By Joy Bergmann
Frustrated by e-bikers “going 20, 30 miles an hour,” putting his outdoor dining customers and employees at risk, Flor de Mayo restaurant manager José Chu decided to try a new tactic on Wednesday. He put two portable speed bumps — purchased on Amazon — across the Amsterdam Avenue bike lane between 83rd and 84th Streets.
“We did not put this thing on because we want to cause any trouble or problems with our regular bikers. It’s just to protect the customers and also our employees and the neighbors that walk up and down the block,” Chu told WSR. “All you have to do is slow down a little bit as a courtesy to people on the street. We all share the roadway.”
Chu said he believed he was the first businessperson along the UWS Amsterdam corridor to use such a technique.
The experiment lasted about 24 hours.
Shortly after WSR’s Thursday afternoon visit, Chu said, a man in a City Department of Transportation [DOT] shirt came by and told him the bumps had to be removed. He complied.
“The inspector told the manager the speed hump was not permitted as it is a hazard to cyclists,” said Lolita Avila, a DOT spokesperson, adding that complaints about Open Dining set-ups can be reported via 311.
This particular DOT inspection may have been prompted by a Twitter post by Gretchen Connelie, an avid biker and Morningside Heights resident.
Curious what you all think of these #speedbumps that a restaurant installed in the #Bikelane between their kitchen and #OpenStreets dining structure. 🤔@NYC_DOT @NYCBikeLanes @bikenewyork pic.twitter.com/TP88ocnFS1
— G (@GCONNELIE) March 31, 2021
Connelie told WSR that when she first spotted the bumps on Wednesday afternoon, she wasn’t sure what to think. “Is this genius or is it terrible?” She stopped, took a photo and continued on, pedaling slowly over the hump. She says it jolted her so severely her bag bounced out of her Citibike’s basket. She then decided the bumps were, “an accident waiting to happen.”
Bicycling fans responding to her post agreed with that assessment. Advocacy group Bike New York tweeted, “We think they are terrible & need to be removed immediately.” Transportation activist Thomas DeVito posted, “Looks like a lawsuit to me….eeeesh.” One man claimed to have gone out and moved the bumps aside.
Connelie says she doesn’t see any malicious intent by the restaurant. “I’m just not sure they understand how dangerous they could be.”
Chu says he rode a bike over the speed bumps and didn’t feel endangered. “If you go slowly, you’re fine.”
WSR asked DOT for other techniques that might help restaurants calm — but not hamper — bike lane traffic around Open Dining sites. They didn’t answer the question.
“What can we do? Give me something better and we’ll try it,” sighs Chu. For now, he says he’ll keep advising everyone — diners, staff, residents and cyclists — to look in all directions before crossing the bike lane.
Lee Uehara agrees with that advice. As education manager of the UWS’s CityBikeCoach.com, she has another suggestion. “Restaurants should stop expecting dinky signs written on small chalkboards to do the job. They should have large signs — like 3 feet by 4 feet and with 3-to-5-inch letters — in high-visibility and contrasting colors placed 10 to 15 away from their street huts,” she told WSR. “This gives the cyclists, who should be looking ahead anyway, plenty of time to slow down and proceed with humanity in mind.”
But would a big “slow down” sign really change speeding bikers’ behavior?
Uehara paused. “They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do.”
when will the NYC police start to police the bike lanes? e bikes going 20-30 mph (often faster than cars) and OFTEN in the wrong direction. how is this allowed to persist?
Police them how?
Most of the delivery guys are undocumented, so good luck with that.
Bike lanes? Lately men on engine powered scooters are on the SIDEWALK! Columbus Ave in the 90’s – 100’s. Police do NOTHING.
This is why I continue to call these lanes “Protected ELECTRIC bike lanes,” a proper and apt designation, which some WSR readers have failed to understand.
Language creates. So let’s call things what they are.
If language creates, then let’s call them bike lanes and make the ebikes leave them in favor of those lanes designated for powered vehicles.
That aught to solve all our problems!
If we’re going to keep outdoor dining long term (and that would be great), then I think we have to rethink how these lanes work — and maybe try to find a way to flip the bike lanes to the outside of the dining areas. Obviously the trick of it is twofold: (1) Cost to reconfigure bike lanes we just got installed, and (2) making sure protected bike lanes are still actually protected, if they’re now next to a car lane. But it seems like that’s the only way to make this work long term.
Yes. Let’s flip the bike lane outside the dining and add real protection like concrete jersey barriers to protect both the people on bikes and the diners
Yep, this.
Notionally this is what restaurants were actually supposed to do when they set up their road-space dining areas, but obviously this didn’t happen, not on Amsterdam certainly.
Commenters who keep harping on bike lanes as a way to slow down bikes are clearly off their rockers, by the way, and seem to be suffering from a massive empathy gap towards anyone not exactly like them. If a bump is sharp enough to slow riders down it’s inherently unsafe, if it’s shallower/smoother than that then it doesn’t actually slow a rider down.
Hah, commenters who keep on harping on *speed bumps*, I obviously meant to say.
A very thoughtful comment and one that many others have suggested. If outdoor dining is here to stay, the bike lanes should be moved outside of them. However, the fact remains that there are riders on ebikes who are incentivized to be risky in such a way as to put themselves and others in danger. I go very slowly as I roll by restaurants and am terrified that I might injure someone as I bike, but I am not a delivery person. Slowing down could reduce their daily income by 10-20%, so they will ride dangerously regardless of where the bike lane is.
Moving the bike lanes will help but an awareness on the part of consumers to try and stay local and be patient and to tip well in cash and to avoid delivery apps might help.
I do not see the harm in speed bumps…marking them would help and clearly the city has rules but we need to adapt and change our urban design…bikes and outdoor dining are a good thing, in my opinion. Others disagree, and we may need to compromise.
Hopefully, as survivors of the health emergency we can adapt here…our neighborhood is struggling so more kindness is needed.
Where did you get that 10-20% figure? I’d imagine the bulk of delivery peoples’ time is spent in restaurants picking up orders,at delivery sites or at stop signs / red lights (they do stop for those, right?), rather than actually rolling at full speed. I’m thinking that enforcing a speed limit would have only a minor impact on their overall amount of work completed.
If we eliminate one car lane- still leaving 3 lanes on Amsterdam dedicated entirely to cars, there would be space for two bike lanes: one regular, the other for electric bikes and scooters.
We give so much space in this city for cars to spew air pollution and park themselves all over the streets. With the right priorities, there’s plenty of space for small, zero-emissions bikes and ebikes too.
Let’s have a lane for wheelchairs, and another lane for strollers and baby carriages. Why should bikes have preference?
Or—-
Just eliminate the bike lanes.
Pronto!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No!!!!
If the NO!!!! was regarding eliminating the bike lanes, my reply is
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see your well thought out rebuttal and respond with: No!
As part of a broader plan the city can implement proper speed bumps and signage that allows for safety of cyclists and pedestrians. They can also consider enforcing ticketing of cyclists that go the wrong direction and that run through lights. This can be considered for Central Park West which is dangerous for people to cross even when they have the right of way and for people getting on buses. There are thoughtful design interventions that can be implemented that allow for safety and enjoyment of all. Europe has lots of examples of this.
Please stop comparing NYC to Europe. Whatever works there is not gonna work here.
Let’s try this instead:
If you want bikes to replace cars, then bikes must be treated like cars.
Cyclists need to be licensed and bikes need to be registered. There is a fee to get a license and a fee for registration. The cyclist also receives an electronic pass to enter a bike lane – it works just like an EZ pass. These fees will be used for upkeep of the bike lanes.
Nothing is free anymore – deal with it.
Boris – I must have brain fog from staying inside for too long. Is your comment a compliment or an insult?
There’s nothing like a well thought out suggestion that has no unintended consequences.
How fast would a cyclist have to be going in order to be ‘jolted severely,’ by a speed bump? And do we really need an education manager to tell adults on bikes to slow down when approaching a street hut, lol? Try taking two minutes of your time and walk your bike through this one short space to protect the safety of the people who work and dine there. There’s a real lack of courtesy and common sense going around right now. 🙁
Why would I lie about this @lynn? 2.5″ may not seem like much but I assure you, you’d feel it if you rode over it on a bike, no matter how slowly. I bike this section often and am a huge Open Streets advocate so I recognize the motivation behind them…that doesn’t mean it’s not extremely dangerous, especially since there was no signage warning “speed bumps ahead”.
Ok- so put a warning! Good idea!!
Move the bike lane on the other side of the dining area.
How would this work on blocks without restaurant spaces? I guess you could just remove all of the parking on the left side of the street, that sounds great. Pour some cement and make it permanent!
Yes, free parking should be removed.
There’s a near total disconnect between the fact that the bike lobby backs street dining and “open streets” and its denial of the obvious fact that for these initiatives to work us bike riders have to slow the bleep down.
This is simple.
Ebike drivers who wish to motor at 20 mph should use the roadway, not the bike lanes.
Pedal operated bikes on the bike lanes should be slowed when approaching and passing the dining areas. I do it all the time, it’s easy!
And a little honesty from the bike lobby would be refreshing.
I think that is a great idea – put ebike drivers in the regular streets.
That being said, police officers should be spot checking some of the more hazardous areas, particularly for speeding and/or those going in the wrong direction. Fear of tickets will slow people down.
Another solution is for people to be less anxious about how quickly they get their delivery orders. It is hypocritical to complain about speeding delivery guys then also complain that you didn’t get your lo mein quickly enough, which many of us are guilty of.
The speed limit on this road is 25mph. E-bikes (even class 3) are limited to 28 mph. How exactly would that work? Even the speed cameras don’t ticket until you hit 36mph.
In Berlin, where there is widespread bike ridership and very robust bike infrastructure (protected lanes almost everywhere), most intersections have separate stoplights for bikes and compliance is enforced, just as with cars. Something like that would probably be in order here if we want to both encourage biking and maintain the exciting new outdoor dining world. Of course, it wouldn’t directly address the serious speeding and biking in the wrong direction problems, but at the very least riders would have to slow down to stop at lights and there would be (in theory) guaranteed periods in which there would be no bikers passing by.
Restaurant diners, waiters, bicycle lanes, automobiles and pedestrians all using the streets at the same time. Many using them incorrectly (wrong way bicyclists, pedestrians walking in bike lanes, pedestrians crossing on red lights, bicyclists crossing on red lights). In the most populous city in the country.
What could go wrong?
Exactly 🙄
Get lower speed bumps for the cyclists safety. Also get these lower speed bumps on every street. I’ve eaten at outdoor restaurants ,without the lower speed bumps it is a hazard to all of us. How fast do you need to go to be thrown off by a speed bump???
In an unregulated culture shift for urban transport one can hope this enhances safety. Its the Wild West out there with car and bike people refusing to offer sensible options so people don’t get killed by e bikes and others who fly by with impunity. Those who deny this can deny climate change and vaccine science. Perhaps this is the start of a compromise discussion…
Cars kill people, but ebikes.
No, I’m not saying they _can’t_ kill people, I’m saying the cars are the ones doing the actual killing.
Focus on actual problems.
How many cars have you seen driving in the bike lane between sidewalk and outdoor-dining structures?
Nuclear warheads launched by submarines can kill even more people. Are you advocating that we focus on keeping submarines out of the bike lanes too?
Or are you just trying to distract everyone from the very real threat posed by out-of-control cyclists?
This owner is lucky that they did not also remove his outdoor dining setup which is non-compliant with the 2 open walls requirement. I feel for restaurants, but as we come out of this pandemic, the rules should be firmly enforced so that restaurants that abide by the rules are not unfairly disadvantaged.
With illegal gas generators 🥴
Delivery bikers have time sensitive missions. It’s not easy to inform bikers in English so their violations seem common.
Amsterdam Ave is full of outdoor Restaurants but Broadway or Columbus Ave could become fast lanes for urgent bikers.
Bring back the BUMP
delivering food isn’t a “time sensitive mission” that warrants endangering others by going 20 mph in the WRONG direction. Please.
For a certain ethnic food like Chinese or Spanish cuisine, temperature is the major essence of the food quality. If you miss picking up your take out food over an hour late as customer, you get a warning that you are picking up too late.
For Pret-a-manger sandwich or bento box, it’s usually taste good in cold, so delay is no problem.
Delivery bikers believe that customer has the same standard of taste in temperature like themselves.
“Delivery bikers believe that customer has the same standard of taste in temperature like themselves.”
Really? Do you truly believe that delivering food at the proper temperature, rather than maximizing revenue, is the true motivation behind the way delivery people operate their vehicles?
Delivery bikers get incentives by tip amount or how soon they can get back to restaurant for next delivery. Delivery manager or restaurant owner would care about taste related feedback from customers.
Labor market is limited right now, and more immigrants are coming in across borders.
If bikers, especially those on electric bikes, would slow down IN GENERAL, respect traffic lights and pedestrians, restaurants wouldn’t have to try these desperate measures. But most bike riders have no respect for anyone else.
Flor de Mayo, it’s a very good place to eat. My only concern is that they have their windows covered so the public (or authorities) never knows how many people are actually indoors eating??
Interesting that a restaurant would complain about bikes going to fast because the fastest and most aggressive bike riders are the e-bike restaurant delivery guys.
Put the e-bikers in the regular vehicle lanes. Most of the e-bikes go faster than cars and the way they dodge in and out between cars are obviously more maneuverable than cars so the regular vehicle lanes are where they belong.
For the rest of the folks who ride safely perhaps put up some choke points like they do in Riverside Park where the rider needs to slow down and go through a couple of sharp turns. I ride my bike safely and considerately all over Manhattan and this would work for me.
Spikes are the way to go
WSR, The above comment about putting spikes in bike lanes is advocating dangerous and illegal activity. This has been done in midtown so is not humor.
I ride all kinds of bikes – road bike (not generally in the city or early in the morning in Central Park), and Citibike – and I can tell you that riding in the bikes lanes with dining huts/pedestrians and speeding e-bikes and electric motorcycles (are they legal since they have no plates?) is terrifying. – and the ones going the wrong way. West 80s on Columbus is a disaster. I go slow around the huts because I am sure someone is going to walk out in the bike lane from either side. or side swipe me on an ebike. Since COVID – all hell has broken lose with motorized bikes and scooters with throttle limiters disengaged. The police could care less – and sorry to say – from what I see with my eyes- they profile their ticket giving towards none motorized peddle power
Simple solution regards speeding e-bikes (of either the throttle type or e-assist type): Electronically limit the speed at which the motor will drive them to 12 MPH.
In other words, if it’s an e-bike, then the motor would be entirely useless at 13 MPH and faster.
Doesn’t solve the running of red lights violations and the driving the wrong way violations, but real hardware applied speed limits for e-bikes would go a long way toward greater pedestrian safety.
Unfortunately speed limiters are easy to bypass, I’m sure instructions would appear on the internet within 24 hours of installation.
This is what happens when cyclists and restaurants are forced to fight over slivers of space on the side of the road next to 4 wide lanes dedicated entirely to cars. There’s plenty of space for the restaurants (next to the curb), an entire protected lane for bikes next to that, and just one less lane for cars. Not seeing many creative solutions from DOT or anyone on this thread to help restaurants and the delivery workers they depend on to stay in business.
J
You’ve not mentioned buses here.
Another issue – the increase in traffic and double-parking due to explosion of ecommerce – delivery trucks, delivery vans and delivery cars (Instacart, gig workers – and let’s not forget the exploitation of gig workers)
Would be best if able bodied residents walked to stores instead of using delivery.
Exactly.
If we’re giving the space to the restaurants, and we absolutely should do so, then actually give it to them.
This jerry-rigged solution of sidewalk-bikr lane-restaurant hut is cute she easy and appropriate as a short term fix for a couple months.
Now is time to put in a real solution, and as you identified there’s plenty of space to go around. Move the huts to the curb, move the bike lanes on the other side of the huts, build up a barrier curb between the bike lanes and the car lanes.
We can repurpose one car lane and have more than enough room. Take the space from the people just passing through (cars) and give it to the people of the area (pedestrians, diners, bicyclists).
Thank you for trying, Flor De Mayo! They SPEED up that block in particular and it is crazy dangerous. You tried, much appreciated by your neighbors and customers.
Bikes should be registered with License ID Plates. They should also carry insurance.
Bike should have speed limit laws.
I totally agree with you. I have written to the City Council,the Mayor and my local assembly person saying the same thing. More people need to call for licensing through our elected officials.
Licensing bikes will reduce ridership which makes biking more dangerous. More bikes = more attention from motorists = fewer unnecessary deaths. What you are advocating for will end up literally killing people. Is that what you want? See this link for some of the data. https://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/07/20/report-as-cities-add-bike-lanes-more-people-bike-and-biking-gets-safer/
I am sick of this city caring more about cyclists than they do about pedestrians. I witness ebikes and escooters on the sidewalks every day, even where there are bike lanes. Enough already! I think speed bumps are a great idea. If the bikers slow down, they are not a hazard.
How about putting some bumps to keep the cyclists off the sidewalks.
Anything with a motor should not be allowed in a bike lane. Period.
Are you suggesting there should be another protected lane dedicated to ebikes and escooters? I agree!
Or do you just have an issue with these little electric motors but you don’t see a problem with the four lanes of giant, gas powered motorized vehicles on this street?
How about we empower the same people that give parking tickets to monitor the bike lanes and bikes on sidewalks. Tickets should be issued to the place the riders work at if they are delivering for a business . Also no motorized vehicles should be allowed in bike lanes.
Nothing gets the comment section going like a bicycle story! Amsterdam is 3 lanes of car traffic, but anyone with a car or who has ridden in a cab knows that there are always delivery trucks blocking one of those lanes. So effectively, it’s a 2 lane street. All sorts of bicycles are using Central Park West car lanes, so why not Amsterdam as well? Kudos to Flor De Mayo for staying open for the UWS. They deserve our admiration.
Electric bike riders pay no attention to traffic lights or proper directions on the street. They are motorized vehicles and a great danger. They should be firmly regulated.
Thank you to those leaving thoughtful comments and insights. It saddens me to see the vitriol from my neighbors calling for spikes and elimination of bike lanes. As several have stated, this is the result of many forces trying to coexist on poorly planned slivers of land.
I am the first to agree that ebikes are an issue but please stop to consider a few things. Riders are usually low wage delivery workers, often minorities who are working in all weather conditions to be at our beck and call when we want something delivered. They are incentivized to do so as quickly as possible.
I was incredibly angry with riders on the sidewalk until I had a dialogue with one of the riders. Did you know that most times the reason they are riding on the sidewalk is that the ebikes are rather heavy and bulky and valuable (see the story about the worker who was murdered trying to prevent his from being stolen). When making a mid-block delivery, it is not easy for the rider to maneuver the bike between the bumper to bumper parked cars, heave it up on the curb, find a safe locking spot in order to bring something up x number of floors so that it is handed to you at your front door. This is why they often enter the sidewalk at the nearest curb cut and ride down the sidewalk. Should they? No. But I better understand the rationale. Additionally, when they are picking up from restaurants, most have not provided adequate space for the delivery bikes to “stage” while they are collecting the order. It would be better to block of some curb space in front of the restaurant for safe ebike parking, preventing the driver from having to bring their bike onto the sidewalk in the first place.
Finally, I don’t believe we need to create new laws, we need to EQUALLY enforce the ones we currently have. This goes for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Speed, directions, traffic lights, etc. Cars speed and park in the bike lane so that pushes cyclists into roads or sidewalks, pedestrians jaywalk because it’s often safer than crossing in a cross walk. It’s a vicious cycle. We already know that the PD is reluctant to pull over drivers for various reasons. They are not allowed to go after motorcycles so the low hanging fruit is cyclists, most often delivery folks. It’s unjust to target just one group, especially when they are least likely to be in a position to defend themselves.
We’ve been through so much this year, can we please maintain a civil discourse and work toward solutions?
Very well said! Thanks for being so thoughtful!
Gretchen
I have great sympathy for food delivery workers – they are absolutely exploited especially now with Uber Eats etc apps.
This winter, appalling to see so many standing outside in the cold, waiting for orders.
However “civilian” cyclists in lycra, on Citibikes are a menace – checking their phones, going the wrong way, through red lights…this needs to be addressed
Idea. Post a speed limit for bikes during at least meal periods if not all day abs might. The bikers Go way to fast and I’ve seen way too many close calls. Seems pretty obvious.
A speed limit sign for bikes will work as well as a Do Not Honk sign.
Do not blame regular cyclists or bike lanes. This is all about allowing motorized machines in bike lanes which are a hazard to regular bike riders – and pedestrians, period. Motorized vehicles of any kind should not be allowed in bicycle lanes which were never intended for that in the beginning.
Chu says he rode a bike over the speed bumps and didn’t feel endangered. “If you go slowly, you’re fine.”
This really says it all. If I’m on a bike path that provides me with less than two feet of space between the curb and a restaurant’s outdoor dining setup, with servers crossing while balancing trays of food or drink, I SLOW DOWN.
Why is it so hard for others to do the same??
It’s sad that some cyclists think that they are the only ones who have rights and that their arrogant view of the world is shared by DOT and the City.
Adjustments need to be made to accommodate pandemic reality and enforce the rules and
Rote Tomaten the rest of is.
Cyclist have a strong lobby while the rest of havene and when we speak up the abuse follows.
Speed bumps may not be the best solution but I understand the restaurant’s concerns, its on the City to figure something out.
I love reading comments when it’s a bike issue! Fortunately we seem to have converged on a minority we can all hate: ebike riders! So thanks to Gretchen for her comment humanizing them. I am someone who bikes constantly for commuting and exercise and can tell you bikers have just as long a list of annoyances as pedestrians: the delivery people standing chatting in the lane, the people crossing the lane with their back to you entering moments before you arrive where they are, the garbage and other trucks parked in the lane for delivery (more a problem in outer boroughs but still), and frankly (don’t kill me for this) the takeover of dedicated bike lanes as byways for restaurants (which many bikers actually avoid because of the danger to themselves and others). BUT BUT BUT. Delivery people gotta deliver, restaurants gotta survive, etc. etc. Frankly, in New York City, everyone is in everyone’s god given way and that’s why we live here. I would also like to note that no biker in the world wants or needs to hit someone and every pedestrian in the world jay walks. So let he who is without sin cast the first stone!
Truth
actually ebikers are no longer a minority – it motorized everything. – skateboard, scooters, motorbikes, bicycles – most have no sense of bike lane rules/courtesy and ride too fast. Pass on left or right with no indication – all in a tight space.
The speed limit for bikes is the same as for other vehicles. So how is a bike going too fast in a bike lane?
People just don’t give up criticizing bikes even when their own negligent and careless behavior contributes to their unsafe predicament. It’s not the bikers who are distracted; it’s the pedestrians.
Many bicyclists ignore directional signs, speed restrictions, and traffic control devices and are a menace to public safety. They must be controlled.
Bike lanes or not, outdoor dining or not, bikers on any kind of bikes, should be stopped and given tickets for not obeying traffic rules. And many rarely obey them. They don’t stop for red lights, go against traffic on one way streets. As a pedestrian, crossing the street on a zebra and having a green light, I was several times an inch away from being knocked down by a biker. I’m more afraid of them than of the cars. The majority of the car drivers can be counted on obeying the rules because they know the consequences of not doing so. Bikers would quickly learn to obey them too if they paid a few fines.
Why is this so important? Allegedly “constantly rule breaking” cyclists cause, what, 1/10th of 1% of the death, destruction, and mayhem that motorists do.
The (now retired) captain of the 20th precinct had this right, he allowed his officers to issue citations to bike riders only in proportion to bicycle involvement in actual injury-crashes.
I know why it’s important!
With all due respect to you, how would like it if about three times every week, a stranger came up to you, with your being unaware, and threw a punch straight into your face – but stopped his fist a quarter inch short?
No destruction, no mayhem, as you stated – but a hell of a lot of anger on your part, as well as continued anxiety every time you stepped outside.
Just what most pedestrians feel when a bicycle whizzes by, NEARLY striking them.
Just like a fist towards the face, this is not something “to get used to.”
Get. A. Grip. Please. Over-the-top histrionics.
Please. Get. Over. The. Period. After. Every. Word. Thing.
It. Was. Silly. When. Somebody. Started. It.
Now. That. It. Has. Been. Grossly. Over. Used,
it’s just plain annoying.
How many people have to recite the mantra about bikes running red lights and riding in the wrong direction? We get it.
But do the police and our beloved Mayor?
1) Electric bikes and electric scooters should be prohibited from using bike paths. Motorized vehicles should be on the street, 2) The advent of street-side restaurants in places where there are bike lanes needs to be studied, and quickly, because the way things are now is untenable, as this story shows. 3) What would help everyone would be an elevated layer, on certain thoroughfares, for non-motorized traffic, because we are running out of room on level 1.
When will cyclists begin caring that they present danger to pedestrians.
Uh, never. Next question?
Speeding bikers are a pain in the ass. E-bikers are worse. Too bad someone felt the need to take action that the city would not for pedestrian and diner safety.
re: “They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do”.
Cautionary education and “Please don’t kill our patrons and servers” signs in large block letters will never slow them down. Two wheelers (and motorized unicycles) own the curbside lanes knowing that they can literally get away with maiming if not murdering.
My heart goes out to the hardworking delivery workers who lose money if they slow down. And of course the pandemic has made everything worse.
On the subject of sharing paths, I asked two young men who were walking their bikes into Riverside Park and about to mount them to ride on the sidewalk full of moms and kids and baby carriages and dogs on leashes—“please walk your bikes on this walkway.” Of course, they stared in disbelief, and told me to mind my own business. I thought about that quite a while afterwards.
Yes, they jumped on their bikes and barreled down the path, with no bells to warn the turned backs of walkers.
Later, returning home with groceries, I jumped to the side as a young man swerved out of the street’s bicycle lane onto the sidewalk with his gaze fixed on the Citibike racks. He got a kick out of my alarmed reaction.
They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do. Pat
As a pedaler, for whom the bike lanes were long fought for and constructed for, I believe that motorized bikes should be PROHIBITED from using the bike lane. Especially when going in the wrong direction, which seems to be happening more often. AND especially since the restauranteurs are having a hard enough time coming out of financial and other stresses. Perhaps a bit of cooperation among the different facets of folks feeding our city would be prudent! What do you think?
In the long list of poor City Council decisions, authorized use of motorized bikes ranks near the top. The drivers are not required to have training, testing or insurance. Too many of them fail to have lights on their vehicles, ignore red traffic signals, and drive the wrong way on one-way streets and on sidewalks.
What is the speed limit on the road? I would it assume it the same for the bike lanes. Isn’t stepping out into the road (which the bike lane is a part of) jaywalking. As a non evoker I can get up to 20 mph on flat roads. It doesn’t take much for a crack or bump to dump a cyclists. Theses doped bumps are too big and illegal. Poor design should not be blamed on cyclists.
Bike lanes + outdoor dining just doesn’t work unless it’s policed with strict rules! The bike lanes give bikers the opportunity to speed along without any limits and now we also have motorized bikes. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. I’m seeing motorized bikes in the park as well. Where are the police and parks dept. to control this?
We need protected bike lanes. Why in Gods name did city bike add a motor to bikes???? Can’t turn it off! I want to bike for exercise not to speed to my destination!! I’m gonna end up killing myself!!!! We need a speed limit for all bikes and electric machines that move on the sidewalk or roadway. We need the limits enforced. We need to slow it down and NOT put a bike lane in traffic outside the restaurant dwellings. It defeats protecting bikers. Im in my 70’s and love biking but I hate the speed demons delivering food who almost kill me passing in those lanes!!! Pisses me off there are no rules! And please get those ear buds out of your ears so you can hear someone say I’m behind you or passing on your left!!
“SLOW DOWN” is the key phrase. Bikers need to be more respectful of the WALKING PEDESTRIAN PUBLIC. There needs to be some RESPONSIBILITY/LIABILITY on the part of Bike Riders who HIT ELDERLY people crossing the street.(Know someone who had leg surgery as a result of being hit by a bike). Do bikers carry insurance like cars? Maybe they’d be more careful if they had to BUY ACCIDENT INSURANCE.
I came out of one of those dining huts recently, and there were two big signs for us “WATCH for BIKE”. How About More SLOW DOWN and WATCH FOR WALKERS or SLOW DOWN FOR WALKERS signs on the bikeways?
“For now, he says he’ll keep advising everyone — diners, staff, residents and cyclists — to look in all directions before crossing the bike lane.”
Lol. Yeah this is a novel idea. Look before stepping into the road. Note for those who are unaware… bikes are considered motor vehicles. Just like auto drivers some break the law but they have all the rights and responsibilities of their polluting big brothers. They have to yield to pedestrians just like cars do but guess what… pedestrians should be going to a crosswalk and waiting for a signal. And they shouldn’t step in front a bike without looking any more than they should in front of a car. It’s ridiculous to say “we need these speed bumps so our staff and customers can cross without looking.”
Leave the bumps. And let’s ticket bikers who go against the lights, against the traffic, and way too fast. They are a danger and with tables in the streets, we need to slow them down.
I think the bikers have taken control. There are so many of them with absolutely no respect for pedestrians or automobiles. Too many times I have almost been run over by bikers. They truly think the world needs to move “for them”. I disagree. There are rules that we all must live by to be better people. The bikers in Riverside Park would rather run you over than move
Worried about bikes??? I’m wondering what is going to happen when a vehicle plows into the outdoor eating areas? will the be city responsible or the restaurant? Some of those outdoor areas are a hazard you actually can feel the breeze on the back of your head as these big trucks go by. Sorry no outdoor seating for me take those down, lets go back inside like the good ole times!