Court Street redesign is a nightmare for the businesses that make it a great shopping strip

While the lawsuit to undo the Court Street redesign is no more, businesses along the 1.3-mile stretch have remained steadfast in their opinions on the road’s new style.

Not only is Edward De Freitas the owner of Empire Pest Control on Court near Third Place, but he’s also an avid cyclist. De Freitas shared that he’s a veteran of the Five Boro Bike Tour, helped launch the Rails to Trails Conservancy, and assisted with Transportation Alternatives initiatives.

“Bottom line, there’s nothing wrong with having bike lanes, but they have to be safe for all three components of traffic,” said De Freitas, who, despite his cycling record, isn’t a fan of the new Court Street.

Like many, De Freitas said finding parking has become increasingly difficult on Court, which is crucial for the pest control business.

“We carry equipment that is bulky,” said De Freitas, adding that he wouldn’t spend money on insurance and other car essentials if it wasn’t necessary. “I need the cars and I can’t use them as freely as I used to.”

On Degraw and Court, Le French Tart Deli owner, Laurent Chavenet, said deliveries and parking for driving customers are a nightmare.

“They can’t park in front of me, they can’t park across the street anymore from 8 to 1 p.m., nowhere in front of my business,” said Chavenet, mentioning the times when parking is only available to commercial vehicles, usually making deliveries.

Behind the counter, Chavenet has an array of fluffy and flaky baked goods, with flour, of course, being a main ingredient.

“Flour comes in big bags, so it’s a problem,” said Chavenet, when deliveries can’t get a spot during metered parking hours after 1 p.m.

Close to Warren Street is Measure Twice, a stationery store whose owner said he feels indifferent about the impact on his business.

“I suppose it’s easier with no double parking – as a pedestrian who lives in the neighborhood, I like it,” said Zach Barocas, owner of Measure Twice. “If the statistics were right and the majority of the traffic is pedestrians and bikes, you gotta share the road.”

Barocas said he also drives in the area and feels safer doing it with the redesign.
“It feels a little slower and I don’t get as many parking tickets,” said Barocas, as the redesign made it impossible to double park.

“Deliveries get delayed; they used to take 20 minutes, now it’s 40, 50, sometimes an hour,” said Leo Perez, the manager at Shelsky’s, a deli on Court near Atlantic. “There used to be parking spots around here, but now, because of the bike lane, everything is congested.”
Perez said he doesn’t feel as safe walking across Court, mainly because of speeding e-bikes and cyclists sometimes traveling down the bike lane in the opposite direction of traffic.

“One thing I noticed is that drivers will open the door [into the bike lane] without looking back and it’s very unsafe for the drivers and the bikers as well.”

Lindsey Engler, the owner of Picnic, a children’s clothing store, said while the redesign hasn’t impacted her business negatively, it’s the delivery drivers who are feeling the pain.

“We rely predominantly on foot traffic but I feel terribly for UPS and FedEx drivers that have to trudge across lanes and try not to hit bikers with the moving of their packages,” said Engler, who shared her admiration for their local UPS delivery driver.

“His job is hard enough, having to deal with a bike lane on top of it and park almost in the middle of the street is ridiculous,” said Engler.

Engler said the NYC Dept. of Transportation didn’t consult her business before the street revamp.

“Why would they? They just did it one day,” said Engler.