BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The city unveiled a designated lane Thursday for people walking four across, resolving a long-running dispute over who owns the sidewalk by giving it, officially, to whoever stopped first.

The lane will occupy the entire sidewalk. Paint crews have been instructed to mark it with the words FULL WIDTH and a small diagram of four friends having a realization. Transportation officials said the design “reflects existing conditions,” a standard they have also applied to potholes and to hope.

Use is expected to be heaviest among visitors who stop without warning to consult a phone, a map, or the expression of the friend who claimed to know the way. Residents may still pass, the city said, by stepping into the street, into a restaurant’s outdoor seating, or into a memory of a sidewalk they once used.

A pilot on the Promenade filled up before the press conference ended. “We can just walk,” said one member of a group of four, which was the last thing anyone behind them heard before the group reached the rail and became a photograph.

Enforcement will be light. The commissioner noted that asking the group to move is already a local custom, usually performed with a small “sorry” that fools no one and frees about eight inches. ◆