Disabled NYC residents claim Upper West Side bike lane plan will make them virtual shut-ins, lawsuit says

Disabled Upper West Side residents are suing to block the city’s controversial redesign of West 72nd Street, escalating the battle over a planned protected bike lane there that locals have fiercely opposed.The complaint, filed Friday in Manhattan federal court, names seven plaintiffs — including a blind woman — who live on the popular main thoroughfare and use wheelchairs, scooters, canes and walkers to get around.The group says the new street design — which will cut the number of vehicular traffic lanes from four to two while shifting the current buffer of parking away from the curb to install a two-way bike lane — will make them “virtual shut-ins.”That’s because it will force disabled residents to cross fast-moving bike and e-scooter traffic in the bike lane to now reach taxis, Access-A-Ride, buses and emergency vehicles — a situation they won’t want to attempt for fear of their safety, the suit says.“The whole concept doesn’t make any sense,” plaintiff lawyer Hartley Bernstein told The Post.“It’s a busy street with 20,000 residents and a large proportion of seniors.“They could place bike lanes on 73rd street going one direction and one on 71st street going another direction.

It would be slightly less convenient for cyclists, but it would not pose such a risk.”The suit argues that the city Transportation Department’s plan violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and state and Big Apple human-rights laws.“Because of these dangers, the West 72nd Street Plan will have a chilling effect on the Plaintiffs making them virtual shut-ins,” court papers say.The two-way bike lane would run adjacent to the street’s north curb between Central Park West and Riverside Drive.Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to stop construction, restore the prior street layout and at least $225,000 in damages per plaintiff, plus attorneys’ fees.Upper West Side residents and business owners have been fighting DOT’s plan at community ...