and don't forget, churches are tax exempt.

so, not only are they illegally taking street space for parking, they are taking street space that you and i paid for, and they did not.

Here's a thought. Park legally or take mass transit to church. Why should churchgoers be given special privileges? Other people want to drive or safely ride their bikes, and these law breaking churchgoers are infringing on our rights.

As an avid cyclist/commuter, I can't stand it when cars park in the bike lane. It drives me nuts.

HOWEVER.... there have to be exceptions to the rules every once in a while. Henry Street is a quiet side street -- it's not Avenue of the Americas. Plus church services are a once-a-week thing... in Harlem, people double-park routinely for church services whether or not there is a bike lane (there usually isn't).

I say let's focus on the greater issues, like people parking in bike lanes in high-traffic areas (for example, that approach to the Brooklyn Bridge everyone's upset about, or any number of bike-laned streets in Manhattan). This one simply isn't worth the fight. Sorry, but it's true.

i've said it before, and i'll say it again:

put stickers on the windows of cars blocking bike lanes reminding car owners that they are breaking the law and endangering lives.

preferably the ones that are really hard to remove.

pretty simple solution, show up early sunday morning and park your bike there.

protest by taking action

you two wheeled pusses.

if the police take some sort of unfair action against the bikers by claiming they are blocking a bike lane with bikes! then just ride slowly start to finish, get off walk bike back on sidewalk without breaking any laws, get back in bike lane amd bike real slow and prevent cars from PARKING in the bike lane, this can go on all day and the police would be unable to legally stop it. any action or claim that the police are arresting or ticketing bikers lawfully riding in the lane and lawfully walking their bikes on the sidewalk would prove that the church and the police are gigving special treatment to the chruch and allowing illegal parking and permitting fake & illegal placards to trump a bike lane.

anyone want to do it, im game!

Dear PS,

I'm the author of inklake. If you go to my blog, you'll find my e-mail address under the 'About' section.

The double parked cars are also an issue in Bed Stuy near Lewis Ave.

Ticket and tow them all!

Many streets in Harlem are barely impassable due to double parking during church services. Oh, how I long to one day live again in a place where virtually nobody goes to church anymore.

whats bothers me most is the flagrant disregard for enforcing the law against "certain" people which the pct seems to practice.

Not only should the church goers look or pay for parking like everyone else, but the cops who colluded with them should lose their jobs for not upholding their oath.

Give the cops a break. They're just afraid they'd be struck down by lightning bolts.

Maybe they could install some bike parking inside the church to offset the inconvenience to cyclists.

Just a few steel rings set into the pews for a u-lock to pass through would be all they'd need. I'm sure the church is empty aside from Sunday monrings and AA meetings.

The best solution is to close Henry Street to non church car traffic on Sunday mornings, which would let the holy rollers double park while bike riders can ride safely.

He should put a barricade at the end of the street that says BIKES ONLY WHILE CHURCH IS IN SERVICE

There are no bike lanes on the road to heaven.

I'm shocked -- SHOCKED -- that the captain of the 84th precinct won't talk to Gothamist.

Good thing you've got the TA spokescoyote on speed dial.

haha! spokescoyote! beep! beep! maybe this time he can get his verbs, conjugations, nouns, subjects and what-not straight. oh, and bonus points for not sounding as if he speaks for the entire nyc cycling community.

Churches would fail if they could not allow the driving public to come near

Jeez, if your parishoners can't schlep to your church from the subway station they must not be very dedicated. Perhaps you deserve to fail.

"The Henry Street bike lane is one of the oldest in the city, dating back to the '70s . . . "

john, are you sure about that? i cycle all over the city and recall that bike lane sprouting up only a few years ago. it actually caught many people's attention because it is one of the first ones to be completely filled in with green paint. perhaps that is the "first" you are referring to?

Go by that same church anytime after it snows. You will see that the sidewalk is never shoveled. It is like they simply ignore all laws.

The police recognize that churches make extraordinary contributions to the community.