Councilman Brad Lander and some city Department of Transportation officials were slapped with subpoenas yesterday to testify in a lawsuit seeking to eliminate the controversial Prospect Park West bike lane.
Opposition organizations Seniors for Safety and Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes said the officials were served with subpoenas to appear at the next hearing, scheduled for July 20 in a Brooklyn courtroom.
“The city is trying to avoid litigation on a technicality, which is based on a lie. After having told the public and various elected officials the bike lane was a trial project, the city now makes the incredible claim the lane was permanent all along, and that our suit was filed too late. The city is desperately trying to avoid litigating the merits of our suit because it cannot justify its misuse of data and failure to conduct a proper safety study,” said Jim Walden, an attorney for SFS and NBBL.
Supporters of the lane, however, say the two-lane path installed last year is a safety necessity that’s reduced speeding and serves a large network of bikers seeking transportation alternatives to gas-guzzling cars. City lawyers have disputed the claims in the suit.
The suit, filed in March by a group of well-heeled Park Slope residents, seeks the lanes’ immediate removal. It claims crashes and injuries actually increased after the path was added.
Lander’s staff did not respond to messages yesterday.