This was not my experience. A single child trailer like this one is no wider than an adult's shoulders, and they have minimal impact on the handling of the bike. I used a double (wider for two kids) when I lived in a city of 1,000,000 people and had no problems crossing town via side streets to get my toddler to the babysitter... but that city regularly gets ranked as one of the best places to ride in NA. Brooklyn is likely a different story.