Every building on the block has a story — and a resident who should have been asked.
Keep 72nd Safe is a volunteer coalition of residents, co-op and rental buildings, small businesses, and neighbors on the West 72nd Street corridor between Central Park West and the Hudson. We came together when we learned that a redesign of our block was being finalized without most of us ever being asked.
We think New York should have more protected bike lanes. We think e-bikes should have safe, dedicated infrastructure. We think Vision Zero is a worthy goal. What we don't think is that safety for cyclists should be purchased by removing accessibility from the residents least able to do without it.
The design currently on the table for W 72nd Street does exactly that. It places three lanes between our north-side residents and any waiting vehicle. It erases curbside standing space. It narrows the block to one lane of through traffic on a corridor that serves a large elderly and medically fragile population.
We are asking the DOT to pause this plan, engage the affected block directly, and study alternatives that can deliver better bike infrastructure and a fully accessible 72nd Street.
A cross-section of the people speaking up.
We are not an organized advocacy group. We do not have a lobbyist. We are neighbors.
In the months before this proposal was put forward, the DOT reconsidered a closely parallel bike-lane project in Astoria after residents raised safety, accessibility, and process concerns. The revised approach is one we would welcome here: real community engagement, careful study of alternatives, and a willingness to not ship a plan just because it's already been drafted.
That decision is the template. We are asking the same courtesy for our block, for essentially the same reasons.
This is the part that stings. The block most directly affected by this proposal did not get a meaningful seat at the table when the design was drawn. We did not get to explain the north-side accessibility problem. We did not get to describe a typical weekday on the block — the ambulettes, the grocery deliveries, the Access-A-Ride pickups. We did not get to share our data. We did not get to propose alternatives.
Before a plan with this much impact on ADA access and emergency response is finalized, that conversation should happen — not as a briefing after the fact, but as part of the design.
We are asking the DOT to re-open the engagement process, directly contact the buildings on the block, and evaluate alternatives publicly before any final decision is made. That's not an unreasonable ask. It's the bare minimum for a project of this scale.
No. We support protected bike infrastructure in New York City, and many of the people behind this coalition are themselves cyclists. Our opposition is narrowly to the current design — two lanes of bike traffic in opposite directions, separated from the north-side buildings by a parking lane, on this specific block. We believe there are alternatives (see A Better Plan) that deliver the same cycling benefits without the accessibility harm.
For most residents on most blocks, yes — crossing a single protected bike lane to reach a car is a reasonable ask. What makes 72nd different is the combination of (a) a significant elderly and disabled population on the north side, (b) two bike lanes instead of one, moving in opposite directions, (c) a row of parked cars blocking sight lines, and (d) no dedicated standing zone for ambulettes or rideshare. That specific combination is what turns a manageable crossing into an unmanageable one.
We don't think so. "Not in my backyard" usually means blocking a project because you don't want it near you. Our position is different: we are asking for the project to be designed better, not removed. We have proposed concrete alternatives that still deliver east-west protected cycling on the Upper West Side (see Existing Design A on the A Better Plan page). We want the cycling benefits. We also want the accessibility.
Three things: (1) pause the current proposal, (2) open a genuine community engagement process directly with the affected buildings, businesses, and residents on the block, and (3) formally study the alternatives we have proposed — most importantly the 71st/73rd split — before any final decision is taken.
Because they are the people the current design most clearly fails, and because the people most affected by a public policy should weigh most heavily when that policy is evaluated. The block has a significant elderly and mobility-impaired population who depend on curbside vehicle access as their primary mode of transit. The current plan treats that dependence as invisible. We want it on the record.
Earlier this year, the DOT paused a parallel bike-lane proposal in Astoria after residents raised similar concerns around safety, accessibility, and community consultation. That was the right call there, and it's the right call here. The existence of that precedent is why we think a pause and a redesign on 72nd is realistic, not hypothetical.
The email wizard combines many small blocks of copy — openings, concern statements, issue framings, asks, closings, and more — into a unique email each time. Every email is on-message: safety, accessibility, process, and support for bike infrastructure in principle. Every email can be edited before you send it. Nothing is sent by us.
The Take Action form asks for your name, email, and (optionally) your connection to the block. Your name and email are only used to pre-fill the emails the wizard opens in your own email client. They are not transmitted to us, not stored on a server, and not shared with anyone. The wizard runs entirely in your browser.
The single most effective thing you can do is send the emails from our Take Action page. If you would like to do more — attend community board meetings, help organize your building, or add your voice to the coalition — email us at hello@keep72safe.com.
Two minutes. Five emails. A real chance to pause a plan that isn't ready.