a lot of this attitude is a result of the former DOT comissioner janette sadik-kahn

pretty much she was the incubator of the "ban cars" mentality that is so pervasive ( and IMO) so poisonous to any discourse - this is from a NYT article back in 2011 -

“She has an absolute certainty that she’s correct,” said Lewis A. Fidler, a council member from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, who has clashed with Ms.Sadik-Khan over bicycle lanes. “I guess it’s nice to go through life with that kind of certainty, but I don’t know if it’s appropriate in government.”

a lot of posters about this issue go on about Robert Moses and how much of an asshole he was with forcing his vision about how the city should be engineered- ironically those same people that curse his name ignore their own similar attitude about bikes and car ownership here in NYC because they know whats best for NYC ....just like he used to say.