It’s a cycle of insanity.
Gov. Hochul claims congestion pricing reduces traffic in Manhattan — but rather than enjoy the purported benefits, car-hating city bureaucrats are quietly taking steps to make traffic worse, The Post has learned.
The Department of Transportation’s latest scheme — which requires no government approvals and could happen as soon as the spring — calls for widening Sixth Avenue’s bike lane from 6 feet to 10 feet between West 14th Street in Chelsea to West 35th Street in Herald Square.
To do that, the agency will completely eliminate one of the four vehicle lanes – welcoming back gridlock to the bustling thoroughfare even as the controversial tolls are supposed to eliminate traffic, critics said.
“This is New York City, not the Tour de France,” raged NYC Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola (R-Queens).
“The anti-car insanity has gotten so extreme. The Department of Tyrants is not just trying to make it impossible for anyone to drive in this city, it is willing to jeopardize the safety of New Yorkers by creating conditions that will seriously impede emergency responders. Where is Elon Musk and DOGE when you need them?”
Eliminating a car lane will just make the avenue less safe because vehicles “will have a harder time navigating,” predicted Manhattan activist Maria Danzilo.
“This is really serving the delivery-app lobby and delivery workers who use [electric bikes] because regular bikes aren’t served by this change,” she said.
The DOT unveiled the controversial plan Monday before Community Board 5’s transportation committee.
DOT’s project manager Preston Johnson tried to drum up support by citing statistics showing bike volume increased along the targeted strip by 20.6% from 2019 through 2024 and 35.2% on weekends.
Bike accidents involving cars and bikes along the strip over the same period resulted in 345 injuries, including four deaths, he also told the board, whose committee OKed the proposal 10-2, but worried about more gridlock and questioned why the public didn’t get an earlier warning.
Critics who learned of the plan from The Post called it an insult to everyday New Yorkers.
DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriquez’s “hypocrisy is off the chart,” said Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens)
“What he’s really doing is giving a giant middle finger to hardworking New Yorkers, proving exactly why we need President Trump to not only kill the congestion scam tax for good, but also crack down on the DOT’s insane street designs that manufactured the gridlock in the first place.”
Critics say the project specifically thumbs its nose at President Trump, who told The Post last month he plans to “kill” congestion pricing in Manhattan through the federal Department of Transportation and also vowed to rid Big Apple streets of traffic-clogging bike lanes.
“It sounds like revenge over Trump weighing in on congestion pricing and promising to axe bike lanes, and also further proof that the DOT has been completely co-opted by radical bike nuts that don’t care about the biz world,” ripped Jason Curtis Anderson, a co-founder and policy director at the nonprofit One City Rising.
Eric McClure, executive director of StreetsPAC, said the street-safety group “strongly supports” the redesign.
“We’ve all seen the data on the reduction in traffic volumes since congestion pricing was implemented, and the eye test shows that three travel lanes are plenty for free-flowing motor vehicle traffic,” said McClure, who lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
The project is also warmly endorsed by Transportation Alternatives, the powerful anti-car group that critics say has incestuous relationship with DOT, indirectly lobbies for Uber and Lyft and wields a lot of power with lefty officials.
DOT spokesman Scott Gastel insisted the project was conceived off community input, and the data used to justify it was pulled from the strip’s traffic volume before the first congestion tolls were collected in January and more cars were on the road.
He claimed the “project is designed to specifically address congestion” and said he agency doesn’t anticipate “any significant changes” to travel speeds.
Pedestrians and motorists on Sixth Avenue panned the plan.
“It’s a horrible idea,” said Madigata Gassama, a 27-year-old Uber driver. “[City officials] don’t care about anybody.”
“It’s just bulls–t! This city is run by corruption,” barked Ana Mani, 35, a Chelsea resident who drives daily.
“I hate it. I can’t even park my car in front of my house, and now they’re removing all these things. It’s dangerous for cyclists, too.”
Additional reporting by Gabrielle Fahmy and Matthew Sedacca.
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