Dear New York, New York...
 

I will be in your fine city come Thursday. I live in Austin and the opportunity to travel to New York city just presented itself not 2 hours ago. I will be staying for 2 weeks and need to know of everything and anything that I can get in on that is bike related. I have a tentative place to stay, so if anyone feels like housing a strange (unlikely), or letting me know of any places that rent for cheap, go ahead and send a good ole' pm.

What are the must sees of the fair city. I will be bringing my bike, and maps, so distance is no problem. I expect that I will just end up reading what I need to finish up before the next semester starts in various locations around the city. My main goal is to not spend money, something I hear is quite impossible in New York.

And this is where everyone replies (hopefully soon because I will be without internet after 1pm Wednesday the 15th).

Ride through central park, Brooklyn bridge, the village area (don't know what ts called but i'm pretty sure village is a part of it), china town, and look at the cool new man made waterfalls. That's just off the top of my head from the last time I visited. Make sure you lock the hell out of your bike though.

O and cool sig brotha

haha, thank you. i have two u locks and two chain lock, but how much will i really need?

just lock down everything that moves. better still, keep your bike with you whenever you can.

You can see the waterfalls from the east side greenbelt path. But the west side path is a nicer ride.

the east side path is fine till a bit past the south street seaport area, north of that the ride is just terrible.

Not bike related but check out the Highline on the west side. You'll have to lock up your bike and walk up there but it's a very cool, new public space. Elevated railway turned into a park.

Also there are tons of free concerts during the summer. Google Central Park Summerstage, Celebrate Brooklyn, etc and I bet you will find something you want to see for free. There also a bunch of free outdoor movie series, some of which have free bike valet parking.

Take a ride over the Brooklyn Bridge and then to Prospect Park and then out to Coney Island along Ocean Parkway. The Brooklyn Bridge to Prospect Park part kind sucks but otherwise it's a nice ride.

The West side bike path is good from the bottom of Manhattan all the way up to the George Washington bridge.

Some good free things:

I recommend taking your bike on the free Governor's Island Ferry from the southern tip of Manhattan and spending a few hours riding around Governor's Island. It's got a lot of abandoned/unused buildings (although they aren't particularly open to roam around in), but there's also an assortment of art installations down there, and a few food vendors, and lots of open space.

Speaking of ferries, the Staten Island Ferry, also from the southern tip can be a nice little ride, and goes somewhat close to the statue of liberty. While the ferry itself is free, it does cost a few dollars to buy beer on it (though it's obviously worth it).

Additionally, the High Line Park just opened up in the Chelsea area in Manhattan. It's not bikeable, but it's an old elevated train platform that has grass, trees, and other plants growing on it, and is very pleasant. Free entry.

MoMA in Midtown is free on Friday evenings, and has a lot of floors of both permanent and temporary exhibitions.

The Kissena Velodrome out in Queens could be worth checking out, if you're into that sorta thing. It's also close to the really large, old World's Fair site (in Flushing Meadows, Queens), which can be a great place ot ride around. It's somewhat of a haul from Manhattan or Brooklyn, but worth seeing. When there isn't a scheduled event at the velodrome, it's open for anyone to ride around and use, free.

Prospect Park in Brooklyn has a nice bike paved bike loop, and during the summer evenings with people grilling out all around you and having family picnics, it's a great place to ride. I prefer it to Manhattan's Central Park.

There are many, many free outdoor concerts over the summer here in NYC as well (such as at Southstreet Seaport, Centerstage in Central Park, McCarren Pool in Williamburg, Battery Park, Pier 54, etc). Additionally, there's a really great free theater series in the Lower East Side called Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, which does contemporary takes on the classics, very funny and smart, and free. It's at the corner of Ludlow and Broome on certain scheduled nights.

That's all I feel like mentioning now, but there are plenty of good things to do around here.

Many good suggestions already. If you are going to be here by this thursday, head to coney island on saturday for siren festival, I don't know about taking your bike though, might be better with mass transportation with this one so your ride doesnt get jacked.. Check the lineup if you like the music, but its usually a drunken good time and good excuse to head down there.

Check out Queensbridge area too, its where Nas is from :D

Zip I thought the Pool was done for in regards to shows, did they designate or build the new place yet near the water?

Great point, you're absolutely right -- I believe the location is now East River State Park:

http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=187

http://www.thepoolparties.com/wp-con...l_schedule.jpg

Seems like lots of location suggests already.. Governor's Island is definitely fun. Been there last Saturday. Also, the west side highway is much better than the east side. It's a nice smooth ride. And since most of the locations have been named, I'ld like to suggest u visit http://ridethecity.com/ where you can pinpoint your to and from locations and it will try to search nyc's bike routes that you can take.

If you want to get out of the city and go to the beach you might try Jones Beach. Miles of sandy beach, it will be nice this time of year.

http://www.longislandexchange.com/jones-beach.html

oh. And on the note of locks..
I guess it depends if you have a fancy/ flashy bike that might be prone to target or not. But in general you would want to lock ur frame, wheels, seat, and handle bar. And try to lock it in bright places or places with lots of people.

Im going to have to go ahead and suggest that you do not ride on the west side highway.
FDR is more scenic. ;)

true that. The FDR is definitely more scenic with the bridges and water.
West is good in terms of smoothness of road. Guess depending on what u're doing.. And there's nice parks and some scenes between 70th - 125th.

Sorry, I guess I am not as funny / clear as I thought...
The post I was responding to made it sound like you should ride on the west side highway, when you should probably use the west side bike path / greenway.

I'm NOT bringing my bike at the end of July, traveling with the wife and kids. W 42nd street in midtown is where we're renting a place for a few days. What's parking/parking charges like? Who knows of nearby shops... I will indeed need to augment my collection of shop cycling socks, as well, any mention of places we must eat at would be appreciated.

parking charges f****** suck in NY; just walk everywhere because there will be lots to see that you wouldnt be able to see up close in a car

I'm hoping to drive to the apartment and then garage the thing for three day til I leave, .. if I had my way I'd be leaving it at an Uncle's place north of the city but I have to drive someone to Laguardia airport at some point as well. All in city stuff will be transit and walking.

Me and a couple of bf members ride central park or prospect park laps every thurs. Lmk if you wanna join us for our weekly ride. Check your PM.

are those pool party shows free? i wanna come up to see del.

yes, free

Health, Del, Simian Mobile Disco (and ofc superfamous guys girltalk and grizzlybear)

;\

The pool parties here in dc are lucky to get a half-decent local DJ.

i didnt notice him on my first skim.

go to a bike shop and get a bike map of the city. pretty handy if you're new to the city, especially if you plan on riding in any boroughs other than manhattan.

there's gonna be a lot of crap on the streets like glass and stuff so be careful what you ride over. bring some puncture resistant tires if you can.

riding over the brooklyn bridge is a true test of one's patience. the pedestrians keep wandering into the bike path as though they're asking to get run over. still highly recommend doing this though.

redhook is a really cool area to explore by bike. taking the west side path all the way up to the top of manhattan is also pretty fun. so is riding out to the beach-- coney island, rockaway, etc. as mentioned earlier in this thread.

if you plan to lockup for more than a couple hours, be sure your frame, both wheels, and saddle are secure.