The corner of 115th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard is the scene of dozens of daily traffic violations that go unnoticed by the police. “I avoid this corner because Frederick Douglass is so dangerous,” Harlem resident Jay Borok said.
But these traffic violations aren’t typical instances of cars running red lights or making illegal turns. According to a report Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released in October, drivers, bikers, and pedestrians are frequently threatened by double-parked cars and pedestrians obstructing bike lanes, as well as by cyclists running red lights or riding on sidewalks.
In Harlem, over a period of three days in Stringer’s study, 55 bike lane-related infractions occurred at the corner in question, and none were ticketed.
The Bloomberg administration has led a big push in recent years to expand the city’s bike network, but Stringer—in his report surveying eleven Manhattan bike lanes—argues that the current system can be chaotic and dangerous.
“I would ride this way when I come home,” Borok said of his daily commute. “Instead, I ride up Manhattan Avenue.”
DIVERSE INFRACTIONS
In Harlem, bike lanes are used for a lot more than cycling, some local pedestrians say.
Cars are constantly double-parked in the bike lane—a high volume which some attribute to a mosque and a livery car service, both located on Frederick Douglass between 115th and 116th streets.
Over a two-hour period on a recent Saturday, the bike lane was never once clear of motor vehicles.
Carlos Dias, an employee at a bodega on the corner, said that a lot of people double park during services at the Masjid Aqsa mosque. “I don’t think it’s illegal because I’ve never seen the police do anything.”
Laralyn Mowers, a second-year student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and an employee at ModSquad Cycles, a local bicycle shop, said bike lanes across the city have cars parked in them and often police cars too. “Ironically, some police officers give bikers tickets for biking on sidewalks—but we can’t bike in the bike lanes because of the police cars,” she said.
“Cars are constantly in and out,” Harlem resident Joseph Valenti added.
But Samantha Smith, a dispatcher at the Harlem Car Service, said that their cars never cause problems. “Our drivers always look for legal parking. They’ll get ticketed in a minute.”
Cyclists who run red lights commit another, less frequent infraction cited in the report. Borok said many bikers run lights from time to time, often because it takes more energy to start and stop a bike than a car. “Everyone wants to run the red light,” he said.
AGGRAVATING FACTORS
“I had a gun pulled on me the other day [on a street without a bike lane] because the driver didn’t like that I was sharing the lane with him,” Mowers said, referencing common tensions that arise in streets without bike roads. “Violence against bikers is pretty intense here.”
Local residents agreed that accidents at the Frederick Douglass corner were not common. “In 12 years I never hear of anyone in any bike accident,” Dias said. Rather, it’s the conditions at the intersection that put anyone who passes through at risk, local residents and bikers said.
The biggest problem and the toughest to fix, for some, is sharing space between cyclists and drivers.
The bikers are the ones forced to adjust to their surroundings, said Molly Balfe, a student in the Mailman School of Public Health. “Wherever you are, when you commute this much, you have to get to know the traffic patterns.”
Some cyclists are not convinced that the bike lanes work at all, echoing some of the concerns raised in Stringer’s report.
“Some bike lanes are ridiculous,” Borok said. “You appropriate all this space [for bikers], but then a car makes a right and cuts you off. ... You’re better off just staying out of the bike lanes and on quieter streets.”
The danger of bike lanes is “why I bike on sidewalks,” said Harlem resident Gerada van der Wal, who was biking with a child in a bike carriage. “I don’t try and be in people’s way. On my own, I’d more likely be on the street, but with kids, no.”
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS?
Stringer’s office made several recommendations, including stationing more police officers on bicycles to enforce double-parking violations. The report also suggested installing “protected bike lanes” that separate cyclists from motorists, arguing that these are “half as likely to be blocked by motor vehicles.” These lanes, which are separated from car traffic by a floating parking lane and a buffer, have recently been tested on the Upper West Side.
Stringer also recommends a “public education campaign” through enhanced street signage and taxicab videos.
Van der Wal said she was in favor of bike lanes. “They allow cars to park without disrupting the bike lanes, which is good, because cars are not used to bikes.”
Mowers said there are also some fundamental problems about the relationship between cyclists and cars—she said she often sees “drivers opening a car door deliberately before a biker comes. I don’t think you can legislate through that. You have to cut to the root of the problem: why is everyone so frustrated with each other?”’
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