The NY Bike Jumble

A Very Jumble 2009

December 21st, 2009

As a stupid monkey once typed, “It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.” That about sums up 2009 for New York’s bike commuters.

By any measure, it was a year full of awesome: a profusion of new bike lanes, bike friendly laws, celebrity-designed bike racks and sundry other benefits from what can safely be called a full flowering of New York’s bike culture.

That said, not all has been wine and roses for bikers.  We lost a bike lane.  Bikers still die.  And there’s been the unmistakable whiff of a backlash.

Good, bad, nifty and weird: here’s the Bike Jumble’s list of the most notable bike stuff of 2009. Please don’t be shy: let us know what NYC bike stuff tickled your ivories this year! May your holidays and new year be full of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and safe rides!

–The NY Bike Jumble

The Jumble Comes Alive

It was great to see New Yorkers out at our first two Bike Jumbles: this summer in Park Slope and in Manhattan’s East Village.  Thousands of people came out to find the right bikes and accessories to enjoy a great weekend ride or commute.  We’ve worked with a fantastic group of bike enthusiasts including Recycle-A-Bicycle, Taliah Lempert and Outlier and The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.   And we have big plans for next year. Watch out!

Williamsburg Street

Sadly, this major bit of awesomeness has been overshadowed by Bedfordgate.  But make no mistake: the cordoned-off, bi-directional Williamsburg Street corridor is a major bit of awesomeness, heralding a fundamentally safer and easier commute around the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  The corridor and gradual transformation of Kent Avenue also mark the gradual arrival of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, which should be a boon to anyone who bikes about Brooklyn.* 2009 was the proverbial embarassment of riches for bikers. But for me, none of the changes–not even the amazing transformation of Sand Street, were as nifty as the Williamsburg Street.

Political Acceptance of Bikers As A constituency…For Now

Although Frank does not agree with me, I think that politicians have finally started to treat cyclists as a real constituency that they define themselves with or against.  Bill Thomson used the Grand Street bike lane as a negative example of Bloomberg’s arrogance, while John Liu self promoted himself as-nauseum with his grandstanding stance against bikes in buildings.

The Folding Helmet

Although I don’t have one of these, I very much want to try it out.

Dahon's Pango folding helmet, folded.

Red Lights and Road Rules

In a city not known for patience, it’s no surprise that NYC bikers break traffic laws. But the surge in commuters meant more broken laws which led to anti-bike snarking. In the New York Times, Robert Sullivan played the part of the sensible commuter, urging bikers to “give back” by stopping at red lights and the like. Meanwhile, the good folks at Transportation Alternatives tried to rein in bikers–and perhaps appease pols & peds and others–by releasing The Rules, a guide/website to the dos and do-not-dos of NYC bike commuting. Did any of this make a difference on the street? I haven’t seen too many bikers studying The Rules. And Sullivan’s articles elicited another batch of snarking. But perhaps the edicts and articles raise some awareness that we bikers could stand add a few minutes to our commutes in the name of making nice and being safe. Perhaps.

A History of Cycling In Brooklyn

Eric Corriel’s bike projections” can be seen every night in the windows of the Brooklyn Historical Society. It’s a beautiful tribute to our borough’s underappreciated bike history. As you can perhaps tell, we here at The NY Bike Jumble  like bike history.  And we are recovering Museum employees. So this is in our collective wheel-barrel.  Still, Eric’s done a great job of weaving neat technology with striking images to create an installation that any biker or Brooklynite should dig.

A History of Cycling in Brooklyn from Eric Corriel on Vimeo.

These Picture (And The Others Like It!)

The first ever Bike Photo Booth was much niftier than I expected! Great turn-out, great snaps. Thank you Keiko!

Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Initiative, which is the steward of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.  I fully admit to being a booster of this project and I frankly, unabashedly think it is awesome!

Posted in Advocacy, Commuting | 1 Comment »

Bedford Brouhaha Goes Global…and Gets Silly?

December 10th, 2009

In case you haven’t seen today’s NY Post, our friends at Times Up are taking the battle over the Bedford bike lane to Copenhagen. They plan to pounce on on our billionaire Mayor when he arrives for the climate summit.

Let me be really clear: I love me some Times Up and I hate that the lane was removed (not to mention how and why it was removed). While we’re at it, I should add that I have no great fondness for our mayor and I think that the “funeral procession” Times Up has planned for this Sunday at 2pm is a cool idea–bikers need to make it clear that other lanes can’t be traded to appease narrow interests.

But, I also can’t help but think we are getting our knickers in a twist over a minor moment in what is an otherwise historic tide of pro-biking activity by our local government. Do we maybe risk gnawing on the hands that are laying so many other miles of protected, world-class lanes? And do we really need a painted line to bike on Bedford?

Or, to quote George Steinbrenner’s immortal assessment of Hideki Irabu, am I acting like a big “pussy toad”?

Posted in Advocacy, Commuting | 1 Comment »

Bedford Bike Brouhaha or Tempest in a Tiny Teacup

December 8th, 2009

So… Gothamist reported yesterday that some miscreants were arrested for taking the (traffic) laws into their own hands and repainting the bike lane that the DOT had removed from Bedford Ave. Even more galling is the Shomrim Twitter (!!) feed which stated:

# Police arrested this night two goiyem for re-painting the bike lane on Bedford ave with the help of Shomrim 4:35 AM Dec 7th from Snaptu
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