Another New Bike Shelter
Abby King of Transportation Alternatives spotted another one of those fancy new bike shelters that are popping up in select locations throughout the city. This one is next to the Barnes & Noble in Union Square.
January 11, 2008
12 Comments
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P
I suppose it's piling on at this point but I don't really get the point of these. It's a nice gesture but partially covered bicycle parking is the least of my concerns when I ride.
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Ian D
I've been asking and asking for bike parking near the Greenmarket - I'll use it!
Of course, I'd still like to see some high-density bike parking replacing some of the car parking on Union Sq. W.
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comentz
Can't beat the look but does nothing to deal with the volumes we would like to see riding and parking on the streets.
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d
It seems to block the sidewalk in a major way, not so much with the bikes but with a big bus-shelter-sized ad. This will hardly engender support from non-riders and has about all the aesthetic beauty of the free newspaper boxes on the corner.
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LN
Better be careful when you use that bike parking, there have been many bike thefts in the last 6 months. Maybe this will help. At least 2 were from thieves breaking scaffolding to take bikes, in broad daylight!
Good place to lock your bike while waiting for the cops to disperse on the last friday of the month!
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Davis
d,
If that bike shelter is taking up too much sidewalk space then I guess the thing to do would be to ban motor vehicles on 17th Street between Park and Broadway and just pedestrianize the entire north side of Union Square. Heck, while we're at it, let's also pedestrianize Broadway between U. Square and 23rd Street. If it's good enough for Copenhagen...
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N
LN, you're right about being careful--see: http://allwaysny.com/blog/2008/01/13/bike-shelter-blues/
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Josh
"It seems to block the sidewalk in a major way, not so much with the bikes but with a big bus-shelter-sized ad."
Eh, it doesn't block the sidewalk any worse than an actual bus shelter does, and nobody complains about those.
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d
Nobody complains that much about bus shelter because people are standing there. Whether or not there is a physical bus shelter at a stop, people would still be standing there. But if sidewalk space is used purely for storage, then it blocks the access that people have to that space.
I agree that it would be nice for the streets to be closed to traffic or to at least be narrower to accommodate other uses such as bike lanes, bike parking, etc. But these shelters take up a lot of space for parking about six bikes at a time.
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v
is it me, or are those 'you're looking down the street...at a car' shots in the LOOK campaign a bit jarring?
[that's not a complaint.]
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david
I dont really see the point...It doesnt seem to provide much protection from the elements and who parks their bike outside long enough for it to matter anyways?
The cynical side of me thinks that the company maintaining the shelter is just looking to put up as many of these things as possible (eg as bus stops, bike parking, whatever) so they can gain ad revenue... -
Ken
I think anything that broadcasts "bikes belong in our city" is all to the good, no matter the actual utility, and these shelters broadcast that in a big (and attractive) way. It's just so sad and ironic that on the last Friday of every month, a mere 100 feet away, a scene unfolds that screams "bikes don't belong." Can't our city agencies all just get along?
12 Comments
Last comment by Ken