| Issue 97 | September 21, 1996 |
Managing More Bikes
In its contribution to the NYC Mayor's Management Report -- an annual report on the state of the city required by City law each September -- the NYC Dept. of Transportation indicates it will construct 50 miles of new bike routes and install 700 new bicycle parking racks during FY 1997. That's up from six route-miles and 150 racks in FY 1996. We applaud the City's rising ambitions in this area, but we hope the 50 miles will be real lanes or paths, not sign-only "bike routes." We also hope the City will cease its failed "put-em-where-they-ain't" bike parking policy of scattering racks randomly around the five boroughs. It doesn't take a planning degree or a civil service rank to see where the NYC bike parking problem is: the Manhattan central business district and the built up commercial areas of the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. Hey Chris Lynn, take a walk (or a bike ride) through Soho, the Village or Midtown and check out the bikes locked to trees, under mailboxes or ten feet up on light poles.
