Lucky07

Went into a shop Thursday afternoon with the Transit Strike looming in NYC and there were no less than 25 people looking at commuter bikes. Credit cards in hand, just looking to buy 'something'. That was probably the biggest crowd that shop will see all winter.

In our bike room at work, people who had stored their 'summer' bikes came in, looked at their bikes that had been sitting there since July and wondered why their tires were almost flat.

Guy came in and looked at his brand new Schwinn, which from the look of it, may have been ridden once or twice. I joked with him "You just stop by to visit your bike?" He looked at me and said "Yeah, well I wasn't planning on coming back down here until Spring...."

Sigh.

wasted weasel

toronto had a pending transit strike earlier this year and U-locks were sold out of most of the larger bike shops around. A buddy and I joked about how many people buying new bikes and u-locks don't have enough common sense to run the lock through both wheels. We were speculating on how often we'd see someone riding a bike with a couple of 'spare' front wheels in hand

jyossarian

Check out the deals on transit strike alternatives on Craigs list. Crap bikes marked up especially for the unaware public.

DCCommuter

I wonder if Mayor Bloomberg is starting to have second thoughts about his jihad against cyclists over the past two years.

nycm'er

Naaaahhhh.

But jihad is the perfect word for it.

brokenrobot

Nah. Why would he care? The only New Yorkers Bloomberg gives two ****s about will get to work during a strike the same way as they do every day: their drivers will take them in their towncars, benzes, and limos. The only difference this time will be that the ultrawealthy have to come in from Long Island via north manhattan; last time, when they were allowed over the lower bridges (and were exempted on a case-by-case basis from the restrictions placed on other people's cars - multiple passenger requirement, random searches, etc) there were very nearly riots.

Bloomberg's not even pretending that he'll be bicycling this time around; instead, he's planning to hole up in downtown Brooklyn, so that he can walk to City Hall. I guess the ride from the upper east side would just be too far for a serious cyclist and everyday New Yorker like himself.

oboeguy

I can't honestly see lots of NYCers bike commuting in freezing weather. It should be very interesting to see! I honestly hope for a brief transit strike and lots of bike commuters so it becomes clear that while improving, bike facilities in the City need a lot of work.

huhenio

<hording studded tires and setting up a kiosk/shop on Madison & 5th>

slvoid

Its supposed to be really warm this week. Good for a strike.

jyossarian

Crap, I may miss the first day of the strike. I gotta go to NJ for a group luncheon on Wed. and I wanted to ride the strike!

Brian McDonough

just in case of a transit strike -Hope not . here's a directional map into the city from points far eastern Queens . from Alley Pond Park. https://tinyurl.com/dmayf

nycm'er

It's on!

The BQE under Brooklyn Heights has been at a standstill since 5:30a. I will be at work in Williamsburg by 7, I wish I could see what the rush is like in the city. Sounds like there will be quite a few closed and reduced volume streets, have fun riding on empty roads, my fellow New York commuters!

EGreen

Beware! It will be perilous with all the amateurs out there! People who've not walked longer than 5 blocks, or cycled outside the borders of the park (if at all) in years, en mass, will cause more than a few spills.

huhenio

I am missing all the fun ... excellent oportunity to get some footage for "after apocalypse" kind of movie.

oboeguy

I think I'll be hopping on the folder today to take a look at things.

Dahon.Steve

The streets in New York City were empty so I suspect they were diverting all the cars with less than 3 passengers elsewhere. The Porth Authority bus station was a mad house and plenty of new commuters riding around with bare heads and no gloves with the temperature hovering around freezing!!!

* jack *

I've been hearing about the Strike on the news... I wish I was there to see all the new cyclists.

jyossarian

I counted 10 bikes, including mine, locked up outside at about 10:20 am w/ still more arriving. People w/ folders are allowed to carry them into the building. I know there's more bikes locked up behind the building too, but haven't counted. I've seen old and new bikes today and some that are re-purposed (full suspension mtb's w/ knobbies and road bikes w/ aero bars). Pretty interesting mix.

egonlou

Didn't ride. I was the critical fourth passenger for a car going my way to work. Took the West side highway down. It was a breeze from the GWB down to about 150 where it became a parking lot. At 125 the PD bottlenecked the highway to one lane where 1 cop with three supervising checked each car for four occupants. After booting off the violators, we sailed to 96th where there was another checkpoint. From there there were hardly any cars all the way down to Canal St and over the Manahttan bridge. Took us one and a half hours which on Friday took 35 minutes.

I'm going to work a double, get off at midnight and hole up locally overnight. I'll see what happens later in the week.

Lucky07

Saw tons of newbies this am. Wobbly, carrying too much, no helmets, no gloves, all over the road. Eash.

aadhils

Just incase some idiot thinks Jihad means 'Holy war', It actually means 'struggle to do something which God commanded for his sake'. As in all concepts it can be abused...