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Citi Bike station on Hudson gets a temporary move
R. saw the signs that the new Citi Bike station in front of 111 Hudson was moving to N. Moore, but he then learned that it is only temporary. I confirmed with city Department of Transportation, which decides where stations are located. The construction on 111 Hudson (Jin Market is closing) is supposed to take a year, so the dock will be around the corner till then.
Meanwhile, docking a bike in the neighborhood has become so difficult that the system is almost unusable. H. first sent a note in early May complaining that she can never find a dock in the morning (she rides for exercise). I thought things had eased up a few months ago, in early winter, but clearly it’s back to where it started a few months ago.
The spokesperson from Lyft said the company increased its seasonal bike rebalancing staff by 25 percent this past month, but also suggested that the solution is more docks downtown. Lyft has also started installing stations that are denser, with more docks in the same area (see pics below of the one on West Thames). I am not sure that is the solution, however, so much as more rebalancing. Here is the response:
“Citi Bike riders have powered a record-breaking number of rides this year, and in response, Lyft is taking short- and long-term actions to improve the number of open docks. For example, we have begun to increase our seasonal bike rebalancing staff by 25% from May into June to support that higher ridership. And in the coming months, riders will notice new stations that can accommodate 50% more bikes in the same footprint at highly-used locations throughout our service area, including several in Tribeca.”
Overall, the system is seeing record-breaking ridership. And Lyft is also trying to figure out the post-covid riding patterns. I certainly can’t figure it out: with offices at half-capacity, you’d think there wouldn’t be bikes pooling down here, even if we are downhill from the rest of the city.
Some other intel:
- Roughly 73,000 Citi Bike rides ended in Tribeca alone last month.
- Lyft is working with NYC DOT to add more downtown station locations this year.
- There is valet service at N. Moore St. & Greenwich St. and at Fulton and Broadway.
- There are no plans now to restore the valet at Chambers and West streets
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Hey CM Marte: Time for you to pick up your megaphone and demand that Mayor Adams and NYPD end rampant downtown placard abuse. Some of the freed curb space can be repurposed as new Citibike docks.
I am amazed you write that Adams or any other politician is going to be persuaded or even able to do anything about parking (placard) abuse.
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/01/03/op-ed-mayor-adamss-blind-spot-on-placard-abuse-is-alarming-given-his-covid-and-crime-focus/
The current Council bill will die a quick death, whether by being vetoed or simply contributing nothing to enforcement.
And if they cannot even control parking abuse by NYPD and others, how are the politicians going to control “over-policing”?
Thanks but that’s not quite what I said, or at least not what I’m aiming for. I (presumably like you) want CM Marte and all electeds to pressure and even storm City Hall to eliminate placards entirely. Only then do we have a chance at forcing Adams’ hand. This is no small thing. Every pressure point matters.
The placard abuse is corrupt behavior.
Worse, the non-enforcement is a wilful dereliction of duty and a failure of management. Traffic agents and police officers will not ticket illegally parked cars with fugazi police/fire/court officer union parking placards, let alone genuine city-issued placards. Merely revoking genuine placards is not enough.
But worst, the politicians wink at it because it saves them a bargaining fight with the unions over wages. Placard parking is untaxed employee compensation that does not visibly impact the municipal budget the way a wage increase in the absence of free parking would. It also enables City employees to live in suburbs and lower cost areas unserved by mass transit.
The relocation of the CitiBike docking station from 111 Hudson Street to N.Moore Street is totally ridiculous and unsafe. Every Thursday and Friday afternoon the bumper to bumper traffic backlog on N.Moore and Hudson Streets of cars on line for the Holland Tunnel is out of control. There are days where it takes a car 45 minutes to go from N.Moore Street to the tunnel entrance ( 5 blocks).
Bubby’s has established a dining booth area on the street on the South side of N.Moore directly across from the new CitiBike location which is fine, Bubby’s needs our support. CitiBike does not. I witnessed a rider trying to remove a bike from the station during heavy traffic. He had to try to back the bike into the traffic. He was lucky and did not get injured. I hope that it does not take a serious injury for the DOT to come to it’s senses. There are other CikiBike locations, as a matter of fact 3 of them, within a 2 block walk of the N.Moore location.
Since the new CitiBike location has been installed, I have checked that site several times a day and each time I check there is only 1 or 2 bike spots empty out of 46 spots. NOBODY is using these bikes at this location.
If they must be on N.Moore Street, relocate them to the west side of Hudson on N.Moore Street. That would minimize the impact on traffic and potential injury.
If anyone has suggestions how I can actually speak to a person at DOT, would love the tips. They installed a rack of CitiBikes right in front of our apartment building on Washington between Laight and Vestry, blocking our entrance. We have a small entry point around a manhole about 5 feet past our entrance. The bike racks trap water (no drainage) and garage in the space between the rack edge and the sidewalk curb. Apparently it’s our responsibility to keep the racks clean (can’t do anything about the water accumulation). It’s a trouble to unload and load anything from our entrance into a car. We’ve been trying for months to get some sort of reply from DOT. Anyone can see our location is not ideal.
311 is your best option, or CB1’s Transportation Committee. But wasn’t that alternate side parking before anyway?
you should reach out to
Max Deutsch
Community Liaison
Office of Council Member Christopher Marte District 1 – Lower Manhattan
212-587-3159
This docking station on Hudson is a total eyesore .. and one of the reasons Jin Market did not renew their lease. The ability for cars to be able to quickly park in front and run in to purchase something added up to big business.
The DoT and Lyft were useless in getting a response from them, after multiple attempts from coop and condo Boards and myself.
I will mention that Max from the community liaison for Christopher Marte has at least been responding to us.
You can clearly see that there is not enough room to remove a bike from the docking station when traffic builds up waiting to cross the intersection.
Not to mention when the FDNY gets called out, having to carefully navigate between the docking station and Buddy’s outside dining area.