by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

A dozen clown-cloaked cyclists reeled through the heart of chasidic Williamsburg one morning last week, boasting cone-shaped orange hats and marking their territory in a citywide battle to reclaim their lanes. Though a group of Satmar chasids stood by snapping photos of the clowns, there was an underlying current of frustration about the bike lanes within the close-knit Orthodox community. 

But it’s not just about the clowns.

Brooklyn is actively jumping aboard New York City’s ever-growing campaign to make the five boroughs a more environmentally friendly place. The 14-mile bike path — part of the New York State Environmental Protection Fund’s Brooklyn Greenway Initiative — begins at the northern tip of Greenpoint and then heads southeast through Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights, extending down around Red Hook and ending up in Sunset Park. Like members of many other neighborhoods that have suddenly acquired bike lanes, residents of Williamsburg complain about their sweeping loss of parking spaces and charge that the city slapped down the paths without community consultation.

“You put a ‘no stopping’ in front of that building, schools cannot pick up or discharge children,” said Rabbi David Niederman, the president of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg. “Residents and the neighbors can’t find parking.” 

On that drizzly Wednesday morning, the bikers in neon-colored circus garb barreled southbound down the newly designated bike lanes along Kent Avenue, representing the environmental activist group Time’s Up! Bicycle Clowns, who are engaging in a “Love Your Bike Lane” Campaign. As the bikers came across parked vehicles in their path, the scantily-helmeted entourage would orchestrate a slow-motion smash into the car’s rear, then collapse into a scraggly and dramatic mess on the pavement. Unable to budge an 18-wheeler, however, they looped yellow tape all over the truck’s backside, while a boom box strapped to one of the bikes blasted oldies hits. 

“We need to have something flamboyant,” said Time-Up volunteer Ben Shepard, eager to show motorists that they can’t block a biker’s rightful path. “So we use theater.”

But the local populace isn’t necessarily enjoying the show. Continue reading…