These will be similar to the ones that the DOT installed in front of Mudspot on East Ninth Street back in April ...
Jill Woodward wrote this last week at the The 4th Street Food Co-op blog:
We need the parking because so many of our members and shoppers arrive by bike, and it can be difficult to find a parking place near the store.
[Outside the 4th Street Co-op last night, via EVG]
The tradeoff is 1-2 fewer spaces for automobiles in exchange for up to 20 spots for cycles. That calculation can result in more business for the neighborhood, according to a recent report by TA.
We also understand that Mudspot and Bluestockings on Allen Street have the go-ahead to expand their current bike corrals... No timelines on when the DOT will install any of these bike racks ... word is early 2013.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Here's your new East Ninth Street bike rack (18 comments)
18 comments:
Im all for more bike racks, but these circle ones are terrible. Those steel ones that go in like a squiggly line are much better.
Hey19,
I agree, from looks of it they don't seem as helpful. I just hope that the city did design testing and found that this design is more effective/efficient.
In theory they'd be used by people visiting local businesses. In practice they are used mostly to "store" bikes by people who live in the area.
In practice they are used mostly to "store" bikes by people who live in the area.
Only if you want your bike stolen.
We need those parking spaces.
I'm all for the bike corrals
Yes, more of these please. And business owners, if you want my business, ask for some. I told the people at Good Beer they should get some awhile back. They were like, "Yeah, good luck with that, buddy," and I was like, "No, you don't understand -- if I can't find parking on your block I won't shop here." And so I go elsewhere for my brewskis.
And spare me the moaning about parking spaces, car people. Why the hell should my tax dollars go toward supporting free parking for you all when there's none for my vehicle, which DOESN'T degrade the infrastructure *or* the environment, unlike yours? I'm sick of your freeloading asses thinking you're entitled to the whole road and all the free parking and more and broader highways, all publicly subsidized and all contributing to environmental catastrophe. No more!
@Anon 2:38 - not everyone with a car is an entitled freeloader. Some of us rely on a vehicle for work and transporting our relatives to daily medical treatment. As it is, we have to take our relative to the hospital, drive them home, then go park in another borough and take the train back when there is no parking to be found (most weekends). I'd love be healthy and young enough to use a bike, but can't. And I'm sick of people assuming those with cars are rich or entitled. Give me a break.
@Cosmo,
thats true, some people really need cars, and there should always be parking spaces. But, if bikes are becoming a larger portion of the transportation picture in NYC, parking/storage options should increase accordingly.
@Cosmo: Okay, then, you're not rich and you're putting your car to good use. Great. But where does this expectation that you should always be able to find a parking space IN MANHATTAN come from? I'm sorry, but it's insane. If anyone gets a parking space, I hope it's you, but honestly, parking spaces *should* be hard to find and expensive as hell in Manhattan, because the city cannot accommodate this many cars.
...and in transportation, added capacity tends to create added demand. More free parking=more woo-rists coming in from the burbs to patronize our fine drinking establishments. Which=less parking spaces for you. Don't hate on the cyclists who are taking away four parking spaces in the entire city at this point. Call your state legislators and demand congestion pricing so that some dude from Long Island or New Jersey doesn't take your parking spot. Demand that they put meters everywhere and give people who use their cars to transport people with disabilities a pass
I think there are better ways to make bike parking without taking parking spaces. For me it's just inefficient. It's a huge spot with a few bikes in it. Those racks could be placed on the edge of the sidewalk or with more density if they want to put them in a parking spot. Plus businesses have no expectation to personal parking (or pop up cafes) for cars or bikes on public streets.
To the Anonymous guy about Good Beer - I'm 100% in your corner. That block sucks for bike parking.
4th St. Coop needs em for sure, but I fear they will be taken over immediately by long term parkers.
Great move. I completely support putting these in the street, not on the curb. The sidewalks are congested and narrow enough, barely enough room to walk in the Village, what with the mountains of garbage bags, street signs, parking meters, newspaper boxes, etc.
- East Villager
"In theory they'd be used by people visiting local businesses. In practice they are used mostly to "store" bikes by people who live in the area."
...which is exactly how drivers treat street parking spots. Fair is fair. Either eliminate on-street parking, or allocate it to all vehicles.
There is no room on the sidewalks, they are narrow enough as it is in the EV.
As for the design of the racks, I lived in Amsterdam, and am also a little disappointed with the density. I put the question to DOT, as I think that many more bikes could fit in the space. I was told, more or less, that the city is committed to the winner of their design contest (http://nycityracks.wordpress.com/), which came from Denmark and is considered sturdy, elegant, and modular. That could change with future innovations (paraphrasing).
Although they are said to accommodate two bikes, it wouldn't be difficult to attach four bikes to each rack, if a chain were used instead of a U-lock. This is not the current culture, however.
Regarding residents using the racks to store their bikes, I don't have a big problem with that if they are bikes that are actually used regularly. Many buildings don't have bike parking space, and that is another factor that discourages cycling. Theft is a risk that can be abated.
Give me a break, these don't add more business. Nobody doesn't come to a store on bike because they think they won't find parking. You can always find somewhere to chain up your bike and go in a store.
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