Woody Allen Helped Defeat UES Bike Lane Where Woman Was Killed

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Years before this week's fatal crash that cost a young Upper East Side cyclist her life, influential locals including the film director Woody Allen defeated a plan to install a bike lane on the street where she was killed, according to city records and reports.

Allen reportedly objected to the bike lane on East 85th Street — where police say Carling Mott, 28, was killed riding a CitiBike — because it could not be installed "in a graceful way."

The famous director was among many Upper East Siders who spoke out in 2016 against a proposed network of bike lanes that would have included the block between Park and Madison avenues where Mott was fatally struck by a tractor-trailer, Streetsblog reported at the time.

The city made repeated visits to Community Board 8 to propose the six crosstown bike lanes on the Upper East Side — including a pair on East 84th and 85th streets, which would have run between Fifth and East End avenues.

The lanes would have been painted, and not protected by any barriers.

But residents rose up against those plans, suggesting the 84th and 85th Street lanes in particular would impair traffic and have negative effects on nearby "residential buildings, clinics, and schools," according to minutes from a February 2016 CB8 meeting.

The 85th Street block where Tuesday's crash occurred is home to Regis High School, as well as several apartment buildings.

Among the Upper East Siders who spoke out against the plan during a heated meeting at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church was the "Annie Hall" director, Gothamist reported at the time.

"Every street has a good argument why it shouldn't have a lane," Allen, a longtime Upper East Side resident, reportedly argued.

"None of the streets can accommodate a bike lane in a graceful way."

After CB8 voted down the entire plan, the city opted to omit East 84th and 85th streets, putting bike lanes only on East 70th, 71st, 77th and 78th streets, Streetsblog reported.

That outcome looks especially ill-considered in light of Tuesday's tragedy, advocates now say.

"Carling Mott should be alive today. Her death was preventable and is the result of delaying, shrinking, and withholding vital street safety infrastructure," said Anna Melendez, a Manhattan organizer for the street-safety group Transportation Alternatives, in a statement.

"The Adams administration must invest in a network of crosstown protected bike lanes on the Upper East Side to protect bike riders from deadly cars and tractor-trailers."

A Department of Transportation spokesperson told Patch that “any loss of life on our streets is unacceptable” — and suggested that a bike lane on East 85th Street could still be on the table.

“Our heartfelt thoughts are with the family of the victim of this crash. We are reviewing the street design as part of the crash investigation,” DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone said.

Since 2012, 69 people including 10 cyclists have been injured in crashes on East 85th Street, according to city data — not including this week's incident.

City Councilmember Keith Powers, who represents the crash site, told Patch that he was "horrified at this devastating traffic accident."

"This terrible tragedy only makes it clearer: whether it's more protected bike lanes or stronger enforcement over tractor trailers, we need rapid action to make our streets safer," Powers said in a statement.

Truck is scrutinized

No charges have been announced against the truck driver, who stayed at the scene, but an investigation is ongoing by the NYPD's Highway Collision Investigation Squad, police said.

Witness video taken after the crash and surveillance footage obtained by Streetsblog showed that the truck appeared to belong to Performance Foodservice, a food distribution company. The company did not respond to questions about the crash.

East 85th Street, a narrow thoroughfare, is not among the official truck routes that commercial vehicles are supposed to use in New York City — though nearby East 86th Street is.

New York also does not allow 53-foot-long tractor-trailers — the larger of the two standard trailer lengths — to make pickups or deliveries within the five boroughs, though some advocates point out that the rule is often violated.

The size of the truck involved in Tuesday's crash was not clear.

Kathleen Culliton contributed reporting.

Related coverage:

• Woman Killed In UES Truck Crash Identified As Yorkville Local: Police
  
• Woman On CitiBike Killed In Truck Crash On Upper East Side: NYPD