Dept. Of Aggravation

Nipped in the Budnick In June of 2003, Transportation Alternatives bike program director Noah Budnick and I had a meeting with a small group of high-level Department of Transportation officials at the agency's Brooklyn borough commissioner's office. At the time, I was working as a coordinator for T.A.'s Brooklyn Committee. The issue at the very top of our agenda that day was safer bicycle and pedestrian access to the Manhattan Bridge. We brought a video to the meeting so DOT officials could clearly see how dangerous the on- and off-ramps of the Manhattan Bridge were for cyclists. We told DOT officials in no uncertain terms that the Manhattan Bridge was a disaster waiting to happen. Wait no longer. On Tuesday, March 29 at about 7 p.m., Noah Budnick had a disastrous crash on Sands Street in Brooklyn, just after exiting the Manhattan Bridge bike path. Though he was wearing a helmet, Budnick suffered severe head trauma. He is now in stable condition, floating in and out of consciousness in a hospital intensive care unit.

Police initially said that Budnick's crash was caused by a hit-and-run driver. Now they say that he dropped into a pothole after swerving to avoid a vehicle parked in the bike lane. There are still "many questions about inconsistencies and omissions in the accident report," T.A. says.

What I can say for certain is this: Despite major improvements made to the bike path on the Manhattan Bridge since our meeting two years ago, access to the bridge is still extremely dangerous, especially on the Brooklyn side.

I don't need to use Noah's crash to make the point. Last summer I had the worst bike crash of my life only a few yards away from where Budnick wiped out. Riding toward a pothole, I momentarily peeked back over my shoulder to see if I could safely merge to my left. By the time my eyes were back on the road in front of me, my front wheel had dipped into a series of abrupt ripples in the asphalt. Merely a nuisance to motorists, these kinds of hazards are devastating to cyclists. In a split second, my bike and I were crumpled on the pavement directly in front of a BQE on-ramp. If a truck had been behind me, accelerating onto the expressway, I'd have been roadkill.

Are Budnick and I lousy riders? I don't think so. Noah is a skilled and experienced urban cyclist, and I am pathologically careful. I ride under the assumption that drivers don't see me and, even if they do, they'd be perfectly content to kill me and keep going.

All you have to do is spend some time riding a bike in cities like Berlin, London, Montreal or Portland to understand the problem. New York City is still way too hostile an environment for cycling despite the fact that in an era of increasing subway fares, air pollution, gas prices and traffic congestion, record numbers of commuters are pedaling. Let's hope Budnick gets better soon. Few have worked harder and done more to improve New York City's cycling environment.

Bliss Out

As if Budnick's crash, 37 more arrests at the March Critical Mass ride, and the presence of the New York International Auto Show weren't enough to give one the sense that some sort of vast anti-bike conspiracy is underway, George Bliss, the founding father of New York City's burgeoning pedicab industry, has been curbed by a bogus law suit.

The accident that led to the lawsuit occurred in December 2001 when the pedicab carrying Dr. Jerome Perlmutter, a dentist from Florida, and his wife was hit and slowly dragged to the curb by a tour bus in front of the Plaza Hotel.

The tour bus operator was clearly at fault, and Bliss's driver did nothing wrong. But unlike many of his competitors, Bliss's cabs and drivers are insured, making him a target for the Perlmutters' attorney. Rather than trying to defend a company that operates gigantic tricycles, Bliss's insurer chose to settle and cancel Bliss's coverage. They paid the Perlmutters $150,000 while the tour bus operator shelled out $1.75 million. Ê

"We'd have been better off if we didn't have insurance," says Bliss. "The irony is that by doing the right thing and providing liability insurance to my drivers, I get screwed."

There are now about 200 pedicabs operating in the city. With no barriers to enter the business, an increasing number are run by unscrupulous players. Bliss has been pushing the Department of Consumer Affairs to begin requiring a simple revocable pedicab license and liability insurance for drivers. Until that happens, the city's best pedicab operator is closed for business.

-Aaron Naparstek

naparstek@nypress.com