What you need to know for Friday and the weekend.
A New Bike Lane on the Brooklyn Bridge |
 | By Precious Fondren |
Weather: Mostly sunny today, with a high in the low 80s. On Saturday, partly sunny, scattered storms, high in the upper 80s. Mostly sunny on Father's Day, again in the upper 80s. |
Alternate-side parking: In effect today, suspended tomorrow for Juneteenth. |
 | | September Dawn Bottoms/The New York Times |
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Construction of a two-way bike lane on the Manhattan-bound side of the Brooklyn Bridge will begin Monday night, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday. |
A "radical reimagining of a New York City icon," as he put it, the construction will transform the innermost Manhattan-bound traffic lane into an eight-foot-wide bike path. The addition of the bike lane, which is expected to open by the fall, will make the bridge promenade pedestrian-only. |
"It will be part of a very ambitious plan," Mr. de Blasio said at a news conference. "We are moving right now to create a record-shattering 30 miles of protected bike lanes this year." |
Mr. de Blasio first announced plans for the bike lane back in January. It's part of an effort to create safer biking routes for cyclists, who have long said that riding across the bridge is somewhat of a headache, with excited tourists posing for selfies and pedestrians clogging the bike lane. |
"Anyone who's tried to take a bike across the bridge, as I have, has experienced the confluence of the two big roles of the Brooklyn Bridge," State Senator Brian Kavanagh said at the news conference Thursday. |
"If you've tried to go across that path, you've seen the pedestrians, New Yorkers, and tourists often looking up at the great skyline of New York," he said. "Bicycles trying to wind their way through that crowd is not ideal from any perspective, either from the perspective of tourists or the perspective of New Yorkers trying to get around." |
Biking around the city skyrocketed during the pandemic as people tried to avoid public transit for safety reasons. |
As life starts to return to normal, the leading Democratic candidates for mayor say they support building more bike lanes and reducing car traffic in the city. |
The Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams told The New York Times he would build 300 miles of protected bike lanes in four years. |
Mr. Adams, Scott M. Stringer, Maya D. Wiley and Raymond J. McGuire all said they supported expanding the city's bike share program, Citi Bike. |
Officials are looking to expand a policing experiment in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn that removed some officers from one area and gave local groups a larger role. [The City] |
The March death of a 55-year-old man who officials say was punched by an off-duty firefighter outside a Queens bar has now been ruled a homicide. [NBC 4 New York] |
What we're watching: The Times's Metro political reporters Jeff Mays and Dana Rubinstein are joined by contributing writer Eleanor Randolph to discuss the mayor's race and the impact of both ranked-choice voting and New York's spike in shootings on the contest on "The New York Times Close Up With Sam Roberts." The show airs on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. [CUNY TV] |
And finally: Your social weekend |
The Times's Melissa Guerrero writes: |
While people are still connecting through virtual events and programs, as the summer season approaches and more people are getting vaccinated, venues and organizations are holding in-person events. Here are suggestions for maintaining a New York social life this weekend: |
In-person: Stoop Concert with Alphonso Horne |
On Friday at 6 p.m., visit the front stoop of the National Arts Club in Manhattan to watch a performance by the trumpeter Alphonso Horne as part of a collaboration with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. |
Virtual: 'The Revival: It Is Our Duty' |
Enjoy a musical event in celebration of Juneteenth by the artist Troy Anthony on Saturday at 8 p.m. Described as a "revival for personal and collective liberation," the event is part of The Shed's "Open Call" series. |
In-person: 'Soul of Brooklyn: Juneteenth' block party |
On Saturday beginning at 10 a.m., join the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts for an all-day lineup of events on Fort Greene Place at Lafayette Avenue. Attendees can expect performances, wellness activities and more. |
Metropolitan Diary: Skating away |
I had never met my next-door neighbor, but I often noticed him around the East Village. I'm pretty sure everyone in the neighborhood knew who he was: the guy who went everywhere and did everything on roller skates. |
Once, I watched from the back of a taxi as he skated in and out of traffic while pushing a newborn in a stroller, prompting drivers to hit their car horns. |
Another time, from a bench outside, I was amazed to see him grab a coffee to go and glide across the shop's linoleum floor as other customers turned their heads to watch. |
But I was surprised to encounter him up close when he knocked on my apartment door one afternoon. He didn't introduce himself, just got right to the point. |
"I locked myself out," he said. "Do you mind if I jump over your fence to get into my backyard? I think I left my sliding door open." |
I invited him in before noticing that he had his roller skates on. He skidded effortlessly across my living room, turning the old wood into his personal rink. |
When he got to the garden, he took the skates off and threw them, one at a time, over the ivy-covered chain-link fence before hoisting himself over. |
Back inside my place, I heard him turn on some music through the wall. |
New York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. You can also find it at nytoday.com. |
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