[music]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, and now to your calls with your early reviews of riding over the new Brooklyn Bridge bike lane, or other reports from the biking on the city streets front. Kurt in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kurt.

Kurt: Oh, hey, how's it going?

Brian Lehrer: Good. You rode the bike lane.

Kurt: I did. Normally, I'm a Manhattan Bridge person because the Brooklyn Bridge is just not really great for cyclists, but yesterday, I was in Manhattan, I was close to the Brooklyn Bridge. I was like, "All right, I'll just take that over," and I noticed there was a new green bike lane leading up to it. I was, like, "Oh, this is interesting, this is nice," but then I was on autopilot, so I just went up the old way, and there were just tons of pedestrians everywhere. I was like, "Where are all the bikes? Why is everyone all over the path?"

Then I noticed some lady in the new bike lane, I was like, "Hey, what are you doing? Why are you riding up the pedestrian path?" I was like, "Oh, okay." I turned around, and one of the new paths, and it's great, especially compared to what it was, which was pretty dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians. Plus, riding on wooden planks is not very fun. [chuckles]

Brian Lehrer: Right.The wonderful surprise of discovering that there was a brand new bike lane that you didn't even know existed.

Kurt: Yes, I mean, I had heard that it was being built or was in the works, but I just didn't know that it actually happened. I'll definitely be considering the Brooklyn Bridge more often now, at least.

Brian Lehrer: Kurt, thank you so much. Stay safe out there. A little more of a mixed review, I think, in this next call. Bill in Chelsea, you are on WNYC. Hi, Bill.

Bill: Hi, Brian. Love you always. Yes, I think the bike lane is great. However, we're on the lower passage deck, and we're there alongside the cars and we have the lookup into the girders to see the great expanse that we would have seen on the upper deck and missed that dearly. Then, a little note further--

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead.

Bill: Well, a little no further, glad to talk about the Vista always but on the Brooklyn side, I come from Manhattan, visit my son and daughter in Brooklyn, live in Chelsea. On the Brooklyn side, the long expanse alongside the federal building there is still not connected to the rest of the pathway, so you go through orange tape and some barricades to get back onto the bike lane into the cabinet, the work area.

Brian Lehrer: They're working on it, can you tell?

Bill: They're working on it, yes. They're working on it. I mean, it's set up to the nice off-ramp or on-ramp into the Brooklyn side, but it's not quite finished yet.

Brian Lehrer: Bill, thank you very much for checking in. Isabelle in Brooklyn Heights, you're on WNYC. Hi, Isabelle.

Isabelle: Hi. I'm calling in more talk about post-Ida and really post-pandemic transportation on bikes. During the pandemic, it felt safer just to be outside, and after Ida, the subways just felt treacherous in a totally different way. I've now become way more of a biker, and I'm really hoping that maybe this becomes the start of talking about environmentally conscious, and pandemic safe transportation.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, what would you like at the policy level since it seems like you have that on your mind for the next mayor?

Isabelle: I guess the subways have been a mess for as long as I can remember, and I think they themselves need to transform, obviously, to a 21st-century power grid. Let's talk about how we're going to power the subways for years to come, and does that mean we need to try to change how they run and how much money we want to spend on that. Maybe we want to invest in ferries more or trolley-like systems that are electrically run.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Isabelle. Stay safe out there. Naomi in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Naomi.

Naomi: Hey, Brian. I'm calling up because I have biked throughout the pandemic. I think from the early days of it being empty and going through Soho and it was boarded up and lots of different cityscapes to now this outdoor dining experience where I think people, bikers are more pitted against pedestrians or waiters, or people carrying boxes in and out from outdoor arenas. I think that's-- just it's a negotiation, it's tricky. In general, biking in New York has always been better than Boston. I lived in Philadelphia, that place is a nightmare to bike in, just dangerous. That's what I really want to add.

Brian Lehrer: You're not crazy about outdoor dining from the point of view of how it affects sharing the world.

Naomi: I mean, I'm crazy about the outdoor dining as a diner, but I think that, especially in Manhattan, it's just a lot of the first avenue stuff, it's just really scary, and I think that waitstaff have enough to deal with than to not have to look both ways before going back into a building. I don't know any solution to that. It's just for bikers. I think the new problem is not so much cars, it's just pedestrians. That's always been the case, I've actually hit pedestrians versus cars in my biking experience.

Brian Lehrer: Naomi, thank you so much for checking in. Brian in Greenpoint, you are on WNYC. Hi, Brian.

Brian: Hello. Maybe just to attack on with the previous caller. My experience, I've been biking in New York for about 12 years now messenger style, but for leisure. There's always going to be qualms with cyclists versus cars versus pedestrians, but it seems like the newfound qualm alliance is all of the electronic vehicles. Nevermind the influx of--

Brian Lehrer: You're talking about the e-bikes?

Brian: E-bikes, e-scooters, the little wheels, the one wheels, these things are silent and very, very powerful. I'll be riding maybe 20 miles an hour up a bridge or something, and all of a sudden, some guys zoom in by me silently, with three other cyclists may be passing at the same time, it's just been incredibly dangerous. That's on top of the--I support the delivery drivers 1,000%. I just feel when there's a certain amount of power involved that people need to have maybe some type of class or learning mechanism where they're able to use the same courtesy that cyclists use--

Brian Lehrer: If the roads were wide enough to separate lanes for e-bikes, and those other powered things than for just straight pedal bikes, because we talk about-- the media easily talks about pedestrian cyclists and drivers. Those are the only three categories, but exactly what you're describing, there are so many different bike-ish kinds of things on the road these days with different amounts of battery-powered energy behind them, that it is complicated out there. How many lanes for different kinds of vehicles can refit on a city street? Brian, thank you so much. Desh in Hell's Kitchen, you're on WNYC. Hi, Desh.

Desh: Hey, Brian. A couple of days ago, I went and rode and took a test ride of the Brooklyn Bridge pass, and it was really exciting to go across it. I agree with the previous caller, it really is aesthetically disappointing because you have no view and you really are breathing the air of the cars as you go by. It was great not to have to ride through tourists enjoying themselves on the upper deck. It does make you think about what comes into play when you design for bikes, the choice to make it an aesthetic experience or not. I know that's complicated with city planning. Just like I came back across the Manhattan Bridge, and the views coming back into Manhattan on that bridge are spectacular, and you get a sense of what you're missing going across Brooklyn.

In addition to that, I rode a lot of the new lanes that are going in on Center Street before the bridge, which are now filled with cop cars and other official cars as soon as the green paint went down, which was disappointing as well. To ride around in a lot of the new infrastructure in Southern Manhattan is exciting, even though trucks and cars will find ways to park in the bike lane any way they can, but when you ride around just explicitly to look at the lanes now, it's nice to see that there's a lot that's gone in the last year or two that's it's growing and growing, which is great.

Brian Lehrer: Desh, thank you so much. One more. Edwin in Union City, who's a city bike user. Hi, Edwin, you're on WNYC.

Edwin: Hi, Brian. First-time caller, long-time listener.

Brian Lehrer: Glad you are. Sorry to say, we've got about 30 seconds for you, then we have to get ready for the Mayor.

Edwin: Okay. Sounds good. Yes, I just wanted to mention that I used the new bike lane on the Brooklyn Bridge a few weeks ago when I was brunching in Brooklyn, and I was pleasantly surprised. I think it wasn't a label or anything like that, but definitely beats going through the regular crowds on the bridge. I hope that they continue expanding these services or these avenues for city bike users or bike users in general.

Brian Lehrer: Edwin, thank you so much. Stay safe out there. Enjoy it out there. Thanks to all of you for your reports from the saddle on using the new Brooklyn Bridge bike lane and other reports from the streets.

Copyright © 2021 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.