Back to the Basics

Ironically, throughout my explorations of the city I have neglected to focus on the pragmatics of bicycle safety. Of course there’s the obvious: Wear a helmet! Everyone knows and some loathe this, but the simple fact is that a helmet dramatically reduces your chances of head trauma in a collision. As we used to tell the kids while I was a bicycle instructor...”Your brain can’t heal the way a cut or a bruise can.” A lot of people don’t necessarily have a properly fitted helmet either. Essentially it should be snug and no more than two fingers from the eyebrows. [depicted right]

According to New York State Law cyclists should signal on the road. [depicted left] Most hand signals are made with the left hand. The reasoning behind this is that bikers are on the right side of the road. As we know here in New York City, this is not always the case (some bike lanes actually run on the left side of the road like on 6^th avenue). My advice is to point with whichever hand is most visible to traffic.

There’s a few rules specific to New York City. First, all riders must have both front and rear signal lights at night. [Depicted right] I’ve found this to be a great practice since my black bike blends in with the night darkness. It’s simple and makes you visible. I personally like the ones that flash because they attract people’s attention more than fixed lighting. The other requirement is for bikers to have a signal bell (or other honking device). Before I moved to New York I did not have one, but the benefits were easy to see (and hear). A bike bell is very distinctive and lets people know a bike is coming whether they see it or not.

Besting Blasé: My Commute

Daily Distance Traveled: 42 miles

Total Distance Traveled: approx 1000 miles

6:07AM

I meander my way down the ladder of my creaky loft bed. The bright blue bike new York shirt is waiting on my recliner along with a pair of mesh shorts. My bag is usually packed the day before as not to complicate the morning. When I was fortunate enough to have time and remember to buy milk ( a combination that while simple is often hard to come by) I try to have a bowl or 2 of cereal paired with a quick episode of Arrested Development.

7:00 AM

My tires usually hit the ground at exactly 7AM. After turning off of Sterling Place in Brooklyn, I take the Vanderbilt Avenue bike lane straight up Flushing Avenue.

7:16 AM

Two turns and a protected bike lane later, I begin the Manhattan Bridge accent. Typically bikers are subjugated to the north walkway with the south side reserved for pedestrian traffic. Thanks to the Manhattan Bridge renovation project, titled contract 14, I got to spend the majority of my morning commutes enjoying the south side’s gorgeous sun bathed views of the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan. What a way to start the day! As I reach the center of the bridge the figurative, and yes, literal gravitational pull carries me forward faster and faster as I descend into the bee hive, or nucleus, or whatever other metaphor you want to use.

After the Bridge it’s straight up the Bowery. The bike lane is a bit bumpy so I tend to stay to the left when I can. My first opportunity to cross the island is 14^th street, but Union Square traffic is something worth avoiding in the morning. I instead follow 3^rd up to the Bike lane on 21^st. On my way I slide past the northern edge of Gramercy Park. The park and many of the surrounding buildings remains as they did in mid 19^th century. It’s beautiful, but unfortunately off limits to anyone but neighborhoods (and only those that pay a special fee). This is one of only two private parks in NYC. While the gates are thoroughly uninviting, a peak between the iron bars reveals hidden paradise. As I continue along 21^st, I pass park avenue with Grand Central and Met Life Building. Even the back of the Flatiron building boasts an unmistakably iconic façade as I cross Broadway.

7:33 AM

The bike lane on 6^th is tempting, but not quite as care free as the protected lane on 8^th. This particular path (denoted as a class 1 lane in the bike map)is completely removed from traffic with both a buffer and parking lanes between cyclists and automobile traffic. This is a wonderful ride as even turning vehicles are allocated to a separate space and forced to wait (via stoplight) for bicycle traffic.

From here it’s a straight shot uptown. Passing the Tick Tock Diner at 34^th and 8^th is always a bit nostalgic. Anytime I would visit New York, this was my port of entry. Now it’s a reminder of my journey which brought me here. Further up I pass the national paper of record and port authority and eventually come to Columbus Circle. Occasionally I will catch a light just in time and find myself in the middle of a carless block. This is a bit surreal, almost like having a whole block in Manhattan all to myself. In these cases I take full ownership swerving from one side to the other.

7:42 AM

There are times when speed is essential. Bike lanes may be blocked, nonexistent or dangerous. In these cases I take a lane and merge into traffic. The slingshot turn carries me past the U.S.S. Maine monument and onto central park west. This beautiful 2.5 mile stretch is shaded by the Central Park’s tall trees. The only dangers here are the occasional backwards biker or salmon as some cyclists call them and territorial joggers. I hit my halfway point without notice, focusing instead on recognizable buildings like The Dakota.

8:05 AM

I always hit 110^th street at this time. After rounding yet another circle I continue uptown on Fredrick Douglas Blvd. A slight left on St. Nicolas takes me past the Harriet Tubman Memorial Triangle. The Bronze Allison Saar statue titled “Swing Low” stands about 15 feet tall. The skirt is loaded with historical depictions and seems weighed down by the metaphorical roots.

At about 155^th street I head down a makeshift (jersey barrier-lined) greenway along Harlem River Drive. The barriers narrow as at the bottom of the hill. Instead of hopping the curb and stopping at the crosswalk I squeeze my way through a small crack in the barriers spend a short 10 yard stretch on Harlem River Drive’s 156 street exit. After the bridge I enjoy the East Side Greenway under three different bridges. High Bridge is the 1^st (and southernmost) Completed in 1848 this bridge is the oldest bridge in the city. It was originally part of the old Croton aqueduct system, New York’s 1^st fresh water supply line. It was never intended 4 vehicular traffic, but did contain a pedestrian walkway. After the bridge was made obsolete by the new Croton Canal system in the early 1900s it was declared a hazard by the Army Corps of engineers. Instead of dismantling the bridge, the central span was replaced with a single steel arch still in place today. The more narrow stone arches are still preserved on either side of the river. Thanks to PlaNYC 2030, discussions are underway to for the bridge’s reopening as a pedestrian plaza.

Farther north I pass the Alexander Hamilton and Washington Bridge.

8:17 AM

After the greenway ends I follow 10^th avenue until it merges with Broadway underneath the elevated 1 train. Even though they are pretty close to each other the stretch between the University Heights Bridge and the Broadway Bridge seems to take forever. At this point, however, I’ve traveled about 16 miles for about an hour and 15 minutes without a break. I do enjoy bobbing in and out of the elevated train platform supports.

8:30 AM

Past the Broadway Bridge and through the Kingsbridge shopping complex (whose slogan: “It’s all under the bridge” I adore) I arrive at my destination.

[Insert Day of Work]

The route home is a bit different whenever I wind up leaving. As I leave the park I pass by a small piece of land called Van Cortlandt’s Tail. It’s directly adjacent to the southwest corner of the park and next to a residential apartment building. There are a few trees and benches; nothing terribly special. It’s a nice spot to sit and reminder that park planners have a cute sense of humor.

I continue down Broadway as far down as Dyckman Street and then up a hill to meet the northernmost entrance of the Hudson River Greenway. There’s a few interesting things on the way down including a very old wall on the eastern side of Hudson River Drive and an antique portico with a stunning bridge view. After passing under the bridge I can to relive a childhood fantasy and an adult obsession in a single view. The Robert Hook “Little Red Lighthouse” stands in the shadow of the GWB’s metal marvel. It’s a stunning reminder of the Hildegarde Swift children’s story I read as a kid.

This is probably one of the most beautiful and well used paths in the entire city. There are tons of boats docked along the water and rocks as well as countless playgrounds and sport (basketball, tennis, etc.) venues. Buildings come into focus as I draw closer and closer to midtown. Another interesting, though most likely ignored is the old 69^th street railroad transfer bridge. It’s corroded superstructure is a marvelous display of gears and pulls at one time all working in tandem to allow train car passage onto floats crossing the Hudson. Further down is the Intrepid museum and Chelsea Piers. I always head down to Canal Street. Of course it is always jammed with Holland Tunnel bound traffic. Lucky for me I’m not headed underground. While the other lanes are jammed, thru-traffic is always clear and flowing freely. After Chinatown, I ascend the bridge once again and follow the same route home.

This little route is about 3 hours worth of riding (give or take depending on my mood). I pass quite a few neighborhoods; as a coworker remarked “I actually think you pass all of them.” Though sometimes subtle, the transitions from one neighborhood are truly fascinating. Demographic and even geographic boundaries create completely different and distinctly characteristic environments. A commute can also change one’s attitude toward a particular route. Though many commutes suffer the unfortunate spiral into blasé, this was never the case.

"Is the B-X in the House?"

Distance Traveled: 42 miles

I arrived at work and found the area flooded with NYPD. As some may have seen in the news, someone had broken into our storage container in Queens and stolen all the bicycles. There had been several attempts to break into ours including sledge hammer dents, axe impact marks and traces of bolt cutters. As I rolled up, my first thought was that someone had managed to get the container open and that the police were investigating. I sighed with relief when I found the doors shut and the locks intact, but raised an eyebrow at the carnival setup in the adjacent field. I put my bicycle away and went to figure out what was happening. Unable to pull aside one of the bustling NYPD officers I found a local named Barbra. Apparently what I had stumbled my way into was called Harmony Day. Once a year in the summer time, volunteers from every police precinct in the Bronx come out to host a day-long picnic/festival for youth enrolled in summer camps. The idea is simple: police are often viewed as a negative force in some communities , arriving only when there’s trouble and acting as a potential threat. In this case the NYDP is trying to correct that image and show Bronx youth the positive impact of police officers (sounds kind of similar to what we do with bikes doesn’t it). According to Barbra, thousands of kids come from all over the Bronx for this free fair. Cool as this sounded, this presented a little problem for our classes.

Because the NYPD trucks and BBQs were parked in our training area, and the eventual traffic would make any sort of bicycle class impossible I decided to take some alternative actions. My coworker Elena contacted the camps and advised them of the change in plans if they wanted to attend the event rather than our program for the day. Meanwhile I negotiated with the NYPD for a table and a tent space inside the fair. Before long we had our tent (depicted left). Since we didn’t have much in the way of activities compared to the moon bounces and tug of war stations, we had to come up with something fast. We grabbed 2 bicycles and pumps. We labeled parts on one bike and connected pumps to both tires on the other so kids could have an inflation competition. Serendipity is a funny thing. Not only did we manage to acquire space, but we wound up next NYCDOT’s Safety City tent. Safety City is a program for school children which simulates a New York City street to educate students about traffic safety. The program also has classroom activities. At the end of the day they gave us activity books to distribute to our campers and restocked our NYC bike map supply.

Kids began flooding in… a lot of them! One thing I can say about the NYPD is that they know how to get stuff done quickly and efficiently. There were at least six moon bounces, a rock climbing wall and tons of other activities along with a stage full of prizes and a DJ. The kids came in and were quickly brought to a stage set up in the middle of the event. After a while an energetic officer took the stage and rallied the crowd. It’s interesting to see how regional pride manifests itself in the city. There is a very strong connection between the Bronx and its inhabitants. The MC shouted “is the BX in the house!” All of the kids erupted in answer to his rhetorical query.

There’s nothing better than a free lunch and a grilled hot dog; today I got both! Left over BBQ hot dogs from the kids were distributed to all of the staffers including Elena and myself. After that, however, we were informed that there was better food available for any of the adult staffers. I walked over to the NYPD tent and came out with a huge plate of pulled pork among other goodies (depicted left).

At the end of the day every single kid walked away with a stuffed elephant, pig or frog in addition to books, magazines and DVDs. Two kids actually went home with bicycles after winning them in a dance competition. We may not of gotten to bike , but we sure handed out a lot of information about Bike New York's free classes!