The path to a safer cycling city
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
I’ve wanted to write a column on
biking in the city for a while
now. Somehow, though,
despite thinking about it a
lot, I always end up putting
it on the back burner
each week as something
more pressing invariably
comes up.
Yet now we are facing
a crisis as the number
of cyclists’ deaths
so far this year in the
Big Apple has already
spiked to 18 — nearly
double the 10 deaths for
all of last year. Cyclist injuries
are also on the rise.
That’s why the bike lanes
are so crucial. I defi nitely “stay
in my lane.” I feel safe in the lanes.
I can ride a CitiBike from my work in
Downtown Brooklyn to my home in
East Midtown Manhattan, 4.6 miles, in
just over a half hour — and the entire
trip is in a protected bike lane: Jay St.
to the Manhattan Bridge, then up Allen
St. and First Ave. It’s faster for me
than commuting by subway — by 15
minutes.
Biking over the bridge is great cardio,
and a side benefi t is I fi nd I think things
through while doing it. Somehow by the
time I reach the span’s midpoint, things
on my mind resolve, and then I’m happily
fl ying down the other side.
Of course, there’s also the health
benefi t, both physical and mental.
Small annoyances fade much more
quickly after a good bike ride, and your
body feels energized. Just the act of riding
feels liberating — because it is.
At the bottom of the Manhattan
Bridge there’s a kiosk with an L.E.D.
display showing how many cyclists have
used the bridge so far this year — well
over 600,000 — and how many each
day, usually somewhere around 7,000
or so in the warm weather, I think.
(Somehow, I never actually seem to be
riding by it at 11:59 p.m. to check the
day’s fi nal tally.)
The bike lane on Allen St. is one of
my favorites. At one point, the lane actually
veers up onto the mall and you’re
riding along a landscaped path with
fl owers and tall grasses along the sides
while dodging the occasional low-hanging
branch and you sometimes can even
hear crickets — in the concrete jungle.
It’s like a little, refreshing, meditative
nature ride, and all the while you’re totally
safe from traffi c, up on the mall.
But if you really want to hear crickets,
try the Hudson River bikeway. I
heard a virtual cricket concert there
riding along the path’s Chelsea section
this past Friday evening.
No question, the bike lanes have increased
cyclists’ safety. Just look at the
relatively new two-way lane on the east
FILE PHOTO
Upper West Sider Olga Cook was
biking on the Hudson River path
in June 2016 when she was killed
at Chambers St. by a truck turning
from the West Side Highway.
side of Chrystie St. on the Lower East
Side/Chinatown, which I take on my
way to work. Before, there were separate
one-way bike lanes on each side
of the street, and the Downtown one
ran right past all kinds of lumber stores
and beer outlets, with forklifts constantly
backing up into the bike lane.
Now, with the two-way lane on the east
side of the street, the cyclists are safe —
but those riding Downtown have to go
slowly and ring their bells so crossing
pedestrians look out for them.
Granted, though, the lanes aren’t
perfect. Sometimes you get people going
the wrong way in them — bikers,
skateboarders, delivery guys on e-bikes
— and pedestrians using them as a sidewalk
extension. If the lane is protected
by a row of parked cars, you always still
can get “doored,” so you have to ride
cautiously. And, even if I’m in a bike
lane, I’m always looking over my shoulder
when I go through an intersection
to check for turning cars.
Most drivers, I fi nd, though, are pretty
considerate, to be honest. Especially
lately, maybe because of the awareness
over cyclist fatalities, I’m fi nding a lot
of drivers and cabbies are stopping before
making their left turns, going out
of their way to let cyclists go by fi rst before
completing their turns. As I pass, I
usually nod my head or fl ick my fi ngers
on my right hand a bit while not letting
go of the handlebar, to thank them for
letting me go fi rst.
Admittedly, though, the lanes can
get jammed up, such as by slower cyclists.
Robyn Hightman, a 20-year-old
bike messenger, was reportedly riding
outside the bike lane at Sixth
Ave. and 23rd St. in Chelsea,
when fatally hit by a truck.
Other messengers said that
it’s common at that spot to
zip outside the lane for a
block or so, then duck
back into it.
I found myself doing
the same thing about a
week later at 23rd St.
and First Ave. when a
pack of cyclists in front
of me were too slow.
But I really looked over
my shoulder for traffi c as
I was doing it, and luckily
there wasn’t any on the
street at the time.
While I really do like the bike
lanes, I am not a big fan of “sharrows,”
which bikes and cars supposedly
can “share.” These are totally unprotected
areas that cars can drive onto
— so it’s basically at the driver’s discretion
whether she goes into them.
Yes, sure, I see some cyclists out
there who blow through red lights.
PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
An early-morning photo, from
last year, of a kiosk that tallies
rides over the Manhattan Bridge.
Personally, I always stop at the special
bicycle stoplights on 14th and 23rd Sts.
along First and Second Aves. Again, it’s
just safer. The only time I really make
bad moves is if I’m rushing.
The Friday night after Hightman’s
tragic death, I was in Chelsea for an
offbeat dinner party I regularly go to.
Afterward, I went by the white “ghost
bike” memorial on Sixth Ave. It was
festooned with fl owers, messages, candles.
I spoke to a young woman who
also came by to pay her respects. Taking
a working break from college in Europe,
she lives in Brooklyn and bikes to
Midtown every day, 8 miles each way.
Glancing over at the sidewalk, she
said in her country, there would be a
wide bike lane there and it would be
raised above street level to protect it
from traffi c.
I said something about New York always
valuing speed and business, which
maybe is why cars are prioritized.
“This country is great, but in some
ways this country sucks,” she said,
sadly. “It’s pissing on the little guy,” she
said, of cars mowing down cyclists and
the lack of more protected spaces for
biking.
I reassured her that while we are
not there yet, we’re getting there, that
young people, especially, want to be
able to bike safely in the city, and that,
gradually, it will happen.
We touched on the fact — probably
I brought it up — that Hightman was
killed after veering out of the bike lane,
and I said I never do that — only, of
course, to actually do it myself a few
days later. That’s because, she explained,
I have a “reverse commute,” so
the lanes I’m riding in aren’t as crowded.
Yup, she was right.
(The dinner party’s hostess later told
me that she had seen the scene after
Hightman’s death — the truck was still
there — and that the cyclist actually
had been trying to go from the right
side of the avenue to the left side, where
the bike lane is.)
The young Euro biker and I eventually
said goodbye to each other.
As usual, I pedaled home on a CitiBike,
on the new protected crosstown
bike lane on 26th St. There’s a ghost
bike there, too, just past Eighth Ave. A
small sign notes it’s for Dan Hanegby,
36, killed there by a bus in June 2017.
His death — the fi rst of a CitiBike rider
— led to the creation of that crosstown
lane and one on 29th St., which I
also use when I’m going to the Friday
night party. Sadly, Hanegby died on an
unsafe street that today — because of
his tragic death — I ride on in safety.
CitiBikes also make cycling safer:
They are pretty slow, sturdy, with fat
tires that roll right over potholes and
excellent brakes. It took getting used
to, but now I ride them everywhere.
According to my account, over the
past six years, I’ve logged (or slogged?)
1,709 CitiBike trips, traveling an estimated
2,868 miles — or 100 miles
more than from New York City to Los
Angeles. So, basically, I’ve biked across
the country. In doing so, my account
info tells me, I have not spewed 2,329
pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions
into the atmosphere. So I guess that’s
my little part of a Green New Deal.
Many of the deaths have been in
Brooklyn on streets without bike lanes.
In response, the mayor recently announced
the city would create 10 “bike
priority districts” in Brooklyn and
Queens, plus add 30 miles of new protected
bike lanes per year — up from
the previous 20 per year. Obviously,
that’s going to have a huge impact.
As the saying goes, and for safety:
“Stay in your lane.”
Schneps Media TVG August 8, 2019 23