An appellate judge on Tuesday halted the city’s plans to remove part of the protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue.

The decision came in response to an appeal filed by advocacy group Transportation Alternatives and local Baruch Herzfeld, whose lawsuit against the city and Mayor Eric Adams was tossed by a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge last week. 

A temporary restraining order issued hours before construction was set to begin on July 15 blocks the city from “removing or modifying the parking-protected bicycle lane on Bedford Avenue between Willoughby Avenue and Flushing Avenue” until a judge issues a decision on the appeal. 

“The bulldozers might be ready to destroy the Bedford Avenue safety improvements, but the Adams administration is going to have to spend their night preparing their legal case, not ripping out a critical safety project and central Brooklyn’s only protected bike lane,” said Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Ben Furnas, in a statement. “The fight to save the Bedford Avenue safety improvements continues, and we won’t back down until everyone can get home safely.”

Mayor Eric Adams abruptly announced that he would remove the parking-protected bike lane on a three-block stretch of Bedford Avenue in favor of a non-protected painted lane last month, citing safety issues and community concerns. Advocates and local politicians slammed the decision as dangerous and illegal, and Judge Carolyn Walker-Diallo issued a similar temporary restraining order on June 18. But, last week, Walker-Diallo ended the TRO when she ruled in favor of the Adams administration, saying its decisions for removing the lane were “rational” and that since the parking-protected bike lane would be swapped with a painted bike lane, it counted as a “modification,” not a removal. 

Construction was set to begin on the evening of July 15. 

“After several dangerous incidents — many of which involved children — the Adams administration listened to the community’s concerns and moved to reconfigure the bike lane to its original model while still maintaining safety measures,” City Hall spokesperson Sophia Askari said in a statement. “Last week’s ruling clearly affirmed that the reconfiguration of this bike lane is fully within our legal authority. This unnecessary appeal will only delay easing the safety concerns plaguing Williamsburg parents. We will revisit this matter in court, where we are confident we will prevail yet again.”

According to StreetsBlog, the city has a week to oppose the order. After that, the judge can decide whether or not to block construction for the duration of the case.

Several children have been hit by cyclists in the bike lane between Flushing and Willoughby avenues since it was installed late last year. Video of several of those incidents shows children exiting buses or cars parked midblock and entering the bike lane between parked cars. Per court documents, the Department of Transportation installed designated bus loading zones in an effort to prevent those incidents, but they were frequently blocked by parked cars or ignored altogether. 

Since the bike lane was completed, injuries on Bedford Avenue between Flushing and DeKalb avenues are down 47%, court documents show. DOT believed that removing the protected lane would make the street less safe and could open the city to “potential legal consequences for going back to a known less-safe design,” but Adams opted to move forward anyway.

More than 200 New Yorkers vowed to sue the city if they or a loved one are injured on Bedford Avenue after the removal of the protected bike lane. 

At Foolproof in Williamsburg, the whiskey glows before you even walk in. 

Through wide windows on Driggs Avenue, near the L train and McCarren Park, nearly 500 bottles shimmer on a backlit wall. It feels less like a bar display and more like an invitation.

The invitation comes from Andy Lock, a hospitality veteran who opened Foolproof after years working in some of New York’s most iconic dining rooms, including Gotham Bar & Grill and The Lobster Club. This time, he wanted to create something of his own: casual, thoughtful and fun.

And it’s not just about the drinks. Foolproof’s menu is built with spirits in mind, ranging from sashimi-grade tartare and house-cured meats to beet-and-burrata salad and French onion dip. A whiskey ice cream sandwich closes things on a sweet note. Each plate is crafted to complement the complex layers of the bottles behind the bar.

“There’s a lot of room for flavor play,” Lock told Brooklyn Paper. “A rich bourbon can elevate the fat in cured meats, while the brightness of a Japanese whiskey might cut through something creamy. And smoky Scotch? Perfect with something briny or grilled.” 

The 900-square-foot space reflects Lock’s personal history as much as his professional chops.

Leather banquettes, terrazzo tile and wood accents throughout recall his childhood in central Pennsylvania.

“I grew up in a mid-century modern house,” he said. “We had terrazzo tiles on the floor, so we put terrazzo tiles in here too. For me, that’s a little bit of nostalgia.” 

That nostalgia extends to the handcrafted woodwork. “My mom had a few uncles who did woodworking, so we had a lot of handmade wooden tables,” he added. “And you can see the back bar is all wood, the bar’s wood, all the tables are wood.” 

Even the name, Foolproof, has personal meaning. 

“Ruth, my fiancée, came up with it,” he said. “We wanted to show off a little bit of confidence behind the concept. You’re going to have to really try to go out of your way to have a bad time. It’s going to be a foolproof experience.” 

Since opening July 12, the bar has quickly become a neighborhood fixture. Locals drop in after work, on weekends and often just to see what’s on the wall.

“A lot of people have been coming in, [saying] ‘Hey, we’ve been waiting for this place to open,’” Lock said. “A lot of  local business owners have been really supportive too, giving me the run of the land around the neighborhood.” 

But Lock’s ambitions go beyond the nightly crowd. He hopes to expand programming to include private tastings and monthly events with distillers and producers.

“I do want to do private events for [pairings],” Lock said. “I think it would be awesome to start doing either bimonthly or monthly tastings — whiskey flights, bringing in some distillers to talk about the product.” 

He’s even dreaming up more irreverent gatherings — maybe even a meat raffle night.

“Hey, maybe you walk out of here with 20 pounds of fillet,” he laughed. “You just get a few hunks of meat, sell raffle tickets, have people sit around and enjoy some drinks and snacks.”

That’s the joy of Foolproof: expertly run, deeply stocked and welcoming people to new experiences.

“I want to make sure it’s a nice, relaxing place to hang out for people who live around here or are on the way home from the commute to work,” Lock said.

Foolproof is open Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., and on weekends from noon to 2 a.m., with brunch served from noon to 4 p.m.