Updated 03/08/2011 02:18 PM
Brooklynites Sue City Over Prospect Park West Bike Lane
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
Two groups suing to get rid of a bike lane along Prospect Park West in Brooklyn say the city's facts about the lane's safety are fiction.
Members of Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes and Seniors for Safety say the lane is a safety hazard that restricts the view of pedestrians crossing the street.
They also say it causes severe traffic congestion, which increases harmful emissions and makes it difficult for emergency vehicles to get through.
The groups also claim the Department of Transportation altered data to suggest the number of crashes and injuries decreased.
"I mean, they use every little nasty trick in book. They had an agenda and they were going to make the data fit the agenda, even if they had to make it up," said Seniors for Safety President Lois Carswell.
"We've tried to engage them in civil conversation about our concerns and they've been very dismissive and flippant," said Seniors for Safety member Don Matteson.
NY1 has reached out to the DOT for comment.
Meantime, City Councilman Brad Lander and other Park Slope leaders are denouncing the suit.
They point to a survey that finds opponents of the lane represent a small minority of residents and the percentage of speeding drivers has been dramatically reduced.