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Citi Bike is expanding in all sorts of directions
Where to start on the explosion of Citi Bike stations lately? (Stay tuned for the latest at Duane and Greenwich.)
I for one was thrilled to see the station back on Warren between West Broadway and Church — it just hatched yesterday, as far as I can tell, and with 49 docks it looks a little like Mr. Anderson in The Matrix.
But if you really want to see a big dock (sorry, couldn’t resist) check out the expansion at Laight and Hudson — it covers the entire south side of the block down to the bridge — 99 docks in all. I first got word of this one from L, back on Sept. 15. By then she had already complained to the DOT, since there is no break in the line, making it very hard to get up on the sidewalk from anywhere on the block except the Hudson corner. (L.’s shot here is taken from the Laight Street pedestrian bridge over Varick.)
The docks seem to be full almost all the time, according to L. (and I use that station a lot as well and agree) so her guess is that this is a new bike storage area, taking over from the valeted station at Canal and 6th, in Duarte Plaza.
There’s also a new dock on Greenwich just south of Hubert, adding two to the Citi HQ site.
I do plan to figure out just what kind of Citi Bike flow is going on here. It’s not easy — the data is raw and too much for me to crunch from station to station. City Planning’s Oct. 6 report on the Covid19 impacts on city transportation shows ridership up a significant amount since March, but up just a bit compared to last year in these last weeks. Perhaps it is up much higher here in downtown Manhattan??
We’ve seen a surge in cycling since the beginning of March, with warmer temperatures and after recommendations from @NYCMayor and @nycHealthy regarding COVID-19. This week we’ve seen a 50+% increase in cycling on all East River Bridges (vs 2019).https://t.co/LU74aCrDf2 pic.twitter.com/fOxqT8idjr
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) March 11, 2020
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These CitiBike numbers need to be taken within the context that the city has emptied out quite a bit (fewer residents around to ride), commuting to offices is limited (less of a need to ride anywhere), and tourism is non-existent (fewer visitors around to ride).
To be neck and neck or slightly up against last year’s figures despite those factors dragging down usage implies an offsetting increase in usage from the locals who’ve remained.
As the city continues to return, these new bikes will get used, especially if people continue to avoid the subway if possible. It’s smart that Citibike continues to plan for a more bike-friendly future.
Side note–that Laight Street rack is awesome. There’s also a new rack (I think it’s new) by Citi’s HQ on Greenwich & Hubert across from Wolfgang’s.
Also, citibike has expanded quite a bit since the same time last year so more rides now can be at least partially attributed to that. Citibike is now expanded to the Bronx as far north as the Cross Bronx and east to about the Bronx River. All of that was non existent last year.
Guys, this is good news. Especially now, we need alternative modes of transportation as folks are tentative to go back to the subway (although the data shows it’s relatively safe if everyone is masked up).
And what are we losing here? A few parking spaces for private vehicles and a complaint that it makes it hard to jaywalk? If you want any semblance of life pre-COVID, you need to have these options for people to get to and from places.
I’ll also say as a Citibike use and Tribeca resident, it’s extremely hard these days to find an open dock. This usually means that people are using the bikes to get downtown in the morning, and then only at night do the docks open back up for the return commute. So the more docks the better!
Sorry, still can’t get over that the main complain here is that someone now has to walk to the corner to cross the street. Just amazing stuff. This is why it’s hard to do anything, even things that make sense for the public good, in this city.
Furthermore, it’s not like the bikes represent some sort of impenetrable wall. There’s plenty of room to walk between them. I’m not sure why the exact same complaint shouldn’t be levied against the cars on the reverse side of the street. This feels like a knee-jerk NIMBY complaint to anything “new”.
You actually can’t walk between Citi Bikes unless one is not in the dock.
That fact doesn’t make the complaint anymore creditable. In fact, it just means this person can’t jaywalk only when the dock is full.
I for one think we should prioritize the needs of 49+ neighbors commuting by bike than worrying about saving 10s of seconds for people who can’t jaywalk.
I think the complaint about the un-broken wall of docks, was that once you park your bike you are forced to either walk in the street, or jay walk to cross to a side walk. It’s just a bad design. IMO there should be side walk access every 20 docks.
DB: Unless you’re using “neighbors” as synonym for all who work in NYC, by your own analysis those “neighbors” are “people are using the bikes to get downtown in the morning, and then only at night do the docks open back up for the return commute.” You seem to have a very expansive definition of neighbors: we’re all citizens of the world too.
Kudos to Tribeca Trib for stating the obvious that you “can’t walk between Citi Bikes unless one is not in the dock..” That response is appropriate & credible if you’re a neighborhood publication. On other hand if, like DB, you’re advocate of ___ then fill in as you see fit.
I don’t own a car and like any native NYer consider it my ‘right’ to jaywalk when it saves me time (& presented with the opportunity). You’ve no doubt heard of a “NY minute” right?
I too find it unpleassant (but not an end-of-the world disaster) that so much of Tribeca streetscape is now occupied by so many CitiBike docking stations. This is trivial minutiae.
I hadn’t realized one of NYers’ inalienable rights was to commute downtown via bicycle to go to work. Tribeca has many, many subways and buses providing public transportation and if you drive a car, parking lots do exist. Bikes are also fine, but there’s a limit on everything. There’s only so much NYC and many, many people have a claim on it.
REPLY
I use neighbors in the sense that many Tribecans use Citibike. When you can’t find an open dock, due to the enormous and growing amount of commuters, that’s annoying! I actually do commute from Tribeca to FiDi on Citi bike to work. WE DO EXIST!
The argument that expanding a public service that is seeing record usage because now you can’t jaywalk is an extremely selfish argument. The NY exceptionalism of having the “right” to jaywalk vs. expanding a mass transit option is exactly the kind of thinking that hamper social improvements. It’s shallow, shortsighted, and selfish.
And let’s talk about the commuter argument. I for one, really think we need to have people commuting back to downtown to help our local economy. We are pretty low density in terms of residency, which is one thing that makes Tribeca such a great place to live. But our local business’ will be the first to tell you they need the office workers in the surrounding area to thrive let alone survive.
You have to offer alternative methods of transportation, especially now when the subway and bus are, in the public opinion, considered less safe.
Your tongue and cheek dismissal of NYers inalienable right to bike downtown is glib and unhelpful. At no point did I argue that was someone’s right. In fact, you are the one who is trying to make the objectionably silly argument it’s a NYers right to jaywalk.
I ask you to take a step back and really think about how supporting someone’s complaint that their walk now takes 30-45 seconds more than it once did so that should come at the expense of mass transit / public good.
How do we petition to scale back the expanded rack along Warren? How do we petition to save The Hideaway and others in Duane Park with these ugly monstrosities of bikes in terrible locations? There is an empty building on Church — put it there. There is a new club on Greenwich — put it there. Is anyone listening to residents’ complaints about these enormous bike racks or is it just deaf ears to inconvenience people that have cars?
There is a whole post on this issue. Yes, Citibike does need to be nimble enough to change locations for specific reasons. Obviously outdoor dining wasn’t a thing when this station went up, but they should change locations ASAP.
https://tribecacitizen.com/2020/10/23/duane-street-residents-seeking-input-on-citi-bike-location/
What and where is it?
He’s talking about Cocoon, the parenting and kids hangout members-only space.
Right, the space a new supermarket should be in but won’t because IPN’s owner Vornado Realty wants as many non-market rent tenants to move out as possible. They love having elderly tenants walk all the way to Whole Foods & Target to grocery shop iwhen they don’t want to be gouged by Morgan’s Market. They figure by not bringing in a supermarket grocery expenses will be higher for the non-market rate tenants thus x amount of them will move out due to the increased expense. And you laud the opening of this elitist “club.”
What a waste of space.
Are you ever going to give up that this space can only be used for a supermarket? Ever? Exercise is a good thing for elderly and weight-challenged tenants.