Upper East Side Board Finally Backs Crosstown Bike Lanes

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — After months of indecision and years of agitation by advocates, a community board voted overwhelmingly this week to endorse a pair of crosstown protected bike lanes that the city is seeking to build on the Upper East Side.

The resolution that passed Community Board 8 on Wednesday came more than seven months after the Department of Transportation first installed temporary lanes on East 61st and 62nd streets between Fifth and York avenues, and nearly two months after DOT first told the board it wanted to make the lanes permanent.

In a series of contentious meetings, safe-streets advocates pleaded with the board to support the lanes, saying they would help reduce traffic deaths and connect to the city's existing bike-lane network.

Opponents, meanwhile, said they would not back bike infrastructure until the city cracked down on cyclists who disregard traffic laws.

Twice, the board's transportation committee could not reach a consensus about whether to support the lanes, deferring a vote until the full board met this week. The permanent lanes will likely be installed this summer regardless of the board's position, DOT has said.

"No way that I'm going to support anything"

The push for the crosstown lanes dates back to 2015, when CB8 first asked the city to install a new pair of east-west lanes to join the existing ones on East 90th and 91st streets.

Other points of contention included the bike lanes' impact on street congestion, and their effect on a nearby daycare and dialysis center — complaints that appeared to be resolved after DOT modified the lanes' design to provide more curb access.

"As long as this problem of illegal bicycling is universal in this city, there is no way that I’m going to support anything in the interest of bicyclists," board member Elizabeth Ashby said Wednesday.

Opponents were in the minority this week, however, outnumbered by board members and neighbors who spoke out in favor of the permanent lanes.

"Why are we here, time after time, going over the same complaints?" said "senior citizen cyclist" Hindy Schachter, who had already joined three previous meetings to support the bike lanes. "Now is the time for the community board to make a resolution that will show they respect the safety of the inhabitants of this district."

City Councilmember Ben Kallos also indicated support, noting that Upper East Side residents are "more likely to be killed by traffic violence than by anything else."

"When people have a space and it is purposely built for them, it makes things safer," Kallos said.

Between 2014 and 2018, 342 people were injured in crashes on East 61st and 62nd streets, including 27 severely and one pedestrian who died, according to DOT data. That puts the streets in Manhattan's top 10 percent in those categories.

The resolution in support of the lanes ultimately passed with 34 members voting in favor and nine opposed.

The temporary lanes on 61st and 62nd were installed in September as the city rushed to accommodate an increase in bike use during the coronavirus pandemic.

City officials have described the two lanes as key missing links that would connect to existing protected lanes on First and Second avenues, as well as Central Park, the East River Greenway and the Queensboro Bridge.

Board member Barbara Rudder seemed to embody the shift among some in the neighborhood, describing herself as a former "naysayer" who opposed bike lanes during their early, less-regulated days.

"Life has changed. Ninety percent of the time, I've found the bikes are riding the right way," she told the board. "I feel so much more comfortable as a pedestrian since there were bike lanes than before."

Previous bike lane coverage:

• Crosstown Upper East Side Bike Lanes Stump Community Board Again
• Plans For UES Crosstown Bike Lanes, Bridge Access Revealed
• Upper East Siders Sharply Divided Over Temporary Bike Lane
• 2 New Bike Lanes Coming To Upper East Side, City Says