Cycling in New York City is associated with mixed cycling conditions that include dense urban proximities, relatively flat terrain, congested roadways with stop-and-go traffic, and streets with heavy pedestrian activity. The city's large cycling population includes utility cyclists, such as delivery and messenger services; cycling clubs for recreational cyclists; and increasingly

commuters Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regu ...

. Cycling is increasingly popular in New York City; in 2018 there were approximately 510,000 daily bike trips, compared with 170,000 daily bike trips in 2005.

History

Early days

The

bicycle boom The bike boom or bicycle craze is any of several specific historic periods marked by increased bicycle enthusiasm, popularity, and sales. Prominent examples include 1819 and 1868, as well as the decades of the 1890s and 1970sthe latter espec ...

of the late 19th century had a strong impact in the area. New York did not manufacture as many bicycles as other cities, and imported many from elsewhere, including

Freehold Township, New Jersey Freehold Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is both a regional commercial hub for Central Jersey, Central New Jersey (home to the Freehold ...

. As a spectator sport,

six-day racing Six-day cycling is a track cycling event that competes over six days. Six-day races started in Britain, spread to many regions of the world, were brought to their modern style in the United States and are now mainly a European event. Initially, ...

was popular and spurred the building of

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

s in suburbs including

Washington Heights, Manhattan Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the uppermost part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest natural point on Manhattan by Continental Army troops to defen ...

, and

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Pelham Parkway in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

. The biggest races were in

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

locations, notably at the original

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

which had been designed for cycle racing and at the time was located adjacent to

Madison Square Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United S ...

. The Olympic sport, Madison Racing, is named after cycle races that became popular at Madison Square Garden. Several of the mid-20th-century

parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.''"parkway."''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007). The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or ...

projects of

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...

included

bike path A bike path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses ''shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or "Class III bikewa ...

s; however, when more people could afford cars, bicycling declined and the bikeways fell into disrepair. Provisions for pedestrians and bicyclists were not included in the bridges connecting Queens to

(

Throgs Neck Bridge The Throgs Neck Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City, carrying six lanes of Interstate 295 (I-295) over the East River where it meets the Long Island Sound. The bridge connects the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx with the Bay Ter ...

and

Bronx–Whitestone Bridge The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge (colloquially referred to as the Whitestone Bridge or simply the Whitestone) is a suspension bridge in New York City, carrying six lanes of Interstate 678 over the East River. The bridge connects Throggs Neck and ...

), and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

( Verrazano-Narrows Bridge). Since July 2018, buses along the Q50 route, which travels across the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, contain bike racks at the front of each vehicle.

Late 20th century

Late in the century, bicycling resurged. Inspired by a trip to China in early 1980, Mayor

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...

ordered buffered bike lanes to be built on some Manhattan streets. Opened in October, the lanes were protested by merchants as well as taxi and trucking interests, while garages and other businesses unsuccessfully sued to stop construction. NYCDOT reported that cycling traffic had doubled while the number of crashes remained unchanged, though it also reported an average of 5 to 10 minutes' extra travel time for drivers, compared to before the bike lanes' installation. In June 1981, the Mayor ordered removal of bike lane barriers due to controversy and a decline in cyclists using the lanes (estimated at 10–15 thousand a day). The lanes were removed by November of the same year. A narrow, physically separated bike lane on Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan remained as a remnant of the Koch lanes. Bikelane 9Av 30 jeh

According to a 1990 survey, less than one percent of vehicle trips in New York City were made by bicycle, but by 1991, it was reported that over 75,000 New Yorkers used bicycles to commute to work each day. Simultaneously, Senator

Daniel Patrick Moynihan Daniel Patrick Moynihan (March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented New York in the United States Senate from 1977 until 2001 and served as a ...

had introduced legislation that became the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA).

21st century

Bike lanes on major bridges were also created, refurbished, or improved, and the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolo ...

, in partnership with other agencies, created the

Manhattan Waterfront Greenway The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a waterfront greenway for walking or cycling, long, around the island of Manhattan, in New York City. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separ ...

, Brooklyn-Queens Greenway and other bikeways. The Department of Parks and Recreation also added a vendor program to provide "hop on, hop off" bicycle rental services across various city parks. The linked network of bicycle rentals is facilitated through concessions in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

, Riverside South, West Harlem Piers Park, and the Battery. By 2017, there were 450,000 bike rides per day in New York City, up from 180,000 per day in 2006. Of these, 20% were commuter trips. Between 2014 and 2019, under the mayoralty of

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Y ...

, over of bike lanes have been added, totaling over citywide. Transportation commissioner

Polly Trottenberg Polly Ellen Trottenberg (born March 16, 1964) is an American politician and government official who is serving as Deputy Secretary of Transportation under Pete Buttigieg since April 14, 2021. She previously served as commissioner of the New York ...

pushed for increasing bike lanes to demonstrate the city's progress and commitment to transportation safety. However, with the expansion of cycling in New York City, there has been pushback from motorists. For example, in 2019, motorists and

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

residents objected after two hundred parking spaces along Central Park West were eliminated to allow bike lane expansion.

Types

Utility cycling

Tour de Brooklyn passing Rockaway Ave on Eastern Pkwy jeh

Delivery bikes are commonly used in New York for fast food deliveries over short distances, sometimes using

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which m ...

s outfitted with a wide carrier for larger loads such as pizza, or other accessories.

Electric bicycle An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist ...

s are increasingly used for this service; the bikes were initially illegal (although enforcement was sporadic), but legalized in 2020. Proposals in the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...

in 2015 would define, legalize and regulate certain "electric assist bicycles" with small electric motors.

Bicycle messenger Bicycle messengers (also known as bike or cycle couriers) are people who work for courier companies (also known as messenger companies) carrying and delivering items by bicycle. Bicycle messengers are most often found in the central business dist ...

s use narrower wheels to carry lighter loads short distances. Specialized

cargo bicycle A cargo bike (also known as a box bike, carrier cycle, freight bicycle, cycletruck, or freight tricycle) is a human powered vehicle designed and constructed specifically for transporting loads. Cargo bike designs include a cargo area consisting o ...

s and

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes ...

s carry heavier loads. Pedicabs became commonplace at the turn of the 21st century, offering novel travel over short distances, including guided tours of

. In April 2007 the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government model, the performance of ...

voted to limit the number of pedicabs to 325. A court overturned the limit, later regulatory efforts concentrated on requirements for insurance and safety equipment and in April 2011, new legislation tightened parking regulations and capped pedicab licenses at 850.

Bicycle sharing

In 2007 the department studied the prospects of a

bicycle sharing system A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost. The programmes themselves include bo ...

and announced in 2011 that kiosks would be built for the service to begin in 2012. The project was slated to introduce 10,000 bikes that would be available from 600 stations made by

PBSC Urban Solutions PBSC Urban Solutions, formerly the Public Bike System Company, is an international bicycle-sharing system equipment vendor with their headquarters based in Longueuil, Quebec. The company develops bicycle-sharing systems, equipment, parts, and so ...

and operated by

Alta Bicycle Share Motivate LLC (formerly Alta Bicycle Share and also Motivate International Inc.) is a company based in New York City that services bicycle sharing systems and other urban services in the North America. The systems provide a flexible method for co ...

, the operators of similar schemes in other U.S. cities.

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi ( stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomera ...

bought a five-year sponsorship, and as a result, the bike-share system was named Citi Bike. Stations in the first stage were located between 59th Street in Manhattan, the Hudson River, Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, and Bushwick Avenue. The system opened for business in May 2013 with 330 stations and 4,300 bikes. In October 2014, Citi Bike and the city announced a price increase and a plan to expand the program to add thousands of bikes and hundreds of stations, to cover most of Manhattan and several other areas. After Citi Bike was launched, the city also started experimented with dockless bike sharing, wherein bikes do not need to be returned to a dock after the trip is complete. The bikes would instead lock themselves into place, and can only be used once a cyclist pays using an online application. In early August 2017, the dockless bike-sharing company

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...

had started a dockless operation in the

Rockaways The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of th ...

, but had been told to

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not disc ...

operations by the NYCDOT, which had licensed Citi Bike as the only official bike-share operator in New York City. In July 2018, the city rolled out a dockless bike-sharing pilot in conjunction with five companies, with 200 bikes provided in each of three outer-borough neighborhoods. Research conducted by

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute The Quinnipiac University Poll is a public opinion polling center based at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. It surveys public opinion in Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, ...

in June 2013 showed that a majority of New Yorkers support the initiative.

Recreational

Some parks ban or restrict motor vehicles to promote bicycling, including

and Prospect Park
Bike and Roll NYC
operates bike rental stations in several city parks and

local bike shop A local bike shop or local bicycle shop, sometimes abbreviated LBS, is a small business, as distinct from a chain, mail-order or online vendor, specializing in bicycle sale, maintenance and parts. In the UK and Ireland, the expression ''ind ...

s also rent them, especially in areas of

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. Less formal operators work on street corners or out of the back of a truck or in parking garages, although this type of operation is illegal on city park property. Additional services include paid guided tours. Several organizations, including Five Borough Bicycle Club and Bike New York, conduct

tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

every weekend. Most are day trips for no fee; some larger or overnight tours require payment. New York City is host to several long annual recreational rides, including the Five Boro Bike Tour. New York Cycle Club and others specialize in fitness and speed. Bicycle track races run most summer weekends in

Kissena Park Kissena Park is a park located in the neighborhood of Flushing in Queens, New York City. It is located along the subterranean Kissena Creek, which flows into the Flushing River. It is bordered on the west by Kissena Boulevard; on the north b ...

and elsewhere. Road races are held on weekends and some weekday evenings at Prospect Park, Central Park, and

Floyd Bennett Field Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before being used as a naval air ...

Commuting

Like other forms of cycling in New York City, commuting by bicycle has increased significantly over the years. In 2015, 46,057 people said they used a bicycle as their primary mode of commuting, compared with just 16,468 who commuted primarily by bicycle in 2005. Commuters accounted for approximately one fifth of bicycle trips in New York City in 2017. Many New Yorkers live less than from their job, and can be seen bicycle commuting over various bridges connecting Manhattan with the outer boroughs and along the Hudson or elsewhere in good weather. In 2008 the NYC Department of Transportation released a "screenline count report" suggesting that commuter cycling had more than doubled since the turn of the century. For

mixed-mode commuting Intermodal passenger transport, also called mixed-mode commuting, involves using two or more modes of transportation in a journey. Mixed-mode commuting is often used to combine the strengths (and offset the weaknesses) of various transportati ...

most suburban

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

stations provide free parking in racks, and some have

bicycle locker A bicycle locker or bike box is a locker or box in which up to 2 bicycles can be placed and locked. They are usually provided at places where numerous cyclists need bike parking for extended times (such as during the working day), yet where ...

s for security. Regulations on bicycles on trains vary by railroad and time of day;

Metro-North Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority_of_the__is_a_type_of_Nonprofit_organization">nonprofit_corporation_char ...

and

LIRR The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average weekd ...

require a permit that can be obtained for a $5.00 fee by mail or at

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

also allows bicycles onboard trains en route to New York City but restricts them on rush hour trains. Bikes are allowed on

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...

trains at all hours, though it is sometimes difficult to fit a bike into a packed subway car. Typically, cyclists use the subway security gates to bring bicycles into the system, and board either the very first or very last train car. Due to traffic patterns and transport network geometries, mixed-mode bicycling-plus-subway can be the fastest way to commute, or to achieve transport within New York City, for many routes and times.

Folding bicycle A folding bicycle is a bicycle designed to fold into a compact form, facilitating transport and storage. When folded, the bikes can be more easily carried into buildings, on public transportation (facilitating mixed-mode commuting and bicycl ...

s, which often allow parking in a workplace or home closet where there isn't room for a full sized bike, became increasingly popular early in the 21st century. European city bikes from the Netherlands, though lacking this virtue, became a lesser trend in 2008. In 2009, a law created by the

went into effect, requiring commercial buildings with freight elevators to allow employees to transport their bikes on them up to tenant floors. The purpose of the bill was to allow access to indoor storage spaces to encourage commuting by cycling. The City Council also created another local law in 2009 requiring many off-street parking facilities to replace some of their spaces for vehicles with bicycle racks. So far there has been limited demand by cyclists for paid off-street

bicycle parking Bicycle parking typically requires a degree of security to prevent theft. The context for bike parking requires proper infrastructure and equipment ( bike racks, bicycle locks etc.) for secure and convenient storage. Parking facilities include ...

at these garages and lots. The Alliance for Downtown New York, a local Business Improvement District, announced in late 2018 that the Oonee Company would install a new kind of secure bike pod for parking on Whitehall Street. The non-profit organization

Transportation Alternatives Transportation Alternatives (TransAlt, formerly T.A.) is a non-profit organization in New York City which works to change New York City's transportation priorities to encourage and increase non-polluting, quiet, city-friendly travel and decrease a ...

promotes bicycle commuting and bicycle friendly facilities to lessen the impact of cars on urban life. On its website, the organization states that is "working to make New York City’s neighborhoods safer and restore a vibrant culture of street life" and advocates "for safer, smarter transportation and a healthier city." File:Bikes 4 rent 7th Av jeh.JPG, Renting, outside Artisans Gate,

File:Zukkies Bushwick jeh.JPG, Bike shop in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn File:Jackson Av bike parking at Pulaski jeh.JPG, Parking under a bike shelter in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

near

Pulaski Bridge The Pulaski Bridge in New York City connects Long Island City in Queens to Greenpoint in Brooklyn over Newtown Creek. It was named after Polish military commander and American Revolutionary War fighter Casimir Pulaski in homage to the large ...

Bike lanes

, New York City had of bike lanes, compared to of bike lanes in 2006. The New York City Department of Transportation distributes a free and annually updated bike map online and through bike shops.

Types

There are three types of bike lanes on New York City streets: Class I, Class II, and Class III. Class I bike lanes are typically physically separated from vehicular/pedestrian paths. Class II bike lanes are simply marked with paint and signage and lie between a parking lane and a traffic lane. Class III bike lanes are shared vehicular/bike lanes, usually only marked by signage and

sharrows A shared lane marking, shared-lane marking, or sharrow is a street marking installed at various locations worldwide, such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Spain, and the United States. This marking is placed in the travel lane to indicate where ...

. The majority of bike lanes in New York are Class II or Class III bike lanes.

Class I

Between 2007 and 2018, New York City added just over 100 miles of Class I bike lanes. As of the end of 2018, there were 16 corridors with Class I bike lanes. In October 2019, it was announced that an additional of Class I bike lanes would be built starting in 2021. At that point, there were of Class I bike lanes citywide. One of the most heavily used Class I bike lanes is the

Hudson River Greenway The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a waterfront greenway for walking or cycling, long, around the island of Manhattan, in New York City. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separ ...

, which is segregated from pedestrians. Other parts of the

and the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway are less continuously segregated. An east-west greenway runs through

Pelham Bay Park Pelham Bay Park is a municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the size of Manhattan's Central Park. The pa ...

and Pelham Parkway in

, connecting to Mosholu Parkway to

Van Cortlandt Park Van Cortlandt Park is a park located in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it is managed with assistance from the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. The park, the city's third-lar ...

, which in turn connects to the

South County Trailway The South County Trailway is a long rail trail stretching from the Putnam Trail in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx to the North County Trailway in East View, New York. Westchester County Parks constructed the trailway in segments beginning in ...

. Greenways are prevalent along major parkways the

Bronx River Parkway The Bronx River Parkway (sometimes abbreviated as the Bronx Parkway) is a long parkway in downstate New York in the United States. It is named for the nearby Bronx River, which it parallels. The southern terminus of the parkway is at Story Aven ...

Hutchinson River Parkway The Hutchinson River Parkway (known colloquially as The Hutch) is a north–south parkway in southern New York in the United States. It extends for from the massive Bruckner Interchange in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx to the New York ...

Eastern Parkway Eastern Parkway is a major road that runs through a portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was the world's first parkway, having been built between 1870 and 1874. At the time o ...

, and Ocean Parkway. Others include foreshoreways along the north shore of

Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lower New York Bay to the west, through Rockaw ...

and the south shores of Little Neck Bay and

Flushing Bay Flushing Bay is a tidal embayment in New York City. It is located on the south side of the East River and stretches to the south near the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. It is bordered on the west by LaGuardia Airport and the Grand Central P ...

, as well as waterside bikeways such as the Rockaway Beach Boardwalk, the Riegelmann Boardwalk, the South Beach Boardwalk. Several destinations such as

, Prospect Park, and

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...

contain extensive Class 1 bike lane networks. Class I bike lanes are the safest road design for cyclists and are credited with helping increase the number of cyclists in the city while reducing crashes and injuries to all road users. Between 2009 and 2014, cyclists riding in parking protected bike lanes experienced a 75% reduction in crash-related injuries, while pedestrians on those routes experienced a 22% decrease in crash-related injuries.

Criticism

Despite their documented safety benefits, some have been critical of bike lanes. A group in

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush A ...

sued in March 2011 to remove a new bike lane, and in November the City Council voted to slow the installation of new lanes and pedestrian plazas. Much of the opposition has been concentrated in Manhattan and Queens neighborhoods, where opponents claim that bike lanes are a nuisance or danger to pedestrians and nearby businesses. However, an August 2012 survey found two-thirds of New Yorkers in favor of bike lanes.

History

In response to the bicycle boom of the 19th century, the

City of Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...

was especially responsive, building bike lanes in

, Ocean Parkway, and elsewhere. The "Coney Island Cycle Path" (now Ocean Parkway Bike Path) of 1894 was the first bike path in the United States. In 1934

became Parks Commissioner and Chairman of the Triborough Bridge, he used these positions to transform the city's infrastructure. However, Moses prioritized private cars over other transportation, and he viewed bicycles as tools for recreation instead of serious transportation. His 1938 plan for cycling declared that "bicycles have no place on public highways." His era of greatest power (from 1934 - 1960) was an era of parkways, and he built cycle tracks within parks and along parkways. As a result of Moses' philosophy, by the 1960s, New York City's protected bicycle infrastructure was limited to parks and parkways. In the late 60s mayor John Lindsay made some moves to accommodate cycling such as creating limited "car-free" hours on the Central Park roads. In response to the first

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

in 1970 he proposed the idea of a bike lane on 5th Avenue. Retail interests along 5th avenue were skeptical of the plan and blocked the project, fearing it would hurt business. In 1973

was founded and began its decades-long project of advocating for more bicycle infrastructure. But this would be a long effort because in the 1970s and 80s the only dedicated bicycle infrastructure was limited to city parks. In June 1980 Mayor Ed Koch created a protected bike lane along 6th Avenue from Washington Square Park to Central Park. But the bike lanes and the mayor came under heavy criticism for this project with Koch himself complaining to DOT commissioner

Sam Schwartz Samuel I. Schwartz, a.k.a. Gridlock Sam, is an American transportation engineer, formerly the New York City Traffic Commissioner, notable for popularizing the phrase "gridlock". Life and career Schartz was educated at Brooklyn College (BS Physi ...

"‘I can’t go anywhere in this freaking city without somebody complaining about these bike lanes.” After 6 months the mayor bowed to pressure and ripped out the bike lanes in November 1980. By 1987 Koch had completely changed his mind about bicycles and now attempted to ban them entirely from 3 major avenues in Manhattan. A protest movement erupted in response in the summer of 1987, and by March 1988 the city withdrew the Bike Ban. The next great change happened in the 1990s with the creation of the Hudson River Park. The plan for the new park was announced in 1992 and construction began in 1994 and was complete by 2003. This park runs along the Hudson River and created a continuous park from Riverside Park on 72nd street all the way to the southern tip of Manhattan. The park also includes a jogging/cycling mixed use path called the "

." Sections of this path began opening in 1999 and were an important evacuation route during the

September 11th attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

in 2001. The greenway has now become the most used bike path in America with around 7000 riders per day. NYC Protected Bike Infrastructure

Traffic lights

In July 2019, the

approved legislation that allows bikers to follow pedestrian walk signals at intersections where no dedicated traffic light for cyclists is present. The program applies particularly to intersections with leading pedestrian intervals, intersections where the pedestrian signal displays the walk indication for several seconds before the vehicular traffic light indication changes from red to green.

Green waves

A " green wave" refers to the programming of traffic lights to allow for continuous traffic flow (a series of green lights) over a number of intersections in one direction. Any vehicle directed by lights, including cars, buses, trucks, and bicycles, will see a change in movement patterns and movement regulation following this programming. Traffic engineers decide on an approximate average speed of each vehicle type, and thus program the traffic lights accordingly, based on which vehicle the city aims to prioritize. In New York City, this “green wave” prioritizes bikers by timing traffic lights around the average biking speed, in addition to mitigating the negative effects of heavy automotive congestion. After a series of bicyclist deaths in 2019, the highest death toll for cyclists in two decades, the city decided to retime traffic lights, so that vehicles would have to travel an average of between consecutive green lights. The green wave concept was traditionally utilized by traffic engineers to move cars more efficiently and quickly through congested urban streets. It was adapted by cyclists in Copenhagen in 2007 and quickly spread to other locales. This programming marks a shift in prioritizing the biker over the driver, a conflict that has wider class, race, and geographical implications. This implementation of green wave traffic signal programming in New York City has followed smaller instances of success in the U.S., including San Francisco, Portland, and Denver.https://phys.org/news/2013-05-physics-green-city-traffic-smoothly.html. Zyga, Lisa. “Physics of ‘Green Waves’ Could Make City Traffic Flow More Smoothly”. Phys.org. Europhysics Letters. May 22, 2013. Both local government and non-profit transportation constituencies have supported bringing the “green wave” to New York City, America's most congested urban area. Aaron Villere, a senior program associate for the

National Association of City Transportation Officials The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) is a coalition of the Departments of Transportation in North American cities. Founded in 1996, NACTO has participated in a number of research initiatives dealing with surface tran ...

, has cited the findings of cities that have retimed signals for cyclists, stating, “We’ve seen it improves safety… we’ve seen it makes the streets more comfortable for people biking, walking, and driving." However, there is also some criticism, with several critics saying that cyclists often run red lights, and that this behavior is unlikely to change based on new traffic light programming. Spokespeople from

, a group that promotes cycling, argued that drivers were likely to object to any proposed change to their long-held claim to the streets.

Riding

Laws and rules

A bicycle is treated similarly to a motorized vehicle under the law of the State of New York with several exceptions. No license is required to operate a bicycle. Cyclists must ride in the direction of traffic. On one-way streets 40 feet or wider, they may ride on either the left or right side. Children aged 13 years and under must wear a

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...

. Adult cyclists must use hand signals, must only wear headphones in one ear, must not ride on sidewalks, and must use lights at night (red in rear and white in front). The

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

issues moving violations to riders who break the rules. Rules against fastening bikes to subway property, including fences around street stairs, are enforced more rigorously than those concerning lampposts and other

street furniture Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed along streets and roads for various purposes. It includes benches, traffic barriers, bollards, post boxes, phone boxes, streetlamps, traffic lights, traf ...

. Municipal bicycle stands are installed in many neighborhoods. Most are simple "bike staples" but a few, including one each at the northwest ends of

and Union Square are larger, with a roof. More are planned.

Dangers

When mayor

entered office in 2014, he sought to bring all traffic fatalities to zero through his Vision Zero initiative. In 2017, 24 cyclists were killed, and 4,485 were injured in crashes in New York City. Private parties have made maps of fatal accidents, and some fatality locations are marked by white-painted

ghost bike A ghost bike (also referred to as a ghostcycle or WhiteCycle) is a bicycle roadside memorial, placed where a cyclist has been killed or severely injured, usually by the driver of a motor vehicle. Apart from being a memorial, it is usually inten ...

s. Although crash-related injuries to cyclists are not uncommon, their incidence has decreased even as the number of cyclists in New York City has increased. Between 2011 and 2015 there were 12.8 cyclist fatalities per 100 million cycling trips, compared with 44.2 cyclist fatalities per 100 million cycling trips between 1996 and 2000. Being doored (colliding with the door of a car unexpectedly opened) is a hazard. Many Class II/Class III bike lanes run in the door zone. New York State has established No-Fault auto insurance laws (NYIL §51-52) to pay the medical (and some other) expenses of bicyclists, pedestrians, and other people struck by vehicles. The system is highly complex, however, and no public authority has published instructions on how to access it. Individuals hit by cars should file a crash report with the NYPD or DMV. Cyclists who are hurt in non-vehicle crashes, due to mechanical problem, pothole, etc., should ask the police or EMT to write up an Aided Report; this may be used for insurance claims or to report road hazards to the City so that others are not hurt.

Public efforts

Bike New York, an organization in New York City, encourages cycling and bicycle safety. They host rides throughout the year, including the Five Boro Bike Tour, in order to fund their free bike education programs. With ten community bike education centers around all five boroughs of New York City, Bike New York offers bike education programs for children and adults. Monthly

Critical Mass In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fi ...

rides in New York have resulted in conflict between the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act i ...

(NYPD) and bike riders. On August 27, 2004, during the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

, more than 400 riders were arrested for 'disrupting traffic'. The arrests, thought to be preemptive action against protests during the convention, spawned lawsuits. Other rides were also followed by arrests, tickets though in 2008 the NYPD was content to leave alone.

History

Early days

Late 20th century

21st century

Types

Utility cycling

Bicycle sharing

Recreational

Commuting

Bike lanes

Types

Class I

Criticism

History

Traffic lights

Green waves

Riding

Laws and rules

Dangers

Public efforts

See also

References

External links