By Gus Saltonstall
A collection of bike racks was installed this month in front of Fairway Market on the Upper West Side.
Four racks are now stationed near the corner of West 74th and Broadway, in front of the popular grocer. When West Side Rag visited the store on Wednesday morning, all four of the racks had bikes attached to them, and additional bikes had also been placed in a straight line alongside the racks.
The installation of the bike racks follows a letter from Upper West Side Councilmember Gale Brewer last spring to the New York City Department of Transportation asking for the infrastructure.
“Many food delivery cyclists and residents park their bikes along the sidewalk in front of these two markets [Fairway and Citarella],” Brewer wrote, who was doing so on behalf of an Upper West Sider who had noted the overflow of bikes in front of the store. “While there is a bike rack at the location, the number of bikes far exceed the parking space available for bikes. I urge DOT to consider additional bike racks to accommodate the demand for bike parking.”
There is a smaller, already existing bike rack closer to the front of Citarella.
“I shop at Fairway every week and the bike parking situation there has become untenable,” an Upper West Side resident wrote to Brewer in May of 2025. “The bikes have completely taken over the sidewalks around Fairway, and there is just not nearly enough bike parking.”
Here is the difference in how the sidewalk space now looks with the new bike racks.
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Inexpensive ebikes wrapped in tape are almost certainly being used for commercial purposes so why are they on the sidewalk? You can’t ride a bike on a sidewalk. You can’t even park a commercial vehicle overnight on a city street. Put a bike rack in the street Citibike-style, don’t take sidewalk space for bikes.
The curb space is better used for trucks delivering food to the store.
A rack like one you describe could be placed around the corner, on 75th.