The Department of Transportation is considering designs for a Dean Street "Bike Boulevard" in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Whether we support the Bike Boulevard or not, we can all agree that we need to make sure Dean Street is safe and accessible for everyone, including those that live here.

Every single day, e-bikes already zip by at high speeds and through red lights on our streets. Since 2019, the NYPD has reported more than 1,500 e-bike pedestrian injuries and 16 pedestrian deaths in New York City. 

We cannot let Dean Street become a city-sanctioned speedway for e-bikes. From Court Street to Fourth Avenue, there are four schools along these blocks, in addition to nursery schools, daycares, a rehabilitation center, and a pediatrician, with many children and seniors in the neighborhood. 

We worry the Bike Boulevard will mean e-bikes racing along our already narrow streets, with nothing to stop them from jumping the curbs and riding on our low, narrow sidewalks to pass stopped cars or an influx of new bikers. We are also concerned that design changes could severely displace local parking, increase gridlock, and lead to hazardous double-parking when neighbors, parents, and local services need to access these streets. 

We, the neighbors and residents of Dean Street, sign this petition to ask that our Council Member Lincoln Restler partner with us and implore the DOT to conduct a comprehensive safety and traffic study of Dean Street from Court Street to Fourth Avenue. We want to ensure any final designs are safe, responsible, and effective for everyone. Our asks of Council Member Restler:

• Support Conducting A Safety Study between Court Street and 4th Avenue. We need the DOT to study foot, car, and bike traffic, including e-bikes, as well as the impact on neighborhood parking capacity, curb access, and vehicular flow.
• Reject Dangerous Sidewalk-Adjacent Bike Lane Designs. The final design must exclude any bike lane directly against the curb. A lane next to the sidewalk puts pedestrians, children, infants, and strollers at risk, especially if it removes the natural sidewalk barrier of parked cars. 
• Encourage the Implementation of Traffic-Calming for Both Cars and Fast-Moving E-Bikes. The final design should slow down e-bikes, preventing this neighborhood from just becoming a high-speed commuter bypass, while preserving manageable traffic flow and necessary street parking for residents.

SIGN THE PETITION.

Neighbors and friends, please sign this petition, no matter if you support or don't support the Bike Boulevard. We can all agree we need a safe design, if any at all.  And once the DOT acts and issues its proposal, it will be too late for us to weigh in.