Citi Bike Stuffings-An Overdone Compilation Of Recent Citibike Related Articles

Since the CitiBike launch this Memorial Day is the hottest, most polarizing topic rounding New York here is a bunch of stuff from recent reports and articles.  It's a dreary weekend but this issue is lighting a fire even under those who have sat back as the day go closer. But now everyone seems to have an opinion and the discourse has hardly been civilized.  Monday will sure be an interesting day.

CitiBike Share Program Rolls Into Docking Stations (DNAinfo.com)




 First batch of Citi Bikes appear in docking stations (Daily News)

Bike share heads to New York and critics raise the alarm
(MSNBC)

Bike-Share May Not Take Many Cars Off the Road, But That's OK (The Atlantic Cities)

Transportation Nation Bike Advice Project

Transportation Nation Bike Advice Project - WNYC
Click the above link to get full access to the project
With bike share launching next week, potentially thousands of people will be biking New York who haven't ever done so before. They need advice. Let's give them some. Listen to some tips -- and upload your own -- inside.

And for everything else you wanted to know, click here.

Citi Bike Corrals Arrive on the Lower East Side

Citi Bike Corrals Arrive on the Lower East Side | Bowery Boogie
Within the last few days, the highly-anticipated Citi Bike infrastructure has been landing across the city like alien pods unleashed from the DOT mothership. New parking corrals were recently placed at Straus Square, Clinton Street (Fine Fare), Sara D. Roosevelt Park, Petrosino Square Park, and Mott Street (Cafe Gitane). More are most definitely on the way.

Gore de France - NYPOST.com

Gore de France - NYPOST.com

Paris’ bike-share deaths show the importance of caution on NYC streets

By NICOLE GELINAS
Last Updated: 11:10 PM, May 18, 2013
Posted: 10:32 PM, May 18, 2013

As City Hall prepares to roll out bike share, New Yorkers are bickering over dock placement. There’s a more pressing topic: saving lives.

Three people died in Paris’ first year of bike share. New York should heed Paris’ lesson.

Bike share will be a big deal. If each rental bike receives three to five daily uses, anywhere from 16,500 to 27,500 new riders will add themselves daily to the 31,359 cyclists in core Manhattan now.

The city has a special responsibility to new cyclists — because it’s putting them in relative danger.

Sure, cycling is safer than it once was. In a decade, as bicyclists’ numbers have quadrupled, annual deaths haven’t risen.

Paris’ program is very popular—but three died in its first year.
But that’s still 18 people dead last year, including three in Manhattan.

Bicyclists made up 6.5% of people killed in New York crashes, far more than their 1 percent share of people coming into Manhattan by subway, bus or car.

More cycling can make riders collectively safer, by increasing awareness by drivers. But it doesn’t make the individual Citibiker safer if she was doing something far safer — like riding the subway — before.

Yes, London, Washington and Boston have had bike share for couple of years — with no deaths (although London had a critical injury last month).

But Boston and Washington have a fraction of Manhattan’s population density (and expected bike usage). Core London, too, is less dense.

The city closest to us is Paris, with 81% of our population density.

You’ll often hear that bike share in Paris — or “Velib,” for liberty on a bike — has been a hit since its summer 2007 launch. True enough: Go to Paris, and you’ll see older ladies in skirts pedaling with their purses in their baskets just as often as you see thirtysomething males.

What you won’t hear is that Velib had a gruesome rollout.

2013 #Brooklyn #HalfMarathon draws 20,000 runners

Ocean Parkway and Avenue Z is less than 2 miles from the 13.1 mile finish on the Coney Island Boardwalk. Shoe rubber replaced tire rubber for a successful event sponsored by New York Road Runners.  More on the race and more photos coming soon.

Green-Wood Cemetery In Brooklyn, State's Largest Cemetery, Celebrates 175th Anniversary

Green-Wood Cemetery In Brooklyn, State's Largest Cemetery, Celebrates 175th Anniversary (PHOTOS)

(Excerpt)
The 478-acre site is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year with an exhibition opening Wednesday at the Museum of the City of New York. While it cannot replace a visit to the cemetery grounds, "A Beautiful Way to Go: New York's Green-Wood Cemetery" provides historical context for one of only four U.S. cemeteries to be granted National Historic Landmark status.

Founded in 1838 in what was then the City of Brooklyn, Green-Wood was an early example of the "rural cemetery." In contrast to the somber church graveyards in lower Manhattan that were rapidly filling up, it offered vistas of the New York Harbor and a new view of death that essentially said: "If you live a good life, this is the kind of afterlife you will have. It will be a place like this," said curator Donald Albrecht.

Bathroom pods hit a clog

All the pods are up in Brighton and Coney Island except this one opposite Oceana Condominiums. Recently residents of Oceana protested against the erection of these new bathrooms because of loss of their scenic view from their very expensive apartments. But we have heard that the reason work was stopped was because the concrete pilings hit bedrock.

Not ready to go up because pilings may have hit bedrock during installation.

Friends of Ocean Parkway: New bathrooms rise in #Coney Island or a new home ...

Friends of Ocean Parkway: New bathrooms rise in #Coney Island or a new home ...: So what if E.T. really did become stranded on Earth and had no way to go home.  We couldn't expect him to survive in a homeless sh...

NYC's New Bike Share Will Change Your Life

NYC's New Bike Share Will Change Your Life - Business Insider

(Excerpt)

People who are visiting NYC and want to move around on the cheap — while still seeing the sights: Riding the subway is a quintessential New York experience, but it's not a good way to see the city.
If you have $25 to spare, get a week-long pass and spend your time in the Big Apple biking around, and be the tourist you want to be. Do keep your eyes on the road, though.

(Comment): Only the first 30 minutes are free for a week-long pass so any "sightseeing" over that time will be added to the tab.  Besides, do we really want tourists sightseeing with their noses in the air rather then paying attention to responsible cycling. Launching into NYC traffic requires that all your senses to be alert.

New bathrooms rise in #Coney Island or a new home for E.T.

So what if E.T. really did become stranded on Earth and had no way to go home.  We couldn't expect him to survive in a homeless shelter or ride the Q train 24/7.  But suddenly these alien pods appeared on the Brighton Beach and Coney Island boardwalks. Talk about affordable housing for our E.T. friend.  At a mere $2 million dollars for each pod it's perfect.  He will have a ramp to shuffle up and down.  He can bathe in the ocean. Each one features skylights and extensive natural ventilation, with solar panels on their roofs to generate power. Our E.T. will live in luxury.

Alas,  these pods that come straight of The Lord of the Rings will not house our esteemed friend.  These structures are toilets complete with, I guess, the most sophisticated indoor plumbing system and built high off the ground to withstand the next storm surge which all weather futurists predict. Anyone doing their business here should sit in awe of the modern miracle. But if the ramp is too long I don't know if I will make it in time. And if the bathroom purpose doesn't work out as planned it can always be used to house surface-to-air missiles.

Morning rain didn't keep workers from getting the new bathrooms ready for the first flush.

Brooklyn #Citibike Bike Share Program Installed in #Dumbo

Dumbo NYC, Brooklyn » Archive » Citibike Bike Share Program Installed in Dumbo (DumboNYC.com)
Click above to access full article.
New York City’s bike share program, called Citibike is expected to launch in May. The program will allow members to use one of 6000 bikes from 330 stations in Midtown, Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. The bike stations have been installed in the following locations in and around Dumbo:

North side of Old Fulton Street near Water Street – 41 bike docks
North side of Front Street near Washington Street – 30 bike docks
West side of Pearl Street near Water Street – 24 bike docks
South side of York Street near Jay Street – 27 bike docks
South side of Front Street near Gold Street – 23 bike docks
North side of Sands Street near Gold Street – 19 bike docks
East side of Cadman Plaza East near Red Cross Place – 27 bike docks
West side of Cadman Plaza West near Middagh Street – 23 bike docks
The bike program has had some delay and some controversy surrounding the bike racks with advertising in Historic Landmark locations (such as in Dumbo, Vinegar Hill, and Fulton Ferry Landing). Gothamist spoke with the LPC:

“Landmarks Preservation Commission says that the stations are just fine, since the landmarks law generally allows advertising in historic districts—including on street fixtures like bus shelters, pay toilets and newsstands. “We approved the plan for the installation of bike share stations in historic districts throughout the city because they have no effect on the historic fabric of those neighborhoods,” said Elisabeth de Bourbon, the commission’s communications director”

In a Brooklyn Eagle article, store owners on Front Street in Dumbo said they were not notified or consulted with before the bike stations were installed. Doreen Gallo of the preservation group DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance (DNA) said in the article, “DOT never contacted us and never brought it through Landmarks. It’s more visual clutter in the wrong spot. That’s a great open space and it should be an open piazza; but they keep adding more and more crap. It’s an inappropriate use of this great municipal space.”

The Front Street location (top photo) seems to be a tight fit for the traffic that goes by in the busy intersection where delivery trucks pass. Thoughts?

#Brooklyn #HalfMarathon 2012 down #Ocean Parkway

Ocean Parkway has never been so peaceful and safe even with thousands of #marathon runners shuffling down to Coney Island. Even the sound of a motorcycle engine or random horn could not disturb the idyllic atmosphere. Wth the incessant traffic you don't even know that there were hundreds of birds in the hundreds of trees that lined the route. But listen carefully.

Brooklyn Half Marathon 2013 – Date, Registration, Route Map

Brooklyn Half Marathon 2013 Click link for  more informaton.
2013 Brooklyn HalfMarathon photos down Ocean Parkway Click this link
Video of 2013 Brooklyn HalfMarathon down Ocean Parkway
We'd like runners to be aware that the storm surge from the Hurricane Sandy moved up from the beach to Avenue W and Ocean Parkway more than a mile from the ocean.  Many homes and businesses on both sides of Ocean Parkway including Coney Island Hospital suffered major damage and are just now getting back to some type of normalcy.  So when you pass Ocean Parkway and Avenue W you will now entering the Flood Zone and Evacuation Zone A.  Friends of Ocean Parkway wish the runners luck but please remember the pain that the residents of these neighborhoods experienced for many months.

Brooklyn Bridge jump narrowly averted

Brooklyn Bridge jump narrowly averted - NYPOST.com

(Excerpt)
“He went up and the next thing you know, [15 minutes later] there’s three or four police going up after him,” said Cyquan Smith, 19, of Baychester.

NYPD Emergency Service Unit cops negotiated for around 40 minutes. as witnesses posted live updates to Twitter

“He was clearly in distress, stating he wanted to jump off the top of the bridge,” said Sgt. John Flynn, who said the man “wanted to talk to us about the problems that he was having.”

Bikes on the brain as cycle-share is about ready to roll

Bikes on the brain as cycle-share is about ready to roll | The Villager Newspaper

Good article but quite long so click the link above to read it

Demolition and Recovery in the Post-Sandy Rockaways

Demolition and Recovery in the Post-Sandy Rockaways - Camera Obscura - Curbed NY

(Excerpt)
As winter fades into spring, signs of the recovery process have sprung up all along the peninsula. Workers are busy tearing down homes, pulling up rubble, and carting away the encroaching sands. Demolition crews are working through long lists of condemned homes. Construction crews are gutting bungalows and making repairs. And all along the destroyed boardwalk, contractors are working around the clock to prepare for an opening day later in May. The recovery process may take years to complete, but in the meantime, "whatever you have, you have to make it work," said Mahadeo.

Citi Bike And DOT Have "Fear And Contempt Of Citizenry," SoHo Group Alleges

Citi Bike And DOT Have "Fear And Contempt Of Citizenry," SoHo Group Alleges: Gothamist

(Excerpt)
Formerly a refuge for homeless and derelicts, the park recently underwent a beautiful restoration via a $2 million grant that the residents fought hard for and won. As part of the beautification of the park, one area at the tip of the park was specifically dedicated to public art shows. Several works have been exhibited.
However, fearful of a planned demonstration and civil disobedience by local artists and activists, last Friday at midnight a DOT crew furtively installed one of the largest CitiBike stations in New York City in the parkland specifically reserved for public art exhibition

One World Trade Center Spire's Final Sections To Be Lifted To Roof (PHOTOS)

One World Trade Center Spire's Final Sections To Be Lifted To Roof (PHOTOS)
Click on link for views from the top.

NEW YORK — A crane has hoisted a U.S. flag covered spire to the top of New York's One World Trade Center, under construction at the site of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Construction workers applauded as the upright spire began heading skyward at midday Thursday on its way to the roof.

The spire's temporary home will be a platform at the top of the trade center. When it's fully installed, at a later date, it will soar to a symbolic 1,776 feet.

The 408-foot spire will be used as a world-class broadcast antenna.

The new tower is at the northwest corner of the trade center site. The area is well on its way to reconstruction with the 72-story Four World Trade Center and other buildings.

Mermaid Parade in danger, launching Kickstarter IT IS WORTH SAVING!

Mermaid Parade in danger, launching Kickstarter

Dear Friends of the Mermaid Parade:

I have two important announcements for you today:

1) Registration for this year's Mermaid Parade is now open. Click here to register.

2) We do not know whether there will be a Mermaid Parade this year.

Don't panic just yet-we have a plan. But first I want you to understand where we are and what we're up against.

Our first parade back in 1983 had more participants than onlookers. It is because of you-whether you've been marching for years or are joining us for your maiden voyage-that the Mermaid Parade has grown into the largest arts parade in the country.

A Free Parade is Expensive

This year we face unprecedented challenges. As the crowds have grown over the past years, the city has begun imposing new regulations and restrictions that have sharply increased the cost of the event. On top of that, Hurricane Sandy, that malevolent sorceress, wreaked havoc on the Coney Island community. We as an organization, like many others, are still recovering from the damage. What this all means is that the Mermaid Parade now has a budget shortfall of $100,000. This is an impossible gap for a tiny non-profit arts organization like ours.

The Plan

On May 7th , we'll be launching a "Save the Mermaid Parade" Kickstarter campaign to raise $100,000 for the Parade. We'll be actively updating our website and sending out news and information as the campaign to "Save the Mermaid Parade" progresses.

Next week you will receive a link to our Kickstarter campaign. Once you have it, please spread the word. If we don't meet our funding goal, there'll be no parade.

Registration this year is more important than ever before, but we also need to ask for even more from you to preserve our beloved cultural institution. Be advocates. This is your parade - get on your bullhorns!

Sincerely,

Dick Zigun

Founder & Artistic Director

Coney Island USA

Mermaid Parade in danger, launching Kickstarter

Mermaid Parade in danger, launching Kickstarter


Dear Friends of the Mermaid Parade:
I have two important announcements for you today:
1) Registration for this year's Mermaid Parade is now open. Click here to register.
2) We do not know whether there will be a Mermaid Parade this year.
Don't panic just yet-we have a plan. But first I want you to understand where we are and what we're up against.
Our first parade back in 1983 had more participants than onlookers. It is because of you-whether you've been marching for years or are joining us for your maiden voyage-that the Mermaid Parade has grown into the largest arts parade in the country.
A Free Parade is Expensive
This year we face unprecedented challenges. As the crowds have grown over the past years, the city has begun imposing new regulations and restrictions that have sharply increased the cost of the event. On top of that, Hurricane Sandy, that malevolent sorceress, wreaked havoc on the Coney Island community. We as an organization, like many others, are still recovering from the damage. What this all means is that the Mermaid Parade now has a budget shortfall of $100,000. This is an impossible gap for a tiny non-profit arts organization like ours.
The Plan
On May 7th , we'll be launching a "Save the Mermaid Parade" Kickstarter campaign to raise $100,000 for the Parade. We'll be actively updating our website and sending out news and information as the campaign to "Save the Mermaid Parade" progresses.
Next week you will receive a link to our Kickstarter campaign. Once you have it, please spread the word. If we don't meet our funding goal, there'll be no parade.
Registration this year is more important than ever before, but we also need to ask for even more from you to preserve our beloved cultural institution. Be advocates. This is your parade - get on your bullhorns!
Sincerely,
Dick Zigun
Founder & Artistic Director
Coney Island USA

Bathroom break: Four sleek new Coney Island comfort stations on hold

Bathroom break: Four sleek new Coney Island comfort stations on hold   - NY Daily News
Update on this story from Sheepshead Bites
Coney Island beachgoers will have to hold it a little longer for four new sleek prefabricated bathrooms.
The nearly $2 million modernistic comfort stations set high off the ground were slated to be delivered from Berwick, Pennsylvania Thursday.
But those plans have suddenly been put on hold, a city Parks official said, declining to elaborate further.
“I do not have a new tentative date,” Parks Dept. spokesman Arthur Pincus said.
Brooklyn was slated to be the first borough to receive the futuristic comfort stations, which were going to replace bathrooms destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.
Citywide, 35 modular units will be installed at 17 locations at a total cost of $105 million, Pincus said.
The modulars will also include lifeguard stations and offices for parks security officers and staff.
The stations were welcomed by one of the city's biggest critics from the area.

Citi Bike stations cause headaches for many New Yorkers

Citi Bike stations cause headaches for many New Yorkers

(Excerpt)
As the city works to get its bike share program going by the end of the month, some residents and small businesses are fed up with the rental stations popping up on their streets.

Thursday night, Community Board 2 in Manhattan will host a forum where residents can talk about how the racks being installed by the city Department of Transportation for Citi Bike are grinding their gears.

"They have to come up with something other than this," said Gary Ormiston, 62, who's annoyed that the city put up one of its 330 stations outside his West Village apartment building, adding that he wasn't notified.
A common complaint has been how much space the bike racks take up in front of apartment buildings

Angry Cyclists Turn On Citi Bike For Eliminating Beloved Bike Rack

Gothamist Daily: Angry Cyclists Turn On Citi Bike For Eliminating Beloved Bike Rack

First Citi Bike came for the parking spaces, and we did nothing. Then they came for the parked cars, and some of us paid $250 cash to get our wheels back. Now they're coming for the bicycles, and IT'S WAR. In the greatest of ironies, some residents in Battery Park City are up in arms because Citi Bike is going to get rid of their bike rack.
Shelly Mossey, a longtime cyclist who owns the cargo bike delivery company Urban Mobility Project, tells us Citi Bike has promised to cut the locks of any bikes left attached to the bike rack on May 5th. But over his dead body! "People here are willing to go to jail if they try to cut one lock on Sunday," Mossey promises. "My neighbors use this bike rack with their children. Citi Bike is going to have to walk through our children and our families to get to that rack. They're going to have to forcibly remove us." ATTICA! ATTICA!

As you can see from the photo above, the bike rack in question is pretty packed. Located at the North Wall of the 395 South End Ave building, Mossey says the rack is not on official Gateway Plaza property. "I would love to lock my bike inside Gateway Plaza but there's no room," Mossey explains. "The racks there are overloaded with bikes. It's a complex of six high rises in the middle of a huge construction project, and they have a lot of bike parking already. They've made an effort to provide more bike parking, but we still can't all fit."

Over twenty residents have signed a petition to save the bike rack, including Manon Chezallerau, a Battery Park City resident for eight years. Chevallerau, who hails from Amsterdam, tells us she's been riding her bike in NYC for 22 years. "Given the short notice, I think it's unacceptable to get rid of this bike rack," Chevallerau tells us. "I am for biking and I think the bike share program is fabulous. But I don't think it's right to remove a rack used by so many other bike riders. We don't have enough bike racks on the property at Gateway Plaza, so we're stuck!"
Mossey, who's been riding his bike for forty years in NYC, worries the city isn't ready for Citi Bike. "It's complete overkill," says Mossey. "They're doing this without a trial, they're putting too many bikes out, and I don't think drivers are ready for it. Bike lanes aren't set up correctly. It's dangerous out there if you don't know what you're doing. Is the city prepared to do something about the bike lanes and get all the double parked cars out of there? Because that's extremely dangerous!"
Mossey says he's tried to call the issue to the attention of the DOT, Citi Bike, Transportation Alternatives, and Gateway Plaza, but hasn't gotten much response. "They're bullying people at this point," Mossey tells us. "You don't take a bike rack away to promote cycling. We don't need Citi Bike. We could have a bike share in Gateway Plaza just with all the unused bikes locked up around here!"
The DOT did not respond to a request for comment [update below], but shorty after emailing the DOT's spokesman, we were contacted by Transportation Alternatives, whose spokesman, Michael Murphy, tells us, "It's a private bike rack. If the management of the building is doing nothing about derelict and abandoned bikes clogging up a rack, that's not really the City's problem—it's an issue between the tenants and their building.
"This is also a reflection of the growing demand for bike parking. Obviously tenants expect buildings like this one to provide and maintain that service. I hope more building managers take advantage of this opportunity to attract and retain tenants by making bike parking available and keeping it well-maintained."
Update: A DOT spokesman says, "A bike share location is being installed here at the request of the property owner and it is also supported by the BPCA. We understand that they are looking for an alternate location for the rack (which is not a DOT rack)."
The Battery Park City Authority did not respond for a request for comment. And so the stage is set for a dramatic showdown on Sunday, when Citi Bike stormtroopers march in to cut the locks, rip out the bike rack and set everything on fire discard the unclaimed bikes. Mossey says he isn't planning to handcuff himself to the bike rack, but he is willing to get arrested "to protect this bike rack," if it comes to that.