The removal of a controversial bike lane on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg started overnight Wednesday into Thursday, with crews from the New York City Department of Transportation using water to blast away the green paint.

"It was really interesting watching something happen really in the dead of night to make a street more dangerous," said Alexa Sledge, the director of communications for Transportation Alternatives. But the families who live along that stretch between Willoughby Street and Flushing Avenue say it's making it safer.

"We can sleep with peace that we know our children in the morning, when they go on to the bus, they're not gonna be hit by a wild moped," said one parent in the area, who asked to have his identity concealed. The bike lane was first installed in October, and since then, News 12 has reported on multiple children being hit while crossing it.

"Never should you put an adult's life before a child's life," said the neighbor. "Society always protects children because they are vulnerable and they cannot protect themselves." Numbers from the DOT on the other hand, say injuries to pedestrians and bikers are down 47% in that area since the lane was put in.

"We really have to go from the data that we have, and we know is accurate, and we know that we actually have, which is death and serious injuries, and that paints a really clear picture," said Sledge. Joel Weberman, who lives on Bedford, pushed back on that though, saying "I know people in the hospital, that's bad enough for me."

Neighbors also argue that the city numbers fail to count the children, since they were handled by a local, private ambulance company, and therefore, not reported to the city. People in the area do say they are not necessarily anti-bike lane; they just have issues with how this was designed.

Many said the city would have their full support if they wanted to build a new one, but with the opposite setup - meaning bikes on the outside, and then cars on the inside right next to the sidewalk. Sledge says "an unprotected bike lane" like that would not be a solution though, because it "is just paint, and it's really dangerous. There is a ton of data on what actually works, and we've been willing to come to the table with those solutions."

Transportation Alternatives says over 550 people have signed a petition promising to sue the city if they now get hit on that stretch without the bike lane.