Verrazano 50th

In case you missed it, the Verrazano Bridge turned 50 years old this week and received a subtle request to provide bicycle and pedestrian access across its span.  Brilliant.


The activists, Right of Way. organized the airplane and banner flying across the sky during the formal ceremony.

More news:

New York Post

Daily News

Pix11 video (minute 1:30)

Beautiful, Glowing Bikes

DOT, NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio, how about bringing this material to NYC as a part of Vision Zero?  

 

If you happen to be near Eindhoven in the Netherlands, you can walk or bike down a glowing path modeled after Van Gogh’s masterpiece. The one kilometer lane is the work of Daan Roosegaarde, the same designer responsible for the glowing stretch of nearby smart highway.  Read more at Wired.

Bush Terminal Piers Park to Open Soon

For years, BRBR has occasionally bicycled the desolate streets of First Avenue, knowing that a future park was being built along the waterfront but perplexed about how to actually find the place or access it.  It looks like there has been some significant progress on the "public" aspect of this park.  First, EDC has announced that various permits, the management plan and Memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NYC Parks have been finalized.  An opening should be scheduled in November.  Second, there is actually a pathway to enter the place!  See our pics from a Sunday foray along the water.

The new entrance is at 1st Avenue and 43rd Street

The entrance is a part of a truck gate into the warehouse area

There is a small pedestrian gate to the side of the truck gate

Follow the path to the building with a statue of Mr Irving Bush and take a left

Park entrance.  There is a small parking area to the left.

The main park entrance gate

A view through the gate to a pathway leading to the park

Pedestrian Lane Sought for Verrazano-Narrows Bridge - NYTimes

Now, on the occasion of the Verrazano’s semicentennial, a group of cyclists, transportation advocates and residents on both sides of the bridge are leading a grass-roots-and-pavement campaign to add a pedestrian path. Their hope is to reverse a half-century of four-wheeled favoritism and persuade the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to include the path among its planned upgrades on the bridge.

Read the full story at the New York Times.

And don't forget about coming out the rally Saturday, October 17 at 11am at the Alice Austen House on Staten Island.

More Info here at the Harbor Ring.

Bicycle Lane on the Verrazano!

October 18, 11am at the Alice Austen House on Staten Island - come out and give some support to provide a bicycle lane over the Verrazano Bridge.  Event organized by the Harbor Ring.  Visit their website or on Facebook for more information.

Where Cyclists Ride

Here's an interesting tidbit: GPS heatmaps showing where cyclist ride.   Screenshot below is of the NYC area taken today, March 2, 2014 as mapped on the Strava Global Heatmap. .

The most striking element is the concentration of red.  Central Park and Prospect Park are burning red, linked by a network of fine red and blue arteries between the two.  But take a closer look - the entire south shoreline of Brooklyn is also burning red from Bay Ridge to Coney Island and eastward to the loop around Jamaica Bay.  There are some fine blue veins connecting to central and northern Brooklyn.

Heatmap for Brooklyn and NYC

Spring is Near (sorta)

Last summer, the bicycle lanes around Owl's Head Park were fading into oblivion.  In case you missed it under this winter's slushy wrath, those lanes were repainted and refreshed around October 2013.  Thanks, DOT!

The re-painting of Wakeman Place