Bike Lane Sagas: Phony Detour Sign on Kent Comes Down!

The unauthorized detour sign near the intersection of Kent Avenue and Broadway in Williamsburg came down this morning after the property owner was alerted to the presence of the sign, which was attached to the top of a disused Kabbalah Energy Drink semi-truck trailer in the parking lot of Gold Warehouse, next to Giando restaurant. Co-owner David Gold insisted he knew nothing about the sign, which directed motorists one block east to Wythe Avenue in order to avoid delays caused by Hasidic school bus drivers blocking traffic to protest the contentious Kent Avenue bike lane.

Gold said the trailer was full of old parts and he had no idea who put the sign there. As his employees removed it, local resident Leo Moskowitz approached and explained that the sign was installed by "concerned residents and business owners" who are outraged by the new bike lane and the subsequent loss of parking. And according to Moskowitz, bus drivers have been given tickets for pulling into the bike lane to pick up children along Kent Avenue.

"At a community meeting on November 24th, DOT bike program coordinator Josh Benson suggested the bus drivers drop kids off in the middle of the street," Moskowitz said. He defended the unauthorized detour sign as "simply an advisory sign on private property, the way Burger King or McDonalds can put up a sign." Besides advising drivers, the sign also made for great publicity; Moskowtiz told us that at least two TV news channels have covered the ongoing bike lane battle since the sign appeared Saturday night.