes are better than cars, or cars are better than bikes, but fucking, shut the fuck up and share the road, no matter who wants to be on it.

that's my $.02.

Why do the Hasidics all drive the Honda Odyssey Minivans?? Does anyone else notice this when you bike or walk through the neighborhood?? Do they all own Honda stock or something?

@29 -- moderately fewer cars, maybe (some people will become so frustrated with the increased traffic that they'll stay home). But for the most part fewer lanes just means the same amount of cars in less space -- people still have to go places (and they're not generally willing to go on bikes). More traffic means more frustration, more pollution, and a lower quality of life for everyone.

Yeah, roads aren't just for cars. Bikes can use them too -- the question is whether we're better off overall if bikes get a special lane.

Hey, how about you get a bike! I hear there's a bike lane right in front of your house.

#27 - remove lanes for cars and there will be less automobiles on the road. Roads were not built for cars alone.

I live in Jackson Heights, and I can't find a legal parking space within five blocks of my house.

Pay for a garage, like I do, or get rid of your car.

Sorry. But welcome to New York. I have no sympathy.

I think this depends on how many bicyclists and how many cars. If 10 drivers are inconvenienced to allow 1,000 bicyclists a day an easier ride, that's one thing. If, on the other hand, we're talking 1,000 drivers being inconvenienced, and the bike lane only gets 10 riders a day, that's different. My sense is that it's closer to the latter, but I don't really know.

Obviously there's a hope that some day there will be many more bicyclists -- but I just don't see bike lanes making a difference in that. A bike lane will certainly encourage some people to choose a bike over driving -- but driving or riding has never just been about whether there's a dedicated lane. There is also the exposure to the elements, the distances, the (unwanted)exercise, etc. that come with riding. All those discourage riding, and bike lanes don't change that. If we're never going to see enough riders to make the inconvenience worthwhile, the bike lanes don't make sense.

(Disclaimer -- I'm assuming that there are, in fact, a lot of inconvenienced drivers and relatively few bicyclists -- rather than, say, an extremely vocal religious minority trying to hide its moral objection behind "inconvenience" arguments...)