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Lower Manhattanites gear up for Bike Week
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Some 30,000 area residents will take to two wheels Sunday to participate in Bike New York, a 42-mile tour that starts in Lower Manhattan and winds through all five boroughs. The event is one of more than 60 activities planned for Bike Week, a program designed to encourage New Yorkers to use one of the greenest forms of transportation.
Bike Week, which runs May 1 to 11, is a project of Transportation Alternatives, an organization that seeks to reduce automobile dependence by encouraging walking, cycling and the use of public transportation. The group advocates on-street bike lanes and off-street bike trails in addition to subway access and parking for bicyclists.
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| Bike Week is sponsored by Transportation Alternatives |
Lower Manhattan is one of the city's many bike-friendly areas. "It's a great spot because the streets are narrow," says Noah Budnick, a project director for Transportation Alternatives. "Cars drive slower on narrow streets, so it's much safer to bike and much more comfortable to bike.
"Since Lower Manhattan is so compact it's also a very quick way to get around," he adds. "If you're not comfortable riding in traffic, Lower Manhattan has great bike paths on the Hudson River and on the East River. It's very convenient and there's also zero traffic."
Bike Week events downtown include an after-work snack and "Blue Apple Ride" on May 5; an evening ride on May 7; a talk on greenway projects on May 8; a "History, Mystery, Murder and Money" tour of the neighborhood on May 10, and a nature tour of the Lower East Side on May 11. Scheduled activities elsewhere in the city include films, classes and breakfasts. (For details, visit the Bike Week calendar of events.)
The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) website offers useful bicycle-related information, including a downloadable bike map with recommended street routes and off-street "greenways." The map is also available at many city bike shops or by calling 311.
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| Bike New York snakes through all five boroughs |
Sunday's Bike New York course is similar to the one used for the New York Marathon, although at 42 miles is about 60 percent longer. The 26th annual tour begins at Battery Park and runs north to Central Park and on to the Bronx before looping around back into Manhattan. Cyclists will pass over the 59th Street Bridge to Queens before riding on to Brooklyn and over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge into Staten Island. The event ends with festivities at the Gateway National Recreation Area, and cyclists can return to Lower Manhattan via the Staten Island Ferry.
Bike Week brochure image courtesy of Transportation Alternatives; artwork by Taliah Lempert.
Bike New York
For general information about the event, visit http://www.bikenewyork.org.
Bike Week
Click here for a complete listing of Bike Week events.
NYC DOT
Visit the city's bicycling home page here.
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