Mayor Adams’ Plan to Rip Up Bedford Safety Improvements HALTED: Appellate Judge Orders Temporary Restraining Order to Protect Bedford Avenue

300 bike riders have signed a pledge to sue the City if they are hit on Bedford Avenue. 

DOT acknowledges: “The City risks legal liability for knowingly reducing safety on a Vision Zero priority corridor.”

NEW YORK — Today, a judge issued a second temporary restraining order against the City of New York to halt the removal of the Bedford Avenue street safety project.

Last month, Transportation Alternatives and a Brooklyn family, represented by Peter Beadle, J.D., sued the Adams administration over its illegal plans to suddenly remove the Bedford Avenue safety improvements and protected bike lane. The protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue was initially installed by the Department of Transportation in response to documented safety issues and after months of community review of the plans.

On June 18, a judge issued a temporary restraining order against the City. On July 1, the TRO was extended until the judge’s decision. On July 9, the judge lifted the TRO and allowed the Adams administration to proceed with its plans to rip out the safety improvements. The construction was scheduled to begin tonight, July 15. This afternoon, Transportation Alternatives’ lawyer filed an appeal, and now the appellate judge has granted a second temporary restraining order.

Today, 300 bike riders signed a pledge to sue the City if they are hit on Bedford Avenue. In a document filed with the previous court, DOT acknowledged the potential legal liability, stating, “The City risks legal liability for knowingly reducing safety on a Vision Zero priority corridor.”

Statement from Ben Furnas, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives:

“The bulldozers might be ready to destroy the Bedford Avenue safety improvements, but the Adams administration is going to have to spend their night preparing their legal case, not ripping out a critical safety project and central Brooklyn’s only protected bike lane.

“The fight to save the Bedford Avenue safety improvements continues, and we won’t back down until everyone can get home safely.”

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