CARROLL GARDENS — Plans by the New York City Department of Transportation to install a bike lane on Court Street aren’t the answer to parishioners’ prayers at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church.  

Far from it, in fact. 

The church’s pastor, Msgr. Guy Massie, and parishioners charge that rather than improving safety on the busy thoroughfare where St. Mary Star of the Sea is located, the bike lane will make crossing the street more dangerous.  

The DOT’s plans call for the installation of a bike lane on a 1.3-mile stretch of Court Street in Carroll Gardens from Schermerhorn Street to Hamilton Avenue. Under the plan, the bike lane would be installed on the east side of the one-way street.  

Temporary markings have already been drawn on the street to delineate the bike lane, and the DOT is moving ahead with plans to paint permanent markings.  The agency has also moved the parking lane — formerly at the curb — further into the street to accommodate the bike lane. 

The redesign of Court Street unfairly reduces the busy thoroughfare to one lane for traffic, opponents charge. Court Street contains numerous shops, restaurants, apartment buildings, churches, and schools, and the B57 bus runs along the street, which is also a truck route. 

“My concerns are many,” Msgr. Massie said of the bike lane. “Number one: safety issues in our neighborhood.”

Msgr. Massie pointed out that people, many of whom are elderly, who cross the street will pass through the lane for the bicycles, which will be coming from both directions — “That is a problem.” 

Because a portion of the bike lane runs outside St. Mary Star of the Sea, which is located at 467 Court St., the church will be impacted, he added.  

“How do I get a funeral in here or a wedding in here?” Msgr. Massie asked. “How do you do this without causing more chaos on Court Street?”   

“Our neighborhood has never been so unsafe,” said Louise Passantino, a Carroll Gardens resident and lifelong parishioner of St. Mary Star of the Sea. She expressed concern about not being able to cross the street on her way to church.  

“I have nothing against people riding bikes, but they don’t observe the laws,” she said. “They come up to you and you don’t hear them like a motor on a car.”  

Another parishioner, Arthur Mortensen, said the street is too narrow for a bike lane.  

“I couldn’t believe they were doing it on Court Street, “ he said. “What a mess!” 

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The DOT did not respond to a request from The Tablet for comment. But, in a report the agency presented to Brooklyn Community Board 6 in June, officials noted that neighborhood residents had requested safety features and a bike lane. 

According to the DOT report, the agency plans to implement safety measures, including painting pedestrian islands in the middle of the roadway and painting lines that extend from curbs at intersections — known as curb extensions — to provide pedestrians with more space. 

However, for Msgr. Massie and his parishioners, it all comes down to the bike lane. Msgr. Massie contends that Court Street, with only one lane of moving traffic, will make it difficult for emergency vehicles to navigate the street.  

“We’ve already had an experience where … it took an ambulance a half hour to get down Court Street,” he recalled. “It’s just unacceptable.”