City Council Candidate: Bike Lanes Would Prevent Suicides On Verrazano Bridge
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A candidate for the New York City Council has proposed an addition to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that he said would serve dual purposes.
As WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported, Democratic Staten Island City Council candidate John Mancuso said his idea of a bike and pedestrian lane would also help the Metropolitan Transportation Authority improve safety.
"I look at the Verrazano Bridge from my window here in South Beach where I live and it would be great to be able to say 'hey, you know, it's a beautiful day, I'm going to hop on my bicycle and go take a ride over the bridge,'" Mancuso told Smith.
City Council Candidate: Bike Lanes Would Prevent Suicides On Verrazano Bridge
Mancuso said the proposed bike lane on the exterior of the Verrazano would be encased in barriers to prevent suicides, which he said is a disturbing trend.
"Just last week alone, we had two attempts and one of them being a fatality," he told Smith. "Just a regular chain link fence that would go from top to bottom to prevent people from even thinking about it."
But the MTA said a host of issues including the cost, high winds and the weight of the suspension cables would all need to be a part of a feasibility study which would not begin until next year or later.
"It seems like everything here in the city of New York has to deal with studies and it just holds things up," Mancuso said.
The MTA said projects are planned and budgeted years in advance.
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