Kath_London

Hi, I'll be in NYC for work for a week later this month and am thinking about using the Citi bikes to get around. But I don't know New York and, although I'm a cycle commuter at home and used to heavy traffic, I live in London, UK so riding in NYC would be on the wrong side of the road for me. I've cycled and driven in countries that drive on the right, but not for quite a few years. How easy is it to navigate Manhattan when you don't know the city? Is there anyone who's ridden in London and New York and can tell me the differences and anything I should be aware of? I'll be staying somewhere around Times Square - are there any roads that should definitely be avoided?
Thanks!
Kathryn

punkinevil

Since most streets in Manhattan are one way, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Bike lanes on most avenues are on the left to separate them from buses. Since Manhattan is essentially a numbered grid of one way streets, it is fairly intuitive. Here is a map that shows, dedicated bike lanes, if you like to use those. Just be aware that cars like to pull into unprotected bike lanes and pedestrians just don't care who they walk in front of.NYC DOT - Bicycle Maps

zacster

Yes, most streets are one-way in Manhattan. Stay off the major cross streets, such as 34th, 42nd, and use the bike lanes wherever you can. It's actually pretty surprising at how they are respected when the cyclists come out in force. You may have heard that we've had a very cold winter here, so things may not have fully recovered by late March. Potholes are everywhere, there is still slush on the streets pretty much everywhere (and 4-7 inches of snow tonight/tomorrow).

For strictly bike touring, the West Side Greenway is nice, as is Central Park of course.

You can't get around London without a map, but in Manhattan you don't need to have one open all the time once you get to know where Lexington, Park and Madison Aves are.

vol

Maybe it's more important to know how the NYC taxi drivers and pedestrians behave toward cyclists than what the streets are like here.

noglider 

@Kath_London, You'll feel at home here. On one way streets, most cyclists drive on the left. It makes sense, because that's where the bike lanes are on one-way streets, and if you are on a street without a bike lane, you might as well drive on the side where motorists expect to see you.

If you cycle in London, you'll get used to cycling in NYC. It's much easier to figure out because of the grid, as @punkinevil mentioned. Drivers are probably a little ruder than in London, but then again, I've noticed they are gentler than they used to be, and I've read about how traffic has gotten brutal in London, so I could be wrong. You might even find it mild-mannered by comparison.

Definitely check out the Hudson River Greenway. That's the route I take between home and work. I even take it when it leads me slightly out of the way, because it's so much nicer than riding in the streets.

Kath_London

Thanks very much for all your tips and suggestions. Interesting that your bike lanes are on the left to avoid buses, over here where there's a bus lane it's also designated as a bike (and taxi) lane. I'm looking forward to cycling in NYC - if the snow has (mostly) gone by the time I get there! It'll be interesting to see which city has the better drivers. I think pedestrians walking out in front of bikes while looking at their phones is the same everywhere!

vol

Both can be aggressive here even when they are in the wrong. Taxi passengers may open the door before you without looking (happened to me multiple times).

On the other hand, you may find traffic slow here.

Hudson Greenway has better road condition than the East River Greenway; however, in more parts of the latter you are directly next to the river (=view) than the Hudson Greenway.

Since you are not coming in the summer, this is less of a problem: you'd be baked alive on the Hudson Greenway in the summer with almost no shade in midday. So keep that in mind in case it matters to you.

Please don't forget to post your impression after your trip

lammius

Speaking of phones, download the Citibike app. It includes a map with all Citibike stations, and real(ish)-time availability of bikes and open docks. Many stations will have no bikes available during certain times of the day, so being able to see which of the stations near you have bikes will certainly save you some wandering about.

noglider 

The temperature just became normal, and the snow and ice are melting fast. It should all be gone in a day or so.
@lammius mentions how some stations won't have any available bikes. Not only does that happen, sometimes you get to a station, and it is full, and there are no slots to park your bike. They use trucks and bikes towing trailers to balance them, but it's a never-ending problem. That's why the app helps. It's not completely up to date, but it gives you a good guess as to where to head to pick up or park a bike.

snow_echo_NY

all good advice. citibike is great.

one thing is you can take it out only 30 minutes at a time. (you might already know this.) at which point if you want to plan a long ride, you'd have to switch out bikes. if you're using it mostly as a utility thing, getting from point A to point B where there are citibikes, it will be fine. but say if you want to ride around governor's island for a day, you can do a rental one day from one of the available bike rentals.

helmets - you can bring your own, or rent one from a shop here, sometimes they provide discounts if you've proven you got a citibike membership.

there's a one week citibike membership (again you might already know this).

have a good time when you're here!

Kath_London

Thanks again for all the advice. My trip was good and I loved cycling around NYC! I was lucky and missed the snow and as you all told me, the one way streets make it easy to navigate. The citbike system mostly worked well for me; there was only one time the terminal at the bike station nearest my hotel wasn't working and I had a run around looking for another one!

I didn't notice much difference in the aggression of the drivers. I think the grid system means that the traffic is generally more predictable. In London we've got lots of small side streets and the traffic turns into and out of these at any time so you've always got to expect someone to cut in front of you. I only had two real problems - figuring out how to get from the bike lane on the left of an avenue across 4 lanes of fast traffic to turn right into one of the streets and having to stop myself looking up at all the famous buildings I was going past and concentrate on the road!