MyBikeLane

Once again, our complaints finally got somewhere: Witness the Rite-Aid tractor trailer seen Friday afternoon correctly parked in the parking bay instead of in the bike lane on lower Ninth Avenue. While I expect this will be the exception rather than the rule--it's tough for a tractor trailer this size to find so many open parking spaces at once--at least let's be happy about this minor victory. Umm yes I did notice some of the cargo there in the bike lane.

Thank you for abandoning your car in my bike lane with your headlights on.

One ticket for one greedy Honda SUV owner parked right in front of a No Standing Anytime sign in the bike lane green zone on lower Ninth Avenue.

Three selfish pigs—the usual truck driver parked in the bike lane, plus a private garbage hauler and a limo—all of whom want to chill out in the No Standing Anytime green zone of the lower Ninth Avenue bike lane. What a pathetic situation—honking and yelling over who has the right to a spot that no one has a right to occupy. Just after taking these photos, a NYPD traffic van came by. I spoke to one of the four occupants, whose sole response was, "Thank you for telling me this" as they sped away without issuing violations. Thus the three little pigs continued to hog two out of three lanes and block rush hour traffic. Note the garbage hauler waving his arms while standing directly under the No Standing Anytime sign!

One of numerous trucks illegally parked in the bike lanegreen zone on lower Ninth Avenue, it's pathetic that one of NYC's most expensive steakhouses uses the same industrial-grade ingredients as diners and greasy spoons. And even sadder that bikers are forced out of their lane by this SYSCO truck whose driver is too lazy to park 30 feet up the street outside the bike lane.

Too lazy to park 20 feet further up the street in a normal spot that wouldn't endanger the lives of bicycle commuters. Too selfish to even park at the curb.

Same scene, one month later -- has any cop or traffic agent written them a violation in the past 30 days at this location? These guys don't bother to park 30 feet up the street in a safe zone because they never get any tickets.
http://nyc.mybikelane.com/post/index/3538
http://nyc.mybikelane.com/post/index/3766

Maybe if we post a dozen more of this guy's violations he might actually get a ticket?

Park right in front of the No Standing Anytime sign and right on top of the green-painted roadway so as to illustrate your point: NYC regulations don't apply to me. Same story, different week: http://nyc.mybikelane.com/post/index/3654

Nothing new here except this truck parked in the No Standing Anytime green zone. It was a wonderful winter morning to be on the bike, dodging illegally-parked trucks.

Note the biker in the pre-dawn gloom forced out of the green zone and into traffic on lower Ninth Avenue by Driscoll Foods. Every morning it's the same situation in this No Standing Anytime zone: bikers must go into a traffic bottleneck because lazy truckers won't park 30 feet up the street. Clickthrough for additional pictures including Driscoll's phone #201-806-2800

It's pointless to talk to this driver, because he doesn't care. We all know he could park 30 feet up the street, but he's too lazy and thoughtless to do that. Anyhow, while taking these photos just shy of 7 a.m. this morning -- at a time like many bikers I wanted to go to work -- a kid stopped me and asked me why I was taking photos. Here are my reasons:
The City spent over $1 million to build a safe, buffered bike lane down Ninth Avenue, which after it ends features a nice thick green stripe of paint on the roadway to inform drivers NOT TO PARK OR STOP THERE. That's what I pointed out to the kid -- the signs that say NO STANDING ANYTIME. No Standing Anytime also means 7 a.m. on a freezing cold weekday, when even diehard bikers are trying to get to work on the nice, safe, buffered bike lane down Ninth Avenue. It's a time when a lazy, thoughtless driver of a produce truck could park 30 feet up the street in a legal space. Who's more freezing cold? The biker. Who's engaged in the illegal activity? The driver. Yet who's going to get crushed by a truck who doesn't obey traffic signage? The biker.

Ridge produce is located at 9728 3rd Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11209. Phone: 718-861-7555. Why not give them a call and a piece of your mind? Clickthrough for the picture of the driver-side door with the truck's identifying information.

And the rest of the block to boot.

Maybe it was because we heard the screech of a car braking and then a crash last night—a biker hit by a car.
Maybe it was because the DOT painted this area GREEN so trucks wouldn't park here that we took this photo today. Examine the photo—a biker could get squashed between this truck and the oil tanker when forced out of this well-marked designated bike lane.
Maybe because it's the holiday season, and we saw that poor kid in shock, and we immediately thought how especially awful it would be if he didn't make it. Fortunately, he was wearing a helmet.
Maybe we were just pissed off that an ambulance still hadn't appeared 15 minutes after we called 911 last night. A fire truck showed up, but no ambulance.
Or maybe just because Tom Cat could have parked a mere 30 feet up the street (and not in the bike lane) that we decided to take the photo this morning. It reminded us of the lack of respect for bicyclists, and sadly how easy it is to mow them down.

Parked in the green zone yet again.

On this jammed block of East 9th, none of the buses, taxis or other drivers were blocking the bike lane. Only FIDUCIA was, acting out the vanity license plate ("A person who has assumed a special relationship to another person or another person's property, such as a trustee, administrator, executor ...").

Funny how No Standing Anytime signs and 100 feet of green paint down the bike lane won't stop them; this driver saw me take his picture and just walked away. By the way, I see the Sysco trucks delivering to Old Homestead Steakhouse all the time—so you're getting the same old industrial foodservice ingredients there you'd get anywhere else in America, just at much higher prices. Buyer beware.

When you've got the Beemer and the NJ plates, both the No Standing Anytime signs and green zones painted with bike symbols seem invisible. Curiously enough, this BMW was ticketed in this exact space exactly one month ago on 10/23. Guess he's got money to burn.

Despite a space at the curb and a postal truck on the fringes of the bike lane, this fellow chose to park smack in the bike lane. Maybe he needed to urgently buy stamps? I didn't hang around to take a pic of the NYPD Federal Law Enforcement permit. But if you've got the permit, then just park at the damn hydrant (pictured).

Stretch limo drivers have no problem breaking our city's laws and clogging our streets with their gas-guzzling unpatriotic vehicles, and I have no problem taking their pictures. The driver managed to body-block my first photo. I walked away and took a second photo, then quickly disappeared thanks to the police van that conveniently stopped right next to the limo. This is a very dangerous intersection for bicyclists, and selfish and illegal conduct such as depicted here highlights exactly why DOT painted this zone green. No Standing Anytime especially means no parking with your engine running and lights on while you're not in the limo, which is precisely what this guy did.

Although I know there's an open spot up the street or just around the corner, I am too lazy to park there because I would have to use my handtruck and walk for 15 seconds. What do I care if I force bicyclists out of their designated lane into rush-hour traffic at a dangerous intersection? I'm from New Jersey, and I abuse your roadways and regulations on a daily basis. Here are the regulations along with illustrations of how to park, just in case you'd like to print them out and plaster them on offending vehicles: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bikelaneparking.pdf

How many times can you park in the No Standing Anytime green zone before you change your behavior? How many times will you watch the guy on the bike snap your photo before you change your behavior? You have a handtruck; would it kill you to park legally 20 feet up the block and walk the extra 20 feet with your handtruck to make your delivery?

Two trucks blocking the fluorescent-green bike lane between West 14th and 15th Streets this morning. This was the laundry truck, just a few feet away was the dairy truck. What's the only way to stop these guys? Call their supervisors and ask why they refuse to park a few dozen feet up the street in a legal space. Walking the extra 30 or 40 feet won't kill them -- but parking here might kill a bicyclist forced into the traffic bottleneck at West 14th. That's why DOT painted this lane green, to highlight the danger.

30 feet behind this illegal spot, Swede Farms could have parked in a legal space. Clickthrough for photo of front of truck.

I spoke politely to this driver a few weeks ago when he was parked in the bike lane reading the New York Post. Again I pointed out today that he can easily park at the curb (open space). Conversation:
Me: Excuse me, but there is a space open at the curb right there (pointing).
He: Wha?
Me: Could you please park at the curb, just there (pointing).
He: (pretends he can't understand English and replies in Spanish)
Me: This time I am gonna take your picture.
There's simply no reason he can't unload fifteen feet further ahead. He could still get in the door of this post office problem-free. In fact, parking at the curb would be easier since he wouldn't have to dodge parked cars. See also: http://nyc.mybikelane.com/post/index/2726
If the manager of this station received a few complaint cards with a printout of this posting, perhaps something might be done.

As with all the other USPS trucks that park in the bike lanes for just a minute or five or ten to empty the mailboxes or deliver packages, this sets a bad example when making a delivery to a station. I tried to have a polite conversation with one of this station's drivers a few weeks ago who was parked in the bike lane reading the New York Post. He didn't show any interest in talking to me until I mentioned I'd be pleased to drop off a comment card at the G.P.O. about his parking habits. Note the biker forced into rush-hour traffic.

Let us all now praise DOT, whose workers are busy laboring in the rain this morning to finish the buffered bike lane on lower Ninth Avenue as seen here at 8:45 am. Remember to send an email thanking our visionary Transportation Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, for making this happen:
http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildot.html