Bike Lane Meeting Comes To Blows, Screaming Match In Park Slope

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A meeting organized against the bike lanes on Ninth Street quickly devolved into screams, shoves and a mutiny of the forum's moderator after it bizarrely began with a video against street changes in Manhattan.

Dozens of people packed into a church basement Wednesday for the "Town Hall" meeting, the second set up by Ninth Street resident Myra Manning after she started collecting petition signatures protesting the bike paths earlier this year.

But the crowd soon grew confused, then outraged, when Manning handed the meeting over to John Halpern, a filmmaker who said he'd give the room a preview of his new movie about a "heinous, unethical thing" — the busway and bike lanes on 12th, 13th and 14th streets in Manhattan.

"We came here for Ninth Street not 14th Street," one person yelled from the crowd.

"That is defamation!" another shouted as Halpern began making claims that advocacy group Transportation Alternatives is funded by Steve Ross, a "crony" of Jeffrey Epstein (Ross' name is not on a list of the nonprofit's funders found here).

Matters only became worse after the 15-minute film played when the crowd protested Manning acting as moderator because her "introductory remarks" bashed the bike lanes.

In the hubbub, Halpern ended up flipping off the crowd and shoving cycling advocate Doug Gordon, who got up and started reading the names of the people killed on Ninth Street, including two children who died last year and prompted the addition of the bike path.

The rest of the meeting included a dozen or so people getting up to share their thoughts, at the direction of new moderator Ralph Perfetto.

Some were neighbors from Ninth Street who, like Manning, said they worried about emergency responders being able to fit down the street and cyclists who they say don't always follow the rules of the road.

But others who live on or use the street contended that it has become a lot safer since the bike lanes were put in.

Department of Transportation Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Keith Bray told the crowd that FDNY had signed off on putting in the bike lanes, but that he planned to reach out and make sure they hadn't had any problems.

"The bottom line is...We do feel and stats have shown that when we put in protected bike lanes injuries go down for everyone," Bray said. "If there are any concerns [FDNY] have about the bike lanes I have not heard them — and they do talk to us — but I will proactively reach out to those agencies to see if there are issues."

Eric McClure, chair of Community Board 6's Transportation and Public Safety Committee, told the crowd that the community board had approved the bike lanes unanimously.

He added that, noting he was speaking as a resident not on behalf of the board, that the width of Ninth Street makes it so there is room for two SUVs, two UPS trucks and a firetruck if need be.

"The flyer for this meeting created kind of a scary scenario where emergency response vehicles might not be able to reach a fire or a person in need," he said. "You can deny [the measurements] but I will go out there and measure it with you."