Court Street Bike Lane Lands in Court

The Department of Transportation had yet to identify the 200 local businesses it said it reached out to about the bike lane by the end of Monday’s hearing.

A protected bike lane along Court Street has sparked a legal battle between small businesses and the Department of Transportation. Illustration by Tim Le

A legal challenge to the protected bike lane on Court Street moved into the courtroom on Monday, Nov. 24.

The lawsuit, filed in October by the Court Street Merchants Association, argues that the City’s redesign of Court Street has disrupted daily life and commerce along the corridor and was pushed forward without meaningful notice or input from the local business owners impacted by it.

A handful of reporters and interested parties gathered on Monday morning at Kings County Supreme Court to hear arguments from Hartley Bernstein, lawyer for the Court Street Merchants Association, and Kevin Rizzo, assistant corporation counsel for the New York City Law Department. Judge Inga M. O’Neale presided, listening as both attorneys offered competing narratives of how the bike lane came to be and what it has meant for the neighborhood.

While the hearing was not about whether bike lanes are fundamentally good or bad, the sentiment hovered. Instead, it centered on process: who was consulted, what data was used and whether the City followed the steps required when altering a major commercial corridor.