NYC bike lanes

[madscot13]

i heard an interesting talk today by Mayor Bloomberg on the environment and his little town. while he really favors mass transportation and increasing its span and decreasing traffic congestion, he is against bike lanes in the heart of the city. he is working on them on the edge of the island and notes that bouroughs outside of Manhatten have them and it works, it just wouldn't work in downtown. he sees them as a health risk and difficult to manage due to NYC's weather.

I have to say that bike lanes add some legitimacy to riding in the street, although I would rather claim a lane if I could. NYC weather can't be that different from St. Paul's and we had terrific bike lanes.I fear for messengers in NYC and can hardly bike in DC. maybe it would require such a mind and intrastructure change that it would be too much.

what are some other thoughts? I've only visited NYC and can't imagine biking there but I would love to imagine biking where ever I wanted.

[mimitabby]

Manhattan gets less snow than the surrounding areas. Bikes are already on all these streets..

[OakLeaf]

I've only visited there a few times, but I think I'd rather bike than drive a car there. No, I know I would.

[Jo-n-NY]

hmmmm how odd that he said that. I work in the West Village, but do not bike because I commute on the Long Island Rail Road. We DO have bike lanes. In fact, they just put in a lane on the corner of the block where I work that connects the Westside to the Eastside. I thought this was great or at least as great as it can get in NYC. Since every street runs "one way" the bike lane is not even the shoulder, it is to the right of the shoulder so you don't have to swerve around parked cars. They also have bike lanes in mid-town at least down 7th Ave which goes downtown and uptown. If these are lanes that I see without going through all the streets of Manhattan I am sure they have to be throughout the city.

Even better there is the West Side Hwy Path where I walk for my lunch hour. One path for roller bladers and cyclists and another path for walkers and joggers. I believe this goes from Battery Park all the way into the 100's uptown. I have been wanting to come in on the weekend to check how far this path goes.

My problem is they do not allow bikes in the buildings here. I thought of getting a folding bike to leave in the office for lunch rides on the path insteadof walks, and a co-worker thought to be safe I may have to sneak that in and out on the freight elevator. Needless to say I am now just thinking about it, but was a burst to my bubble.

~JoAnn

[ccnyc]

As a cycling Manhattanite I'm not surprised at Bloomberg's comments. He basically hates cyclists (at least since the Republican convention in NYC). BTW, bad weather is not much of an issue here. He's out of his mind!!!
There are some bike lanes in Manhattan but they usually have double parked cars, trucks and police cars in them. Also, there is no enforcement of the bike lanes which makes them kind of useless. And they are few and far between. There is no bike lane I can use to get up to Central Park (and out of the city) from my apt without riding in crazy traffic first. Fortunately, the new head of the NYCDOT is an avid cyclist herself (Janette Sadik-Kahn) and is looking into bike lanes separated from moving traffic. Probably won't happen in my lifetime though.

Carol

[Geonz]

Engineering, enforcement and education - and not necessarily in that order because it takes all three.

Health risk ?!?!? Is he saying bikes just shouldn't be there at all? Get the cars outta there - they're the health risk. (And weather? B.S. Complete B.S.)

I could *fully* understand a sensible cycling advocate suggesting that bike lanes aren't appropriate there - that maybe sharrows would be a better option, with education and enforcement - but "health risk?"

[Jo-n-NY]

As a cycling Manhattanite I'm not surprised at Bloomberg's comments. He basically hates cyclists (at least since the Republican convention in NYC). BTW, bad weather is not much of an issue here. He's out of his mind!!!
There are some bike lanes in Manhattan but they usually have double parked cars, trucks and police cars in them. Also, there is no enforcement of the bike lanes which makes them kind of useless. And they are few and far between. There is no bike lane I can use to get up to Central Park (and out of the city) from my apt without riding in crazy traffic first. Fortunately, the new head of the NYCDOT is an avid cyclist herself (Janette Sadik-Kahn) and is looking into bike lanes separated from moving traffic. Probably won't happen in my lifetime though.

Carol

Sorry Carol. Since you bike through the city and I don't you probably know better than I. I can only tell by what I see in the small area of a very large city. I compare it with Long Island that has nothing, only regular shoulders on the road that cars are also parked in and at least on the South Shore, not one Share the Road sign or any sign showing that bicycles belong, despite my numerous letters to officials. (although, I still continue to try, there is always another person in the line to write to )

Tulip, thanks, I will check it out.



~ JoAnn

[minan]

There are some bike lanes in Manhattan but they usually have double parked cars, trucks and police cars in them. Also, there is no enforcement of the bike lanes which makes them kind of useless. And they are few and far between.
Carol

As someone who lives in Manhattan and commutes from the Upper West Side to Soho, I'm encouraged by the new bike lanes they're creating in my parts of town. There's a new bike lane along Prince Street, badly needed - and surprisingly, the cars have been staying clear of it. There's a whole new traffic pattern along broadway between Houston and Canal, where there's just one big bus lane that cars are not allowed on (and that cyclists/messengers enjoy riding when there are no buses). And cars really stay off that - I bet the cops have been ticketing a lot.

I guess I'm just lucky. It would be great to have it like this for the rest of the city.

Also OT, how many other NYCers are posting here on this board? Doesn't seem like there's too many.

[tulip]

...My problem is they do not allow bikes in the buildings here. I thought of getting a folding bike to leave in the office for lunch rides on the path insteadof walks, and a co-worker thought to be safe I may have to sneak that in and out on the freight elevator. Needless to say I am now just thinking about it, but was a burst to my bubble.

~JoAnn

Bike Friday has this guerrilla campaign to test getting folding bikes into various buildings in NYC. You can see videos on their website (takes a bit of clicking around). With the folded bike in a bag, it seems to not be much of a problem.

It sounds like Mr. Bloomberg considers bicycling as a form of recreation as opposed to transportation. Getting that bicycling is a real part of the transportation system is key to getting good and useful bike facilities.