Gulf Of Tonkin On The Williamsburg Bridge

Now that the City appears moving towards regulating pedicabs — just weeks after a horrible pedicab accident on the Williamsburg Bridge — you kind of start to wonder whether the circumstances around the accident are a little fishy:

Although a law exists that prohibits pedicabs from traveling on bridges and in tunnels, the city does not enforce the ban because of a lawsuit challenging the law’s licensing provisions. The suit has been resolved, but the city must draft new rules and hold hearings before the law can be enforced.

Detectives from the 90th Precinct were investigating. No criminal charges had been filed by Wednesday evening.

Other pedicab operators said they did not understand why a pedicab would be operating so early in the morning, particularly in that neighborhood.

“This is a very unusual circumstance, a pedicab on that bridge at that time of the day,” said Peter Meitzler, who owns Manhattan Rickshaw in the West Village.

“Therein Lies The Problem”

Seems like help is on the way.

Until you request an area code 718 Queens number to put in the newspaper so Little League execs and coaches can call to volunteer.

Then a Parks spokesperson tells you to have them call 311, so that your request to help the department can be screened by the Big Brother of the Mayor’s Office and then ground through the bureaucracy while the outfield grass grows another 6 inches.

This is a runaround and not helpful.

Therein lies the problem.

Admit It: “Inspired By Bogota” Sounds A Lot Better Than “Rehashed Mayor Lindsay”

Maybe it was “inspired by Bogota” — Bogota being the place where all those exotic, sexy ideas come from — like Bus Rapid Transit! — but Mayor Lindsay also tried it out in 1970*, right when his political career was starting to implode. Hahahahahaha:

Traffic on Park Avenue may seem lighter in August than in much of the year, thanks to the summering habits of its well-to-do residents. But much of the boulevard will have no traffic at all on three Saturdays this summer, as the city shuts down 6.9 miles of Manhattan roadway in a reprise of last year’s Summer Streets program.

In its debut last August, the program attracted about 50,000 bicyclists and pedestrians on each of its three days to a path from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 72nd Street. This year’s events, announced on Monday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, will take place on Aug. 8, 15 and 22, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Citing a positive response to the program — an idea inspired by a recreational experiment in Bogotá, Colombia, that began in the 1970s — the city has expanded it to smaller stretches of the other boroughs on weekends throughout the summer. The program will reach 13 neighborhoods, although none of the additional street closings will match the size of the main Manhattan route.

*Back then it involved closing Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 57th Streets, and the idea was referred to as a “pedestrian shopping mall” — which, if you think about it, is basically what it amounts to.

Bike Routes Reach Critical Mass

But Critical Mass isn’t coming to Staten Island anytime soon:

When the DOT interposed them on Bay Street, critics cried that the meandering bike routes were, at best, a waste of money. The fact that it took only months for the pounding of traffic to just about wear away the paint in spots only compounded the skepticism.

Now the city is adding more routes, this time on North and South Railroad avenues, and the reaction is edging toward disbelief.

“Shared lanes” were installed on Bay Street last winter, to serve as a navigational aid to cyclists looking to connect to bike lanes on Capodanno Boulevard and Richmond Terrace. The chevrons and bike markings painted on the asphalt also are intended to keep cyclists a safe distance from car doors that open in the parking lane, and to remind motorists that must share the road with bike riders, who have an equal right to use the street.

. . .

City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn) said he encourages cycling as a form of exercise and isn’t opposed to setting aside bike lanes and routes in theory.

“It’s not about bike lanes, per se,” he said. “It’s about misguided priorities.” He criticized the installation earlier this month of another bike route on Jefferson Avenue in Dongan Hills, which leads to the North and South Railroad facilities, because he believes the area’s narrow streets are too dangerous for cyclists. In addition, he continues to push for improved road conditions for cyclists and drivers alike.

“I’m not quite sure what the obsession is with bike lanes in this administration. I just wish they were obsessed with smooth streets,” Oddo said.

Charming Thought Of The Day

Speaks for itself:

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the money and drugs appeared to have been what the robbers were after when they burst into Special Moments Daycare in East Flatbush on Friday afternoon — while a dozen or so children were napping.

Three men were arrested at the scene, including a suspect who was shot by the police.

“It now appears the day care center was a drug haven, or where drugs in significant quantities were kept, primarily marijuana,” Mr. Kelly said . . .