This month our Council Member Erik Bottcher and his team intervened successfully on our community’s behalf on three situations:
West 39th Street “protected bike lane” was packed with cars parked on the lane and on the sidewalk. They belonged to a towing company and to construction workers. After hearing a cry for help on twitter, Erik Bottcher and his team got on the case and the next day, the block was clean ! This worked well for pedestrians, since many cars were no longer parked on the sidewalk.
Earlier this month, the preliminary markings for the bike lane on 9th Avenue showed mixing zones, when we expected safer alternatives like offset crossings. Again after a cry for help on Twitter, the Council Member and his team stepped in and DOT confirmed that the mistake would be corrected and the contractor would get new drawings!
Finally we were pleased to hear that the DOT is honoring its commitment to convert refuges on 11th Avenue from paint to cement, albeit without tree pits and trees. We promptly notified the Council Member and he received assurances that every refuge that did not sit on utilities would receive a tree pit and a tree!
We are so pleased that Council member Erik Bottcher has our back! Thank you !