Brooklyn Bridge Park likes its bike station; Heights grumbles over theirs

May 16, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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DOT denies impact on Heights

This story's headline was updated to clarify the level of disagreement between an advocate for Brooklyn Bridge Park and residents of Brookyn Heights. As reported below, the head of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy supports a bike-station near the park's entrance at Atlantic Avenue and Furman Street; the executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association opposes stations in Brooklyn Heights proper and at the Promenade. Neither spoke directly about each other's concerns.

The city’s bike-share program means different things to different people.

Even as the Brooklyn Heights Association was protesting the location of bike-rental stations on their neighborhood's quiet residential streets, the head of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy was saying the stations would be good for the waterfront park.

"It's terrific that bike share is coming to Brooklyn and will have a station at Pier 6,” said conservancy Executive Director Nancy Webster. "Obviously it will increase the accessibility of Brooklyn Bridge Park and the way people can get to the park and its connection with the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. It's just a win-win for everybody."

The Pier 6 rental station, near Atlantic Avenue and Furman Street, will have 31 docks.

Webster said she hasn’t studied the placement of bike-share terminals in Brooklyn Heights and couldn’t comment on the neighborhood's complaints.

Meanwhile, a Department of Transportation spokesman told the Eagle that "most of the stations in Brooklyn Heights have no effect on parking and are not located in residential areas." That assertion contradicts detailed information on the DOT's own map; the map, released last Friday, shows both a loss of parking spaces and the imposition of the commercial bike stations on wholly residential blocks.

A Community Board 2 committee held a public hearing on the bike-share program last night at St. Francis College. Coverage will post later today at BrooklynEagle.com. —Raanan Geberer

Originally posted May 15, 2012. Updated May 16, 11:05 am.