Northeast - Shouldn't there be more bike racks in NYC?

The city encourages people to ride bikes, but they should really add a lot more bike racks on the street. There are only few "U racks" scattered on some streets. Also a U rack is very limited and is not good for accommodating more than 2 or 3 bikes. They should get more creative. There are many more efficient bike rack styles, like these (http://www.barriersdirect.co.uk/categories/187-cycle-racks). This (http://www.barriersdirect.co.uk/categories/187-cycle-racks/products/679-decorative-modular-bike-rack) one is quite nice.

More racks so bike riders won't have to find something far away to lock their bikes to (and risk theft and vandals), or buy a long chain just so that they can lock their bikes to a light pole.

Most of those don't look like they're good for much more than locking up your front wheel and bending your fork.

DOT had a contest a year or two ago. That's who they came up with the new circular design. You can request a bike rack through City Racks. (http://nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikerack.shtml)

Yes. Yes, there should be more bike racks.

Next question?

You can request a bike rack through City Racks. (http://nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikerack.shtml)

Not for my personal use. For the public. The City should order some and put them on the streets.


Yes. Yes, there should be more bike racks.

Next question?

When?

There certainly should be more bike racks and placed where people actually want and need to park.

This document will help explain why there are so few bike racks. http://fixcity.org/site_media/resources/PlacementGuide.pdf It looks like bike racks cannot be near anything that is already there.

Yeah, don't forget the city is broke, and that a quite a few groups (e.g. deliveries, stores, pedestrians) can be affected and/or inconvenienced by huge numbers of bikes parked on the street.

Last year, a law was passed that required buildings to allow bicycles in freight elevators, upon request of a tenant and if there are no extenuating circumstances. One major reason for this law, IMO, was that the city government realized how tough it will be to truly implement large volumes of bicycle parking.

I might add, if you've ever been near a major train station in Belgium, you'll see that while cycling offers many benefits to the individual and city, masses of bicycles can turn into a major urban planning issue:

http://www.tbaycc.ca/2002/ArnoldDevlin/bikes1.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2576/3796340814_a7abcf08dd.jpg

IMO the better option moving forward is to encourage the various paid parking lots in the city to set up some type of secure bike parking.

Paid secure parking would be great (just please be affordable to bikers who can't afford public transportation ;)). For now, if there are restrictions on the streets, what the city can do is to reduce car-parking areas, and replace the parking meter with bike racks. :)

The City Council actually passed a law requiring commercial garages to offer bicycle parking. At first the rates were outrageous but more and more garages with reasonable rates have begun to post signs. A few days ago on my way home from the Greenway I noticed one commercial garage, on Spring Street, offering bicycling parking for $1/day or $20/month. Had it been a little closer to home, like within a block or so, I might've reconsider hauling my bike up two flights of stairs.

IMO the better option moving forward is to encourage the various paid parking lots in the city to set up some type of secure bike parking.

Great, another way ruin something that should be free.

Great, another way ruin something that should be free.

The fact is it isn't free to purchase or maintain because I see a lot of abandoned bikes locked on bike racks.

Plus we live in a city where almost nothing is free. Most of midtown has no on street free parking during the normal work day. Even at night there are lots of parking meters that are in effect til midnight!. One garage where I work in midtown now advertises bike parking for $7 a day, about 1/3 what they charge for a car. I usually take the subway to work. Cheapest option for me.

Great, another way ruin something that should be free.

It certainly isn't free when your bike gets stolen or your $100 kryptonite gets clipped by police and you have to bail your bike out of the pound. :o

If we are still discussing areas within NYC(Manhattan), I believe nothing's going to be free unless the city make it into a law(which they probably can't). There are always going to be some special interest lobbyist/invester/shareholders who can hire more expensive lawyers to sue the city to ensure their profitable investment returns. Besides, anything free in NYC? say it does happen and it'll surely be swamped in no time, you'll have to fight for a bike space.

To share a funny story, one pizzaria near my job makes a distinctively bad pie. Their customers are all clueless "non-yelping", "non-zagat" tourists waiting for the tour bus. One day last year they celebrated 15 years in business and offer one free slice of pie and what do you know, the line was down the block around the corner with suits and ID badges.

To get back on the topic of bike racks. There are quite a few "employee/tenent only" types of bike racks around where I work, probably privided by the office building. As for me, I'm fortunate to have two bike racks inside a gated entrance of the buiding, always guarded but always full. I ride a folder and I bring it into the building I work.

Just found this (http://nycityracks.wordpress.com/). It's news to me, but in fact yesterday I did see a recumbent parked at such a rack. It was dark and I was not sure whether that big circle is part of the recumbent or not ;). It looks so much better than the boring and lonely upside-down U. The designs of the indoor parking is not that nice in my opinion, totally lacking the simplicity and art of the outdoor one (however, how much indoor bike parking are there anyway?).