So important. Bike lanes need to be protected, or new cyclists will not feel safe. As an everyday cycler, I hear this as the #1 concern from intermittent cyclists.
Plainly put: There’s inherent risk, and there’s unnecessary risk.

In America we def associate different cultural meanings/reasons/behaviors with driving than in other countries.. easy to spot when you see Hollywood movie car scenes. I have not been to Copenhagen, but I lived in Berlin. NYC has a specific energy of the city. LA is somewhere in between but also different.

I still believe in a protected bike lane that keeps bikes in, cars out. As a New Yorker, we’re going to have our own outcome and it’s still going to be messy, and we are always going to have a spillover problem. people in bike lanes, people in street. cars on the sidewalk, cars in bike lanes. bikes on sidewalks, bikes in car lanes. But NYC has a very well known congestion problem.

The pulse and speed of our city is what makes NYC special. We like to move fast in an irreverent way.. but if we can allow people to move fast and get there safely, then our government is serving its people well.