IKEA Plays Hardball to Block Bike Lane in Red Hook

BitchcakesNY's Flickr

Remember when IKEA was trying to woo Red Hook with all those promises about being such a great neighbor? Well, the honeymoon's over. At a Community Board 6 meeting last Thursday night, the Swedish retailer came down hard on a DOT plan to install a bike lane that would run four measly blocks on Columbia Street from Bay Street, onto Halleck and Beard Streets. "It seems dangerous to officially encourage bikes to the front of IKEA," intoned IKEA Manager Mike Baker, whom one member of the transportation committee described as "confrontational."

In a statement submitted to the committee, Baker even went so far as to tell the committee that IKEA would renege on its promise [pdf] to do traffic analyses to determine the store’s impact on Red Hook, which was "a key concession to the community in the lead up to the store’s 2008 opening," Brooklyn Paper reports (in an article that has, maddeningly, not yet appeared on their website). Baker's concern, ostensibly, is that the Ikea-provided traffic-calming measures would be minimized by the bike lane, which would also eliminate one car lane.

“If the … traffic management elements constructed and funded by Ikea are going to be modified … then IKEA is not responsible for impacting or remedying the vehicular flow in Red Hook," Baker warned. In response to the bike lane bashing, Transportation Alternaives' Noah Budnick said, "IKEA has enough enemies as it is in that neighborhood, I don’t know why they would stand up and oppose a safety project."

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

By John Del Signore in News on June 23, 2010 4:28 PM

Comments [rss]

dgeee

You people should thank your god for Ikea; without it you would be living with cinder blocks and wooden crates for furniture.

l3iodeez

Not in my house. We have mostly old street-scored furniture. 60s-era wooden banker chairs FTW.

kdt

Ikea USA Corporate Public Relations

Mona Astra Liss

1-610-834-0180 x 5852

kevd

Ikea just wants an excuse to not have to pay for shit they agreed to pay for.

If the city wanted to remove a bike lane tehre, they'd say that meant they didn't have to pay for traffic studies too.

whitecastlerock

This is so unfair. Why the hell isn't there an HOV bike lane on the LIE yet? This city is decades behind Europe-makes me sick that people can't just ride wherever the hell they want to. Clearly a violation of their civil rights. Where is Chuck Schumer????

luke*

The LIE service road is some of the best cycling in the NYC metro area. You could be out there right now honking menacingly at bicycles instead of posting on Gothamist!

ozik

I know you're being sarcastic, but taking a highway lane to make bike-way is a great idea.

twentyfive25

What's all the fuss about bike lanes? Some of us have been riding in traffic for years without them, and I actually hate them- the pavement is horrendous, people loiter in them and they really do slow down traffic. If you don't feel safe riding a bike in NYC, take the train.

Sir Bonkers

Fuck ikea, their furniture sucks.

inoyourider

Not a good place for biking.

"Baker's concern, ostensibly, is that the Ikea-provided traffic-calming measures would be minimized by the bike lane, which would also eliminate one car lane."

Seems logical.

potsmoker

sounds like an excuse that anybody could use.

when exiting ikea theres a stop sign and really really clear traffic lanes, turn signals and signage. the hewest and clearest in the city, if anything streets with recently installed bike lanes now have new freshly painted pavement markings.

its the cars already on the street that are the problem, theres plenty of clear line of sight to stop, look and make sure your not gonna hit a bicyclist.

hahaha, has anybody here even been to that ikea.

inoyourider

Did you read anything in this article or are you just spewing your shit like usual?

"Baker's concern, ostensibly, is that the Ikea-provided traffic-calming measures would be minimized by the bike lane, which would also eliminate one car lane."

Yes, I've been there multiple times.

Didn't seem to be much demand for bike lanes.

BrooklynBrood

I wonder if IKEA HQ knows about this or if "IKEA Manager Mike Baker" is just a loose cannon. As a Christmas bonus, IKEA gave its 9000 employees folding bikes a couple of years ago.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/ikea-gives-staff-chance-to-get-on-their-bikes-428698.html

"We all have a responsibility to do what we can to protect the environment," Ikea's UK manager, Peter Hogsted, said.

henryhamilton

Someone should drop a dime to find out.

thefacts

The TransAlt spokesperson got it all wrong. It is Transportation Alternatives, not Ikea, that has enough enemies.

"Wah, wah, wah. I can't use my little bike to pick up and deliver that bedroom set. Wah wah."

Gwinny

A nonsensical anti-bike comment? stop the presses!

longacre

There's all kinds of shitty livery cabs, illegal "man with a van" guys and and moronic drivers going in and out of there. He's absolutely right that biking should not be encouraged right in front of the store.

legendary

A huge chunk of IKEA traffic is from cars, and we're going to drop a car lane for a bike lane that could be one or two blocks over?

It's already a shit show over there at the wrong times, why make it worse?