NYC visitor question
 

Hi all,

Am doing work training in NYC and will be staying near 33 River Drive South Jersey City, NJ 07310-3790, I need to get to work near 7th Ave.

Is there any way someone used to riding on the left side of the road can cycle to this location safely? Any decent transport alternatives?

Thanks

Daven

PATH train runs on 6th ave up to 33rd street. there is no bridge you can use to go across unless we are talking about the GWB 8 miles to the north

Ah right, pretty annoying but fair enough! Looks like public transport for me (only 6 weeks anyway). Will have to get to some spin classes though!

Thanks

you can bring bikes onto PATH trains (done it personally a few times), but i'm not sure how your fellow commuters will take it when it's crowded

sounds like too much hassle as I would be renting a bike if I did use one. Will just be easier to tough it out for a few weeks :)

thanks for the info

Doesn't the ferry allow bikes?

Just use the West Side Greenway. Plenty of people riding on the left there and they're probably not even British!

But seriously, the City has a lot of bike lanes, some on the right, some on the left, so riding on the left is less of factor.

The Jersey City address is within walking distance of the http://www.panynj.gov/path/schedule.html Pavonia PATH station.

The Journal Sq-33rd St PATH line stops at Pavonia and runs 1 block east of 7th Ave in the City from 14th to 33rd Streets. Bikes may not be taken on PATH trains during rush hours (weekdays 6:30-9:30 am and 3:30-6:30 pm).

There are some office buildings in the vicinity of Penn Sta and more further north up to 60th St. Manhattan blocks are 20 per mile, so a walk to the Times Sq (42nd St) area is only 1/2 mile. You will also be able to walk up Broadway which takes a diagonal trajectory, intersecting 6th Ave at 34th St and 7th Ave at 42nd St. Walking up Broadway will probably be quicker than taking subways or buses to go further uptown.

There is also ferry service from close to the Pavonia station to 39th St and the Hudson River. You can take bikes on these ferries. However, the one-way fare is $7.25 plus $1.00 for the bike. The Manhattan ferry terminal and 0.9 miles west of 7th Ave (plus any north-south distance from 39th St). The PATH fare is $1.75 and the bike goes free, when allowed. (There are also multi-ride discounts down to $1.30 per ride as well as 1 and 7 day unlimited fares.)

NYC traffic regulations give bike riders the option of riding on the extreme left side of one-way streets that are over 45 feet (3 traffic lanes) wide. You should be quite at home riding on the left side on such streets. It's the right side for two-way and narrower one-way streets, unless there is a bike lane on the left side. Riding on sidewalks is prohibited and can result in your bike being seized as well as a hefty fine. Bicycle thieves are quite enterprising and are able to quickly break just about any kind of lock.