New York City lacks the resources to keep cyclists happy (or safe) but help is on the way
There are many paths to improving cycling life — and some are actually in motion
At any given time across New York City, the lives of cyclists are at risk. Riding a bike on a busy street is dangerous with thousands of accidents taking place each year, and because of poor biking infrastructure across the five boroughs, riders don’t really have much of a choice.
To avoid cars, some cyclists choose to ride illegally on sidewalks — significantly safer for bikers but dangerous for pedestrians. In many parts of the city, cyclists are forced to choose between one or the other because advocates say the city falls short in providing dedicated lanes, shops and cycle-share programs.
These issues became even more important during the pandemic, when many New Yorkers worried about their health and safety grew fearful about using public transportation. They turned in great numbers to biking.
According to the Cycling in the City report released by the Department of Transportation last September, the number of cycling trips grew by more than 30 percent in 2020. It was also during this time when cyclists began to realize that there are even fewer resources available to cyclists the further out of Manhattan they were to venture.
According to the report, more than 1.7 million New York residents ride a bike. That number went up by around 100,000 since the most recent pre-pandemic report. And as that number goes up, so does the number of casual cyclists who have begun to take notice of these issues.
“For too long, city streets have been designed with drivers top of mind,” said Danny Harris, executive director of the nonprofit Transportation Alternatives. “Seventy-five percent of New York City’s street space is dedicated to the movement and storage of vehicles. It is time to imagine a better use of our streets that puts people, not cars, first.”
One initiative with that goal in mind was the bike lane that runs along Queens Boulevard, which runs from Roosevelt Avenue in Sunnyside, 5 miles to Union Turnpike in Kew Gardens. The final phase, which extended the bike lane to Kew Gardens from Forest Hills, was put on hiatus as other options were discussed between former Mayor Bill de Blasio and then-Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, who represented Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens. In early 2020, Transportation Alternatives rallied for the completion of the original proposal and nearly two years later, the extension was completed in 2021.
More recently, the organization released several redesign concepts aimed at making some of the busiest intersections and streets across the city safer. The Shovel-Ready NYC 25x25 Streets initiative was conceived through a partnership between Transportation Alternatives and Via, the transit technology company. Its goal is to convert 25% of motor-vehicle space into space for people by 2025 in a plan endorsed by Mayor Eric Adams.
In many cases, busy streets that do have bike lanes remain deadly
These redesigns, released to the public in December, feature proposed safety changes to one major area in each borough, including 125th Street in Harlem and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.
To many cyclists, Atlantic Avenue is a nightmare. Coursing through some of Queens’ and Brooklyn’s busiest neighborhoods, the major thoroughfare doesn’t have a single bike lane at any point along its 10.3-mile between Brooklyn Heights and Jamaica. Accidents are so frequent that many cyclists avoid Atlantic altogether.
“The city screwed up with streets in Queens, especially in my area along Atlantic Avenue,” said Ozone Park cyclist Edwin Rios. “Years ago, the city opted to construct a massive island in the middle of the road that’s two lanes wide instead of incorporating bike lanes. It was a perfect opportunity to have one bike lane that goes all the way from Jamaica to Brooklyn.”
When Rios visits places in Brooklyn such as Highland Park or Canarsie, which he’s been doing for more than a decade, he instead must take multiple side streets because he sees Atlantic as too dangerous.
There are many other streets in the outer boroughs that are just as dangerous and difficult for cyclists to utilize, such as Queens Boulevard. In fact, the disparity in resources between Manhattan and the other boroughs is quite shocking depending on what you’re looking at.
All across Manhattan and in some of the busier parts of The Bronx and Brooklyn, it’s impossible to travel more than two blocks without encountering either a dedicated bike lane or a shared-use one. This is even more apparent in areas that have the highest concentration of high-income residents or high traffic volumes.
But it’s a different story the farther you get from Manhattan. Some parts of Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island are unforgiving to cyclists, with gaps of more than 2 miles between bike lanes in some cases.
“I enjoy the scenery and the peacefulness of riding a bike at my own pace,” said South Jamaica resident Arslan Javaid, who bought a new bike during the pandemic and wishes that people would put more faith in their bikes. “We need more lanes and resources in these areas for the safety of the cyclists and so more people can get into cycling instead of relying on their cars all the time.”
Bike lanes aren’t the only resource that the city lacks
The lack of bike lanes in his area wasn’t the only issue that Javaid faced as a cyclist. There are also fewer bike shops, and when some began to close up shop due to running out of stock during the pandemic, his ability to buy necessary supplies was hindered.
“When I first got this bike, I spent a few hours driving around, looking for a place where I could get lubricant,” he said.
Just like with the lack of bike lanes, a dearth of bike shops and other resources hurt those who wish to get into cycling. Earlier this year, the DOT released an updated version of its map, which shows where all the bike lanes and other resources across the city are located. This includes the addresses of every bike shop, and the disparity is striking.
According to the map, 75 bike shops, or 37% of all the shops in the city, are concentrated in Manhattan, despite housing a little less than 20 percent of the city’s population.
By comparison, there are only 39 such shops located in Queens, despite having roughly 700,000 more residents than Manhattan. Staten Island and the Bronx fare even worse with fewer than 10 shops each.
The same imbalance can be seen when it comes to shared bike programs such as Citi Bike. Eight years ago, Citi Bike quickly became the largest bike sharing program in New York, with more than 40,000 daily riders. Even with its huge surge in popularity and a yearly increase in the number of locations, the program is still very limited in where you’ll find its bikes outside of Manhattan.
There are some Citi Bike stands located in Queens and Brooklyn but they’re all in neighborhoods that are close to the East River such as Long Island City, Astoria, Red Hook and Williamsburg. More than 94% of the borough’s residents are without direct access to Citi Bikes in their neighborhoods.
“I don’t own my own bike, but I rent one from Citi Bike whenever I go to Governors Island,” said South Ozone Park resident Minhazur Khan. “I would do it much more often if there were some by me.”
Meanwhile, there are several cycling organizations that are looking to keep cyclists safe, and even the city is beginning to take notice. One big piece of involvement comes from the city-sponsored NYC Streets Plan.
According to the Cycling in the City report, there were 1,375 miles of bike lanes across the city and one of the main goals of the 2021 NYC Streets Plan is to increase that number significantly.
The plan is the largest biking initiative in the city since the enactment of Vision Zero in 2014 and aims to create hundreds of miles of lanes within the next few years. The plan also notes the possibility of a Citi Bike expansion into underrepresented areas, which may be dependent on additional funding.
“It’s a five-year plan that will see 250 new miles of bike lanes being added across the city,” said Juan Restrepo, senior organizer for Transportation Alternatives. “That’s 50 more miles being added every year.”
The prospect of new bike lanes is not universally welcomed by New Yorkers.
One of the final DOT actions under de Blasio saw the city convert a traffic lane of the Brooklyn Bridge into one for bikes. It was an instant hit with cyclists, who no longer had to share the overcrowded promenade with pedestrians, which resulted in costly accidents and injuries.
The bike lane was less popular with drivers, who were stuck in heavier traffic following the removal of one Manhattan-bound vehicle lane. Before the bike lane opened, the average speed heading into Manhattan was 27 MPH. This past March, that dropped to 19.5 MPH.
Even with opposition, there’s heavy movement when it comes to making streets across the city safer and more accessible to cyclists, but advocates say it’s still not enough. In the future, as more cyclists begin to take notice and as more advocacy groups and elected officials begin working towards change, that’s when significant progress can be made.