They’re really trash-talking these bike lanes.
Locals are ticked at the city over trash-filled bike lanes alongside the Marine Park Golf Course near Kings Plaza Shopping Center. One resident complained the accumulated debris goes way beyond litter to include heaps of electronics and even discarded furniture.
“Whenever I drive by Floyd Bennett Field, there’s usually a multitude of garbage,” said Ken Rogers. “It’s always there.”
On April 2, someone posted a picture on social media showing boxes, tires, and general trash in a bike lane near the shopping center, prompting dozens of angry comments echoing the complaints about the constant barrage of garbage in the area — with many blaming the problem on the bike lanes themselves, which have been controversial since they were first proposed 2016.
But Rogers said the trash problem along Avenue V and Hendrickson Street bordering the Marine Park Golf Course near Flatbush Avenue predates the addition of the bike lanes in 2016, and that people unabashedly dump their trash there on the isolated stretch.
“I see trucks literally stop and unload broken furniture. It’s incredible,” he said. “People pull up, dump off, and drive on.”
Rogers said the trash includes things that are hard to dispose of legally, such as televisions and couches, and has long blighted the neighborhood.
“I just feel bad for the people who live there,” said Rogers. “As long as I remember, it’s been a dumping area.”
Another Marine Parker agreed that the problem goes back decades before the bike lanes came to the neighborhood.
“The bike lanes are consistently flooded and always filthy,” said Joel Kalishman, who supports removing the bike lane altogether. “This has been an ongoing problem on that street since the ’80s.”
The Sanitation Department said it is actually aware of the issue, and is working to correct it. The area, which is a known “drop off” point for illegally dumping trash, is actually Parks Department property, and the two agencies are trying to rectify it, according to a Sanitation spokeswoman.
“It’s a location our enforcement staff monitors regularly. We assist Parks in cleaning the area when our resources allow, and in fact, it was cleaned this morning,” she said on April 6.
The Sanitation Department said more input from locals will help keep the area clean.
“Residents are our partners in keeping the city clean. Residents can report chronic illegal dumping of material discarded from a vehicle onto public or private property,” said the spokeswoman, calling on Marine Parkers to call 311 when they witness dumping.
Some residents have already been calling 311, but complain that the problem still persists.
“I call 311 constantly,” said Patricia Baudanza, who lives across from one of the bike lanes. “People use it as a dumping ground.”
