Comments on: Bike-Friendly Zoning Amendment Clears City Council

By: Brad Schaeppi

Brad Schaeppi — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:44:49 +0000

Congrats NYC. This is certainly a big step forward. Adapting older buildings, which NYC will remain will be the challenge as noted. I agree with the author, but the devil is in the details...in this case the design. Even if bike parking is included in the design, if the bike parking is not easy and convenient, it may not perform as required. That said. Here Here!

By: pfa

pfa — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:09:12 +0000

re. posting #4: It seems you're envisioning a kind of bicycle anarchy in which automobile drivers are impeded by throngs of bikers oblivious to the rules of the road. Yet there are other cities where a much greater proportion of street traffic consists of bicycles (like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Berlin) and everyone gets around just fine. Granted, the population density of New York City is greater, but we do have a fairly rational system of roads and for the most part, people know and follow the rules. I sense in your posting a general disdain for bikes and their riders, though, and unfortunately, that's a perspective that a significant number of people seem to share. It'd be interesting to explore where that comes from...

By: Duh

Duh — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:40:12 +0000

So now what - we want to have half the people who ride the subway clogging our streets with their bikes? This is such a stupid idea. If you want fewer cars then stopping giving free parking passes to every city official, teacher, cop and their friends. Then charge ridiculous amounts for city street parking passes. End of the problem.

By: saul

saul — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:53:45 +0000

Well done! Thanks to Transportation Alternatives for pushing this.

By: Shemp

Shemp — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:57:21 +0000

This is a bigger deal than any Streetsblog/T.A. types seem to get. Take a look around at the levels of construction in this city and think out ten years. This is bike accommodations built into class I office towers, it's bikes built into new apartment buildings and basically every other thing that ever gets built or rebuilt in a significant way in this city starting now. If you've ever seen a Dutch residence with bike ramps built into the stairways, etc. and thought "I want that," you now have it. Most cities don't. The lack of response or any supportive statements toward Amanda Burden and the City Council makes one really wonder what perspective and short-sight is at work here. Obviously it is what it is and zoning can't address policies in existing buildings, but that really shouldn't take away from what was accomplished here. Frankly it would have been very sad if the Yassky bill had passed and this aspect had been left untouched because that would basically give you freight elevator access to new buildings that had once again neglected bikes at the design stage. Fortunately, some beyond the "bicycling community" are thinking about this stuff.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:16:03 +0000

It's a start but I wish it applied to all housing.