More than 150 bicyclists pedaled to the Brooklyn end of the Manhattan ridge bicycle path to plead to the city for more protection from auto and truck traffic on nearby Sands and Jay Streets, where cyclists often exit from the bridge.

The rally, sponsored by the well-known bicycle advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, also asked for better bicycling conditions on the Manhattan, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and Queensboro Bridges.

The Monday evening rally was dedicated to Noah Budnick, a long-time bicycling advocate and program director for the group. He remains hospitalized with severe head injuries sustained when he was flipped from his bike as it hit a pothole on Sands Street on March 29, while he was biking to his Williamsburg home.

Though Budnick was wearing a helmet, he suffered severe head trauma. He is now in stable condition, but is still hospitalized. His parents, from Boston, attended the rally and gave an update on his condition.

To dramatize the problems of commuting by bike, Councilmember David Yassky, a representative of the Borough President's Office and others pinned mock Olympic medals on the bicyclists there for “bicycling bravery.” Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, explained: “Bicycling to and from the East River bridge paths requires an Olympic feat of skill and bravery.”

According to a spokesman for Yassky, while Jay and Sands Streets have bicycle paths, they are often poorly maintained, go under dark overpasses, and, in the case of Jay Street, the path “fades away” at the extremely busy and dangerous intersection at Tillary Street.

Transportation Alternatives also has often protested the condition on the Williamsburg Bridge. There, steel expansion plates interrupt the concrete surface of the bike path, forcing bicyclists to slow down or be thrown from their bikes. Said Yassky, “New Yorkers who choose to ride bicycles around the city instead of using automotive transportation help to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. We should encourage bicycling by simply making the streets safer for bicyclists, and not continuing to discourage riders with poor road conditions."

Borough President Markowitz added, “Noah has been a tireless advocate for increasing cyclists’ safety, and, unfortunately, his injury, and those of other cyclists, demonstrates that we still have a long way to go.”

Group’s Wish List

According to Transportation Alternatives, between 1995 and 2001, 67 bicyclists were injured and seven were killed in the immediate vicinity of the Brooklyn approaches to the city's East River bridges.

At the rally, the group circulated a flyer containing recommendations it would like to see on the East River Bridges. For the Williamsburg Bridge, the group would like to remove the metal expansion joints with safer alternatives, and repave the rippled concrete on the Brooklyn side’s northern path. For the Brooklyn Bridge, the group would like to re-mark safety symbols, and would like funding to build a fly-over ramp connecting the bridge path to Cadman Plaza Park. Currently, bikers wishing to proceed to DUMBO after traversing the bridge must walk their bikes down a flight of stairs.

The biggest wish list was for the Manhattan Bridge. Among the many items the group desires are:

• New stop signs, crosswalks and pedestrian crossing signs at Brooklyn- side access points;
• A northbound bike lane at Jay Street; removing restrictive fences and barricades at the Brooklyn-side bike path entrance;
• Installing large yellow bicycle warning signs on the Jay Street off- ramp,
• Installing shared lane pavement marking on Jay Street,
• Filling in the concrete slabs on the Brooklyn-side bike path,
• Installing bollards as a median between the northbound lane of Jay Street, and
• Installing an eastbound protected bike lane on Sands Street.