Cyclists Win Big Bike Lane Victory In New York

Following public demonstrations and press conferences by City Council members demanding safer streets for cyclists, the New York City Department of Transportation announced that over the next three years it would install five miles of protected bike paths, 150 miles of marked bike lanes and 45 miles of marked bike routes throughout the city. The city also announced the results of a study of the 225 reported fatalities and 3,462 injuries suffered by cyclists over the past decade, to help identify additional safety measures to be undertaken. The Parks Department, in a separate measure, would add 40 miles of new bike paths within city parks.

The study revealed that all but one of the 225 cyclist fatalities over the past decade occurred outside of marked bike lanes, and 97% of the fatalities occurred when riders weren't wearing helmets. Almost all the fatal accidents involved men, due in part to the preponderance of male riders willing to take their lives in their hands braving NY traffic. The research bolstered the empirical evidence that bike lanes provide an additional measure of safety, and the vast expansion of bike lanes reflects the woeful lack of safe passage for cyclists on the busiest streets in America.

The tragedy is in the 225 lives that were lost before the city was provoked to act on an obvious transportation crisis, which advocacy groups led by Transportation Alternatives have been railing against for years. New York Cyclist will not sell a bicycle to a customer unless they already have or agree to purchase a helmet to go with it. Helmets are no longer an optional accessory for two-wheeled commuting in New York City!

Fighting for a bike lane on Houston Street

Houston Street is a major commercial traffic thoroughfare bisecting lower Manhattan in New York City, and it has the dubious honor of being one of the most dangerous streets for pedestrians and cyclists, dotted with memorials, plaques and "ghost" bicycles dedicated to fallen riders. Three cyclists were killed in Houston Street traffic last year alone. The Department of Transportation (DOT) is in the middle of a multi-year, multi-million-dollar reconstruction of the Houston Street roadway, which is listed on the City of New York's 1997 Bicycle Master Plan map as an official cycling route. Yet, DOT is proceeding with the reconstruction without committing a single bike lane to the project!

To redress this folly, a rally and press conference was held Wed. Aug 30th by local Community Board 2 members, elected officials, local businesspersons and cyclists, who all demanded protected cycling space on this dangerous street. Two weeks earlier, Community Board 2 passed a formal resolution imploring DOT to include bike lanes, but had not received any answer. The rally was an attempt to raise awareness of the resolution and put pressure on DOT to revise its master reconstruction plan. Local Councilmembers Alan Gerson and Rosie Mendez and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez are now sending written requests to the DOT and Deputy Mayor of New York Dan Doctoroff to include protected cycling space in the Houston Street reconstruction.

NYPD revises anti-bicycle parade rules, new vote to come

As noted previously, the NYPD withdrew their proposed parade permit rules from City Council consideration on Friday (Aug. 19). The next parade permit proposal, due out in September or October, removes any mention about pedestrians gathering on sidewalks (a slap in the face of the right to free assembly, and spurred by demonstrations outside Madison Square Garden during the Republican National Convention two years ago).

Still targeting the Critical Mass rallies, however, the new proposal is expected to demand that any group of 20 or more bicyclists, pedestrians, vehicles, etc in the street would need a parade permit and approved route. Cyclists are injured every day in New York City, and several killed each year in traffic, and the BEST HOPE for safety is riding in larger groups, which motorists can't help but notice and yield to.

Mayor Bloomberg, who in the past has tried to mitigate traffic but has never thrown much support behind non-motorized forms of transport, has been distinctly silent on the issue, not wanting to offend the PBA and Policeman's Union with elections coming up in a few months. New York needs to provide safe passage for the estimated hundreds of thousands of cyclists that take to the streets every day. Support for cycling is critical to improving the quality of life (and health) for ALL city-zens!

NYPD Backs off restrictions on assembly but still blocks cyclists

The New York Police Department has backed away from its controversial plan to issue highly restrictive rulings on public assembly, which would have classified groups of TWO or more cyclists or groups of 35+ pedestrians as requiring a permit!

The new rulings were partly an attempt to throttle the peaceful Friday night demonstrations by Critical Mass, where groups of riders would occupy multiple lanes of traffic to demonstrate the need for more and better bike lanes in traffic-clogged New York. The new rulings proposed by the NYPD, which would have to have been approved by the City Council, would have allowed the police to arrest and detain any group of riders that didn't receive prior NYPD authorization to assemble.

There was an enormous public outcry yesterday, leading the police to back off the restrictions on sidewalk assembly, which were likely driven by the raucous demonstrations outside Madison Square Garden two years ago during the Republican National Convention. NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Brown said that they would eliminate any reference to "sidewalk assembly".

The police still intend to try to restrict groups of cyclists however, which tramples on our Constitutional right to free assembly. If the ruling passes, expect that a legal challenge will be brought against it immediately.

Critical Mass rides have been taking place on the last Friday of every month in NY for 14 years. They are spontaneous groups of riders with the interest of riding their bikes in peace in New York City. The NYPD has a very negative view of cyclists and has been trying to disrupt the rides for years, last year going as far as trapping and arresting hundreds of riders guilty of nothing more than riding their bikes together down a street. Peaceful demonstrations like this should not be subject to harassment!

Gas Prices: Endless Spiral Makes Bikes More Attractive

After having read Greg Palast's latest book on who's really running the henhouse ("Armed Madhouse"), I wasn't surprised to learn that BP is shutting down the Prudhoe Bay pipeline and driving gas prices to all-time highs.

There really is only one answer...drive your car less and ride a bike more! Make energy consumption a smaller part of your budget and YOU will control the price you pay for it, and you will be doing more for your internal environment as well as the one you share with everyone around you.

Don't listen to people who warn the U.S. economy will lose if we stop consuming...think locally about what you spend your money on. Taking money away from the multinational oil conglomerates will not affect you in any way but positively. The Oil Economy gives nothing back to the U.S. ...sales of oil are never reinvested in your community...think about it!

New York Cyclist can help you kick the habit and put you on back on the road to health and wealth. It's time to trade your engine in for a lifestyle that works in an urban environment. If your apartment's too crowded, or your office doesn't allow bicycles, we have folding bikes that you can carry over your shoulder and store in your closet or under your bed. Stop spinning your wheels and put some rubber on the road!

Dahon Folding Bikes at New York Cyclist

With gas prices resuming their endless spiral upward, and record heat creating mass-transit misery in New York City, now is the best time to think about a folding bike for getting around town.

New York Cyclist has a large selection of Dahon folding bikes for every budget and rider. Check out the 16" Piccolo...a 3-speed super-compact commuter that can fit in a shopping bag and weighs 25 lb. Complete with mudguards, a chainguard and all-weather V-Brakes for only $399.

If budget is your primary concern, we have the single-speed Boardwalk with 20" wheels...it folds up in 15 seconds and is so small and light you can carry it over your shoulder...and only $199!

For urban warriors, check out the Jetstream, with full suspension, high-performance components and supporting riders up to 230 lb., this is a great bike for daily commutes. It folds in 15 seconds and weighs less than 24 lb. with high-0strength Kinetix double-walled wheels for only $799.

For all-out performance check out the Mu SL...a sub-19 lb. mobile missile and one of the stiffest folding bikes on the market for only $999.

Dahon has expanded its folding-bike line with 8 26" folding bikes, including both mountain and road bikes, which have full-size performance that folds up into a suitcase. No more surcharges when you fly, and can be hand carried onto any bus or train. From the 21-spd $359 Espresso to the 24-speed lightweight Zero G ($799), Dahon makes a full-size folding bike for every budget. Stop into the store at the corner of 110th St. and Central Park West to see all our Dahon bikes today!

Thanks for visiting!

Hi: New York Cyclist is a specialty bike shop on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York. We're half a block from Central Park and just a couple of blocks away from Columbia University, Manhattan School of Music, and Barnard College. We're at 301 West 110th St. just west of Central Park West.

The bike shop is an outgrowth of a child safety-oriented joint project between Harlem Hospital and Columbia University, called the Urban Youth Bike Project. UYBP is made up of four components which hub from the shop. Besides being a full-service facility, the shop also provides employment opportunities for youth in the community, as well as a comprehensive internship program designed around developing business management and customer service skills, in addition to bike mechanics training. Motivated youth are invited to work at the store to earn new or used bikes, or bike accessories. As part of the Child Passenger Safety Program, we also provide free installation and certification of child passenger safety seats in automobiles.

Please stop by and visit the shop if you're in the 'hood. We rent bikes by the hour or by the day, and have a full line of Fuji and folding Dahon bikes and accessories. We look forward to being your number 1 resource for cycling in New York City!