Queens, for real this time

Distance Traveled: 40.00 miles

What an interesting day! Today was the much anticipated Tour de Queens. Because it started early in the morning all the way out in Corona Park, Queens, I decided it would be prudent to take the subway. I headed uptown to Grand Central (depicted right) to take the 7 out towards Flushing. I wasn't the only one with this idea. There were two other people in my car with bikes (depicted left). I could also see other people getting on the train with bicycles in other cars. I got off at 111st and headed straight into Corona Park. The first thing I saw was the hall of Science. What caught my eye were the giant Atlas and Titan model rockets jutting upwards out of their grounds. I'm a bit of a space enthusiast, so I couldn't help but notice a mock-up of John Glenn's Friendship 7 Mercury capsule, and the Gemini capsule atop the Titan rocket. I'll definitely have to head back there at some point. I continued towards the Queens Museum where the ride began. This museum was where the United Nations met for the first time to discuss issues on a global scale. Directly across from the front is what must be the most recognizable icon in Queens, the Unisphere (depicted left. Constructed by the United States Steel Corporation for the World's Fair in 1964, the Unisphere stands 12 stories tall. Its three cocentric rings represent the orbits of Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, American Astronaut John Glenn, and the Telstar Communications Satellite (the first active comm satellite). As the its commemorative plaque reads, the unisphere is dedicated to "man's aspirations toward Peace through mutual understanding and symbolizing his achievements in an expanding universe." this ride is organized through Transportation Alternatives, a cycling advocacy group. This ride is much more low key than the five borough. I think only about 2000 people came on this one. Before we left, there were a couple of speakers promoting advocacy. One of them said something which really stuck out in my mind. "New York City is not transformed by a couple of bike lanes. It's you." The point I am trying to make is that sustainability is about changing behavior in our daily lives. Saving the environment and becoming healthier are just byproducts of these behavioral shifts. As I found out from bike New York, the biggest problems with the cycling infrastructure is ignorance. People don't necessarily know hot to use it safely and properly. Furthermore, unless people are confident and empowered by cycling all of the infrastructure that the city has installed is useless. That being said, advocacy and education are essential to a sustainable future.

The race got off to a slow start with a constant stop and go flow to it. Once we started moving though I quickly made my way to the front of the line, which ultimately proved a little frustrating, because the woman at the front was moving kind of slow and we all had to stay behind her. There was a police escort with us blocking off streets as often as they could. Often times, this meant that the entire group had to stop while the NYPD caught up and moved ahead (depicted left). The ride took us through the eastern portion of Queens (depicted right in orange). There was one mandatory stop at York College. TA provided oranges, and Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches with apples. They also gave out free energy bars.

From there we headed to Queens Blvd. otherwise known as the avenue of death. One of the things that the TA people mentioned before the ride was how dangerous this particular road is, and how they are working on getting a bike lane for it. Personally, it didn't seem any more or less dangerous than some of the roads I've been on.

One of the cool things about this ride was the intimacy of it. We actually get to ride through neighborhoods and see people. The 5 borough is kind of impersonal in that we were often riding on major roadways which are separated from regular streets, thus avoiding pedestrians all together. Here, people all along the sidewalks cheered and asked questions. the angriest thing I heard all day was "At least their wearing helmets." Another woman said, "I wanna bike!." We even got a "Jesus loves you" (depicted right).


The coolest and most important thing about these rides is the energy they generate for cycling. They create interest and awareness of cycling for existing and potential riders. It's really empowering on both ends. Even the police escort sends a message that the city fully supports the practice. 20 miles later, we arrived back at Corona. I decided to ride back into Manhattan now that I had a better sense of where I was, and since there was a whole other side of Queens to explore. On my way back I saw an example of Green streets NYC (depicted left). This is a joint project between NYDOT and the Department of Parks and Recreation. They take plane traffic mediums and fill them with trees and shrubs to create more green space in the city. Queens is a very nice place which I would like to explore in more detail. It seems like the kind of place that you can really live in. It's also the largest and most diverse borough which is obviously visible as you ride through. My day ended with the ascent up the Queensboro Bridge and back into Manhattan (depicted right).

The Corner Conumdrum

Distance Traveled: 50.02 miles

My goal this weekend was to hit the Bronx and find a lost piece of my family's history, all the while taking in the essence of the Bronx since I haven't really explored it before.

I left pretty early and headed up 3rd Ave. One of the things that has always fascinated me about Manhattan is the awesome sight of its tremendous avenues. Cavernous walls of stone and steel extend as far as the eye can see. It's truly incredible.

I found out last week that NYDOT was doing one of their free helmet giveaways in Queens Bridge Park this past Saturday. How lucky for me that I had already planned to be up this weekend! Instead of heading straight up to the Bronx I took a quick detour into Queens. Queens Bridge Park, as you may imagine is just north of the Queensboro Bridge. I got there and found the yellow NYDOT van in the back corner. They had set up a couple tables with information. A small line had already formed with Kids and adults alike. The information on the table was mostly geared towards kids with coloring books and cartoons on bike safety. They, of course, had cycling maps, and cool bike stickers which read "I brake for Peds." They also had a very handy manual for biking in New York. It contains all of the city and state ordinances with regard to cycling and tips on locking your bike, turning, getting on bridges, ect. There's also a list of bike shops for each borough and links to useful cycling websites.
Before receiving the helmet I had to sign a waver indicating that I had been educated in the proper usage and safety of a helmet. After that my head was measured. The woman I was with instructed me on how to increase the tension on the helmet, and what a proper fit would be. They also gave me a reflective arm band to wear at night to be more visible. I left the park, and instead of back tracking, decided to head towards the RFK bridge and head ito the Bronx via Randall's Island. Once on the island I drew a conclusion which I hadn't quite stated last time I was there. There are green signs all over the island indicating locations and designations of different athletic fields (displayed right). Just from the number designations on the sign we can infer that there are quite a few on the island, which leads me to conclude that the island is some sort of sports Mecca. Realizing this, I hastened my exit (I'm not a big fan of sports and that kind of physical activity, in fact, biking is how I trick myself into getting exercise). As soon as I reached the Bronx, I headed uptown in a bike lane on St. Ann's Ave. I stopped at 138th st for lunch. It is a very busy road, alive with activity. You get a real sense of the ethnic base in the Bronx, which after a day of biking around, I feel confident in summing up with the picture displayed to the right. In it you will find an African hair braiding store next to a place called Rodriguez auto parts. The population which I observed was mostly Hispanic and African American.

My first stop was Crotona Park which sports a greenway through its center. This is when I first observed this interesting phenomenon which I haven't seen in any of the other boroughs. In Bronx parks bike families and groups of friends will just come out with tents and grills and have parties (depicted left). In some of the other parks, I actually saw signs which prohibited these "grill parties" in certain areas.

My next stop was The Bronx Zoo. It's the largest urban zoo in the United States. It is a designated New York City Landmark. I rode into the place thinking I might take a look around. I found out that it's $15 to get in. I never really had much interest animals, so I opted to keep my money and run. Instead I went down and around the corner to River Park which was exceptionally cool. It had an open lawn area where more people were BBQing. Then they had a playground area with all kinds of metal animal figurines which shot out mist with the touch of a button (depicted left). They also had the coolest climbing thing I have ever seen. It was some sort of 3 dimensional polygon (depicted right). Unfortunately I didn't feel like locking my bike up again, otherwise I would have been all over that thing.

The park also has a beautiful view of a waterfall along the Bronx River (depicted below).

Afterwards I went up to the Botanical Gardens which also cost money. guess I was in a cheep mood that day, because I opted out of that as well. It didn't help that the security guard was being a real jerk to me because I was on my bike. I cut through Fordam University and continued uptown to my primary objective.

Several years ago, I found documentation that the south east corner of 204th street and Valentine Avenue had been designated Anthony Suraci Corner. I've always wanted to go up there, but I never really had the time. Today however, I made it. And what did I bike 25 miles for? What have I spent years waiting to see?

It was a damn dollar store. No plaque, No statue, no nothin'. Oh well, at least I know what it is. I was definitely glad to make the pilgrimage. Apparently there is another designated location in Queens which bares the same name. I will be going there next.

It was time to go home. I took the Grand Concourse (depicted right). It's always nice to see major roads with bike lanes. Though this road was flat, the Bronx is much more hilly than the other boroughs (I guess I can't exactly speak for Staten Island yet, but who cares). You can see on either side of the concourse and many other locations, streets that are sloped up or down hill (depicted left).


I had to pass it anyway, so I stopped at Yankee Stadium (depicted right). Given my profound lack of Interest, I left immediately, and that's all I have to say about that. It was time to head back into Manhattan for my final stop. Since it was on my way back (more or less) I decided it was time to actually cross the walkway on the George Washington Bridge!

The easiest way into Manhattan was crossing the Washington Bridge. At first I didn't think much of it, however, as I got closer I became more interested. Then, half way across the bridge I found a bronze plaque telling the bridge's story. Apparently it is the second oldest major bridge in New York after the Brooklyn Bridge. Commissioned on April 30, 1889 for the Centennial of Washington's inauguration in New York, the Washington Bridge is is one of the best American examples of arch bridge design (depicted left in the foreground). I always enjoy finding our New information about bridges! From there I crossed through Washington Heights to the GWB. After some moderate difficulty figuring out how to get on, I finally began my ascent towards the middle of the bridge. It was extremely cool. It was very much similar to the Golden Gate Bridge (understandable considering that the Golden Gate took the title of longest suspension bridge in the world from the GWB in 1937). This GWB is more impressive though. The towers are just beautiful from an engineer's perspective, with it's silver cross beams and powerful super structure. Originally, designer Othmar Ammann, was going to encase the towers in stone, however he recognized the simplistic, raw ascetic appeal of his design and left it alone. What was truly amazing about this design was the foresight put into it. Ammann knew that traffic was likely to increase when the bridge was established, so he designed it with room for an expansion. In 1962 a whole new lower deck was added making it the only suspension bridge in the world with 14 lanes. One thing that really surprised me was the number of cyclists passing over the walkway. From the time I got on to the time I made it to the center I counted at least 25 (depicted right).


On one final note, I took Broadway all the way from Washington Heights down to Union Square. As I discussed in my last post, Broadway has been shut down in Times Square. Well I found it quite annoying this time around. There are cops everywhere which means you have no choice but to dismount your bike. Ten you have to fight your way through the crowd. Eventually I got frustrated and just switched over to 7th. After Times Square, I got back on Broadway only to find that they had decided to shut down s small section by 34th as well. This was quite annoying. Because of these shut downs, tourists all up and down Broadway seem to think that the bike lane is just another place for them to walk. That's the last time I ride that way, which is sad considering how much I enjoyed it. It was a very productive day. There are defiantly some portions of the Bronx I would like to return to.

A Poignant Pit-stop

I didn't want to waist a moment of time on my way back from Albany to Philly. As such, I decided to take a day off work and wander around New York. Of course this meant returning to the realm of mere mortals (that is walking instead of biking around). I started off with a trip over to see the class 1 bike lanes on 8th and 9th ave (displayed right). These are some of the first examples of protected bike lanes within an actual roadways. Most of the other class 1 lanes are confined to park side greenways and bridges. In this instance, however, The bike lane is physically separated by a painted buffer zone, concrete sections, and then a parking lane. This still leaves 2-3 lanes open for vehicular traffic.

Afterward I headed uptown to, I am quite surprised to say, Times Square. I tend to avoid this tourist mecca because of its over emphasized fame and popularity. According to the Forbes Traveler 50 most visited tourist attractions List, Times Square ranks number one with an estimated 35,200,000 people wandering it's crowded sidewalks, pausing in awe of the neon brilliance around them. Usually if I go to Times Square, it means a quick ride down the bike lane on Broadway for the fun of it, but not anymore. Several weeks ago, the downtown artery was closed off from 47th down to 42 st. This is the latest in a number of projects aimed at increasing the city's public space in new, vibrant ways. This concept expands upon the 2008 institution of "summer streets," where Park ave is closed down to automobile traffic. That was inspired by several foreign events such as Columbia's Ciclovia and the Paris Plauge. Anyway, I had to see this for myself. Depicted right is the uptown view of Times Square from 42nd st. It is quite odd to see chairs in the middle of the street. At the same time however, I found it somewhat unremarkable. Honestly it doesn't really seem like much has changed. Instead of cars obstructing the roadway you have people in lawn chairs. They have begun painting the blocked roadway red and slightly elevating the edges of the roadway.
One thing I noticed is that bike riders must dismount and walk their bikes through the street as illustrated on the left. What I found interesting is that when you stand at the intersection of 7th and Broadway, and face uptown there is a distinct difference in the amount of noise coming from one side vs. the other because of the unbalanced automobile traffic. Perhaps the daylight obscured the brilliance of this new found change, but I was not impressed. I took a seat and stayed there for a while. I overheard a man saying "It gives you the chance to take in everything that's around you." Ironically the location where this gentleman was sitting was a piece of the side walk in between the two streets. The only thing that is different about it (since cars never drove on it anyway) was the tables and chairs the the Times Square Alliance (I assume) put there. Frankly I think part of the zeal of Times Square was always that bustle. The pushing and shoving; the crowding and craning is what made this place exciting. Sure, the lights are pretty, but it's the people that make it interesting. The extra space alleviates the congestion and takes away from the experience. The idea of sitting and lounging in this monument to bustle.

Next I headed up to 104th st. and Amsterdam Ave., the location of Bike New York's headquarters. These are the folks that put on five borough tour. I was lucky enough to chat with Emilia Crotty, Bicycle education Program manager. For all of the structural improvements that NYDOT is making to the city's cycling infrastructure, their educational component is somewhat lacking. In fact, Emilia told me that NYDOT listed bike New York as the city's educational component in its application for the League of American Bicyclists. This organization ranks cities with a medal system. New York is currently bronze.

Despite its essential nature, Bike New York does not receive funding from the city. Most of their funding comes from the five borough tour. They provide numerous programs aimed at informing the public about safety and general usage. Interestingly, according to Bike New York, the biggest problem is ignorance of how to utilize the cycling infrastructure. Turns out that those... people (i can think of another word)... who are always going the wrong way in the bike lanes just don't know any better (even though there's arrows in the middle of the lane). Some people still feel this stigma about biking around New York City, even with the recent push. As a result, Bike New York offers classes for youth and adults on urban cycling. They also travel to businesses and teach seminars which Emillia described as a pep talk about biking in the city. They also have a program where they teach school gym teachers about bicycle instruction and help map out curriculum. They then lend out their fleet of 60 bicycles to that school for three week periods to implement the programs. What's amazing is that they manage to do all of this with 8 staff people! Most importantly they gave me a free mug which I took downtown for a photo op later (depicted left).

After that info session I took a stroll through the rambles in Central Park. Then I headed downtown to the bus: Easily the worst experience I have ever had on the bus. That's a whole other story though. What I took away from this trip was that walking sucks... I'm only kidding, but there is a definite difference in the experience of walking and biking New York. For the same amount of time I walked I probably could have biked at least 3 times that distance and seen that much more. Instead I walked around saw a few things, descended into the subterranean caverns of MTA and the reemerged in a different location. Utilizing the subway for transportation, while efficient, confines one's perception of the city to the tunnels and trains. It also stifles exploration of the city. Every trip on the subway means extra money. If I were on a bike who knows how far I would have gone, what route I would have taken and what sort of iconography and interesting things I would have seen. All in all, it was a productive, eventful day!