It is illegal to park any vehicle in a bicycle lane here in Washington. I suspect it is illegal to do so in New York as well, but then enforcement gets to be the real issue. Schitt heads are nothing if not quick to notice when laws that interfere with their douchebaggery fail to get enforced.
And, yeah, debris in the bike lanes... it seems all of the broken glass from
motor vehicle accidents gets swept into the bike lane, out of motorists' way. That and all of the sand from the sanding trucks, beer cans and bottles, and on and on. The most vulnerable tires on the road are forced to navigate the greatest amount of debris. It sucks.
And don't get me started on those damn "sharrows"... Ah schitt, you already have...
The single biggest scam ever foisted upon the cycling community - the "sharrow". A contraction of "sharing" or "shared" and "arrow". Clever little bureaucrats... Anyway, most folks have carry a clue what they are, or what they are meant to signify.
This double chevron with a bicycle means that this particular roadway is a "suggested" bicycle route, wherein bicycles and cars live in peace and harmony... The problem is, motorists have no idea what it means when they see one. "Oh schitt, am I in a bike lane??!!" And they do all kinds of weird and dangerous things when they see a bike, or have their "oh schitt" moment.
Cyclists think they have priority, and can legally ride right down the middle of the lane, like they own the place. Both are wrong - these are only
suggested as "best" roads for bicycles. All of the same rules still apply to everyone. There are no special privileges granted to cyclists, or denied motorists, on any road with a "sharrow".
So why on Earth do we even see these things? What do they even accomplish, beyond confusing everyone and leading to unnecessary conflict? Simple - follow the money, like with most other things. Municipalities can claim additional "bicycle infrastructure" and qualify for matching funding by simply painting these symbols on the road. They don't have to build bike lanes or anything meaningful, they don't have to spend real money, or plan, or anything at all. Just send some guy out with a sharrow stencil and a spray can.
The cycling community has, of course, seen right through this b.s. and has pretty roundly rejected this sham. Yet we still see these "sharrows" painted on our roadways. I rode past several just today on my morning loop. Didn't make me feel any safer.