marty markowitz is a rah-tard.

this weekend, i learned that there was a such thing as the president of manhattan (thx lilly). this lead me to the obvious next question - can you be the president of brooklyn? the answer's yes, and i now have a new life goal.

i was pleased this morning, while listening to WNYC, to learn that my path to the brooklyn white house might be a little less challenging than i thought, given that brooklyn's current president, marty markowitz, is some kind of mentally disabled person. let me explain:

tonight, there will be a purblic meeting regarding the conversion of one traffic lane on prospect park west into a two-way bike lane. sounds great! what's not to like, right? i was pedaling for my life on PPdubz just this weekend.

well, mr. markowitz was interviewed this morning, and turns out he is a staunch supporter of car drivers' rights in brooklyn, and is opposing this new initiative. it seems he also opposed restricting car access to prospect park a few years back.

he thinks there's already too much traffic on PPW, that if we lose a lane to bikes, every car owner in brooklyn will pack their lives up into their beloved automobiles and drive out of the city forever. he also said that if you want to bike north on PPW (the opposite direction of the nearby bike path inside the park), that the sidewalks are just enormous, and there are hardly any pedestrians, so just use the sidewalk, ok?! that's ILLEGAL!, not to mention dangerous.

here's a really good part, too:

AB: On those summer events, there are that people who drive, but, there is huge pedestrian traffic, there is huge bicycle traffic. Is there an issue of the greater good here, who would benefit the most and looking from ten thousand feet up?

MM: I would challenge your assertion that there is huge bicycle use. I would challenge you on it. As someone who lived across the street from it I would challenge you. There is modest bicycle use. Modest. At best. But that’s not the point. There has to be a balance. And that’s why I supported Ninth Street. I think the two-way bicycle lanes will cause a great inconvenience to the residents of Prospect Park West and I don’t want to be blamed, because they’re going to move ahead with this as you know, I don’t want to be blamed, and that’s why I took this interview with you. I don’t want to be blamed. On the other hand, I hope that the commissioner and the department is right. If they’re right, and in fact it causes no bottlenecks, no inconvenience, and if it works, I’ll be the first to say I was wrong. I would.

AB: You don’t seem to much care for Janette Sadik-Khan. You’ve called her a zealot, why?

MM: She is a zealot. I can tell you this much — I respect her professionalism. She personally is a very nice woman. I think she’s a professional — I know she’s a professional. We just disagree in certain instances where I’m acutely aware that she wants to make it hard for those that choose to own their automobiles. She wants to make it difficult, their life difficult. I really believe that.
Bernstein: Why, why would she want to do that?

MM: Well, I think because she would like to see more people stop car usage and get on their bicycles. Or walk.

AB: Is that an unworthy goal?

MM: Within reason it is a worthy goal. If I personally walk more than I currently walk and use the bicycle more than I currently use it just for pleasure I probably would be in much better shape, for sure.

anyway, sorry for the rant. just got my goop gobbled up good this morning. a brooklyn borough president who favors the needs of automobile drivers over providing safe environments for the growing number of bike enthusiasts, well that just doesn't make any sense, am i right? don't worry, i'll be sure to vote next time, for myself.

bonus links:
brooklyn by bike
livable streets
celebrate brooklyn! bike zone
ride the city