Brooklyn Bridge Walkway (Bikes vs. Pedestrians)

homeowner

This discussion was created from comments split from: Vision Zero picks up speed.

mike dunlap

One of the things I would like to come out of Vision Zero is for the city to end the risk that pedestrians and bike pose to each other on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Have there been any major cyclist-pedestrian collisions on the bridge?

whynot_31

They don't result in deaths. They result in fist fights, bruises, and lost revenue.

I've seen the occasional stretcher and ambulance, but I don't think many people get admitted.

booklaw

Why lost revenue?

whynot_31

My first premise is that I believe the best money to flow into the NYC Dept of Finance is not my own.

My second premise:
If the path was all peds, I believe more tourists would use it as a leisurely way to see the sights, and have a greater chance of eating lunch in Brooklyn, as well as buying shirts proclaiming "Brooklyn".

http://explorebk.com/2014/05/08/walk-across-brooklyn-bridge-dumbo-brooklyn-bridge-park/

They would tell their friends at home in Ohio or France about how great it is, and there would be a snowball effect.

At present, the path has reputation among bikers and pedestrians as being crowded and filled with jerks, with everyone defining the other as the "jerk" and the "crowd".

mike dunlap

They don't result in deaths. They result in fist fights, bruises, and lost revenue.

I've seen the occasional stretcher and ambulance, but I don't think many people get admitted.

Weird. I've biked over the bridge a couple hundred times in the past year - I bike to work most days - and I have not even once seen any of those things.

You must be walking/biking the bridge at very different times than I do.

mike dunlap

My second premise:
If the path was all peds, I believe more tourists would use it as a leisurely way to see the sights, and have a greater chance of eating lunch in Brooklyn, as well as buying shirts proclaiming "Brooklyn".

http://explorebk.com/2014/05/08/walk-across-brooklyn-bridge-dumbo-brooklyn-bridge-park/

They would tell their friends at home in Ohio or France about how great it is, and there would be a snowball effect.

At present, the path has reputation among bikers and pedestrians as being crowded and filled with jerks, with everyone defining the other as the "jerk" and the "crowd".

Come on.

99% of the pedestrian traffic not intentionally headed to the promenade turns around and goes back to Manhattan once they get over the bridge and see a long walk to who knows what ahead of them. This has zero to do with cyclists.

0.00% of people from Ohio and France are going home and telling friends, "Whatever you do, don't walk the Brooklyn Bridge."

whynot_31

You don't have to take my word.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3938249/

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/pedestrian-guards-stationed-bridges-move-limit-biker-walker-accidents-article-1.956176

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/general-cycling-discussion/hit-pedestrian-brooklyn-bridge-yesterday-6pm-289240-4.html

http://nypost.com/2011/08/15/look-out-its-bklyn-bridges-war-path/

http://brooklyn.about.com/od/brooklynbridge/a/Taking-A-Run-Or-Going-For-A-Jog-Across-The-Brooklyn-Bridge-Top-Tips.htm

eastbloc

You have to be stupid, thrive on confrontation, or actually be heading exactly to Park Row to cycle on the Brooklyn Bridge.  The Manhattan Bridge is right next to it and a far less irritating ride, between the wooden boards and the clueless tourists standing in the bike lane to snap photos.  It's this way more or less regardless of time, although it does depend on the weather.

The BB shaves off probably half a mile and a few minutes from my commute, but is in no way worth it.

mike dunlap

You don't have to take my word.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3938249/

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/pedestrian-guards-stationed-bridges-move-limit-biker-walker-accidents-article-1.956176

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/general-cycling-discussion/hit-pedestrian-brooklyn-bridge-yesterday-6pm-289240-4.html

http://nypost.com/2011/08/15/look-out-its-bklyn-bridges-war-path/

http://brooklyn.about.com/od/brooklynbridge/a/Taking-A-Run-Or-Going-For-A-Jog-Across-The-Brooklyn-Bridge-Top-Tips.htm

OK.  Thanks for the info.

One of the worst aspects of our car-sick culture is that the dominance of car drivers often pits cyclists and pedestrians against each other in competition for small spaces... while the people that kill and maim scores of others are left with the vast majority of the travel space.

whynot_31

Whether DeBlasio leaves office in 4, 8 or 12 years, ^this^ will continue to be true.

However, the city might be able to collect additional revenue from them, and claim some of that space back.

homeowner

Given all of our talk about the dangers of the Brooklyn Bridge path, I thought for sure, someone would post this here.

http://gothamist.com/2014/10/06/cop_cyclist_brooklyn_bridge.php

Cyclist Injures Cop On Brooklyn Bridge, No Criminality Suspected

booklaw

Evidently we need more cars and fewer bicycles!

mugofmead111

@homeowner - I saw that Gothmanist post.

I only have walked over the Brooklyn Bridge two or three times (from Manhattan to Brooklyn). Because of the cyclists, the joggers, the tourists, and a wooden pathway that seems to be too narrow to accommodate us all, I'd rather not do it again.

Speaking of Gothamist, it ran a story today about a bear cub that was found dead in Central Park. It apparently had been hit fatally by a car. Vision Zero isn't just for human pedestrians.

whynot_31

My theory is that the bear cub was hit outside of NYC by someone who lives in NYC, who was intoxicated and/or unlicensed. They then tried to save the injured cub, by putting it in their car and bringing it home. When it died, they took the corpse to the park.

Vision Zero is only in NYC.

All of which leads me to conclude that by not adopting Vision Zero, places outside of NYC hate bear cubs and pedestrians.