Senator Gounardes 5 Days Later
On July 4th, there was a serious accident in Marine Park, Brooklyn. See here
Today, July 9th, Senator Gounardes shared about the accident on Twitter. Why did it take so long for the Senator to respond?
Gounardes believes, “We are in a crisis!”
How are we in a crisis if just a few weeks ago, Gounardes thought it was okay to overide CB 10’s decision to block certain bike lanes? (See here) Gounardes doesn’t have the authority to speak on the topic of bike lanes – he doesn’t have a degree in transportation or urban planning and hasn’t done anything to show expertise in choosing streets for bike lanes.
Communities have changed, there are more people riding bikes and NYC streets have to change to reflect that. Drawing lines with paint doesn’t make safe streets for people. People can’t ride their bikes with drivers of cars, who are playing with their phones, while trying to steer 3000 pound cars. Protected bike lanes are needed here!
See video here (used with permission)
While Corey Johnson is advocating for 50 miles of covered bike lanes in Manhattan, Andrew Gounardes is not a visionary leader. Gounardes thinks paint on the street is good enough for cyclists in Bay Ridge. The dramatic social-media-senator just wants to tweet about a CRISIS!
While bike lanes could have looked differently here in Bay Ridge, Gounardes didn’t know how to advocate for what our community needed. Gounardes responded to his base and overrode CB 10 without exploring street alternatives for our neighborhood with experts. (See here) Most surprising, there were some parents who were so desperate for the paint-drawn bike lanes in Bay Ridge, they didn’t have the vision to plan for safer streets for their children.
There was also an accident on July 6th in Dyker Heights, but Gounardes didn’t mention that one….maybe he doesn’t know?!
Hugs,
marlene
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