Pineapple Post #2
A safer route to the Brooklyn Bridge. Plus: mosaics, Lindsey Lohan and more.
A protected bike lane is coming to Adams Street.
At last week’s Brooklyn Community Board 2 meeting, the Department of Transportation presented a plan to redesign Adams Street/Boerum Place and add a 10-foot wide, two-way bike lane for cyclists coming off the Brooklyn Bridge.
The bike lane will run between Johnson and Bergen streets. For most of its length, the lane will run in the center of the street along the east side of the landscaped median. Near Atlantic Avenue, the lane will shift to the west side of the street before continuing south to Bergen Street.
Currently, cyclists heading to and from the Brooklyn Bridge have few good options. The existing painted bike lane on Adams Street is frequently blocked by illegally parked vehicles, and cyclists heading north on Jay Street have to cut across four lanes of traffic to reach the Tillary Street bridge connection.
“It’s confusing,” one cyclist told Pineapple Street. “When you’re coming off the bridge, there’s a very clear bike path, but then it becomes very unclear where to go as a cyclist.”
A 2025 study by Councilmember Lincoln Restler’s office documented the scale of the illegally parked car problem. On an average weekday, 63 vehicles park illegally on Adams Street alone — nearly 60% of them abusing official government parking placards. Across 60 blocks of Downtown Brooklyn, the study found 457 illegally parked vehicles on a typical day, with only 3% receiving a ticket.
The Adams Street bike lane is part of a decades-long effort to improve cyclist access to the Brooklyn Bridge. In 2017, the city completed a long-awaited reconstruction of the Brooklyn-side entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, building a shared cycling and pedestrian path along the median between Johnson and Tillary streets — a project that had been in the works since at least 2009. Earlier this year, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a similar upgrade on the Manhattan side of the bridge.
The latest redesign comes as the Brooklyn Bridge has seen a sharp rise in cyclist traffic. From 2020 to 2025, ridership on the Brooklyn Bridge jumped by 194%, according to the DOT. On a typical weekday, nearly 1,300 cyclists travel along Adams Street during a 12-hour period, the agency said.
The project will be completed in two phases, with the redesign of the area north of Atlantic Avenue slated to begin this fall and the southern section expected in 2027.
Heights Happenings
Lindsey Lohan’s upcoming Hulu limited series, “Count My Lies,” is filming in the neighborhood.
The Brooklyn Heights Community Fridge has a new home outside of the Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Church and Christ the King Church at 125 Henry Street. Neighbors can support the fridge by subscribing to the Community Fridge newsletter, signing up for a cleanup slot or volunteering to make sandwiches.
The Juneteenth 5K at Brooklyn Bridge Park will take place on June 20. Registration is open until June 19.
The Metropolitan Opera will perform their summer recital on the Harbor View Lawn in Brooklyn Bridge Park on June 17 at 7:00pm.
There’s a Whole Foods coming to Cobble Hill. The Amazon-owned grocery store has signed a lease to take over 182 Smith Street, the former Cobble Hill Rite Aid space, Crain’s New York Business reported.
Darling is hosting another backyard sale with art, antiques and womenswear at their 149 Atlantic Avenue store on Saturday, June 13 from 3–6pm.
Darling’s backyard sale on May 31.
New York Transit Museum is bringing back the HH Shuttle, otherwise known as the Court Street Shuttle, in celebration of its 50th anniversary. On July 4 and 5, the museum will run vintage trains along the shuttle's original Court Street to Hoyt–Schermerhorn route, which operated from 1936 to 1946.
Adidas is hosting a World Cup fan zone in Brooklyn Bridge Park from June 13 through July 19, open noon to 10 p.m. daily. The space will feature live music, watch parties, a beer garden and other activities. Free tickets are required, and ticket info is coming soon.
A sprawling mosaic has taken over the walls of a 110-foot passageway tucked away in the depths of the Borough Hall subway station. “May Your Road Be Light and Fun,” a permanent installation by Nigerian-born artist ruby onyinyechi amanze, spans the corridor between the 2/3 and 4/5 trains.
A detail from ruby onyinyechi amanze's "May Your Road Be Light and Fun" in the Borough Hall subway station.
Other news
The New York Legislature on Friday passed the Anti-Shackling Bill, which prohibits the unnecessary shackling of pregnant and postpartum individuals in custody, weeks after a woman gave birth in a Brooklyn courtroom. More than two dozen City Council members on Thursday issued a letter to Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch calling for an investigation into why the 33-year-old woman was forced to give birth in the courtroom.
Construction debris, including sheet metal ducts and plastic buckets, has been falling from the jail site on Atlantic Avenue, per The City Reporter. One resident described a “rainfall of trash” on her building’s patio. The debris issue comes as the site has faced a series of serious worker safety incidents and unsafe conditions.
Early voting for the New York primary will begin on June 13 and run through June 21. Election Day is Tuesday, June 23.
Over in Bushwick, Ibiza-based club Pacha is set to open in the former Brooklyn Mirage space. The nightlife company will host pre-openers on June 13 and 14, with opening weekend kicking off June 20.
Pineapple Street! I just sent you a direct message here on Substack in the “Chat” tab in the “requests” section -Chef Harrison :)