Bicycle Parking

Five years ago next month, the city opened the door for bike commuters -- or more accurately, their bikes -- with the Bicycle Access Law. That law provided, for the first time, a legal framework for New Yorkers to petition commercial landlords for bike storage space at work.

Brooklyn Community Board 1 has had enough of the "war on cars," and they're taking it out on pedestrians, cyclists, and local businesses.

Amsterdam cycling advocate Marjolein de Lange regales us with this tale about how in 2006 cyclists came up with a very simple solution -- draw bike box outlines directly on the pavement! -- to better organize the bike parking outside a popular supermarket. It's so simple and shows how sometimes engineers might over-think a problem.

Spring has sprung, and with it came a new on-street bike corral on 82nd Street in Jackson Heights, near Roosevelt Avenue. Clarence from Streetfilms sent over these great pictures. The corral, which replaces one car parking space, has seven racks (for 14 bikes) and two planters. It is maintained by the 82nd Street Partnership business improvement district and was supported by Queens Community Board 4 in a 32-2 vote in March.

A few years ago, it was a pretty big deal when on-street bike parking was installed in any city.  Though it is always welcome news, today it hardly merits a mention.

Bike parking corrals adjacent to a protected bike lane -- a first for New York City, and perhaps the nation -- have been installed along Ninth Avenue in Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen. Check out these pics from Clarence, snapped on Thursday.

Last night, two community boards in Sunset Park and Manhattan's West Side voted to support bike lanes, bike parking and permanent pedestrian plazas. As a result, Sunset Park will be receiving shared lane markings on Fifth Avenue, the permanent reconstruction of a plaza at Ninth Avenue and 14th Street will move ahead, and bike lanes and on-street corrals are on track for the West Side of Manhattan.

A quick note about the new bike corral on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, which got a vote of approval from the local community board after hundreds of signatures were gathered in support of it. The Prospect Heights Patch reports that two local residents see the on-street bike parking as a symbol of gentrification and have started a petition to get rid of it. If you take a look at the numbers for car ownership and bike ownership, though, it seems pretty clear that more people are going to get some use out of this space as a bike corral than as car parking space, whether you're talking about long-time residents or newer ones.

The Post reported some good news this morning: NYC DOT has contracted with Louis Barbato Landscaping to make 12,000 bike racks that can be affixed to defunct single-space parking meter poles.