By Gus Saltonstall
A new public safety campaign aimed at cyclists and bikers recently went up across much of the Upper West Side. And it is difficult to argue against its catchiness.
“Slow Your Roll, Respect the Stroll.”
The messaging now appears on hundreds of LinkNYC kiosks across State Senate District 47, which runs along the west side of Manhattan from around West 12th to 100th streets.
The district is represented by State Senator Erik Bottcher, who previously oversaw the same public safety campaign in the West Village, Chelsea, and Hell’s Kitchen, and has now brought it to the Upper West Side.
The “Slow Your Roll, Respect the Stroll” campaign reminds cyclists and bikers to yield to pedestrians, stay off the sidewalks, stop at red lights, and ride with the flow of traffic.
“The campaign returns as concerns continue about dangerous riding behavior, particularly involving illegal e-bikes and high-speed e-bikes operating on city streets and sidewalks,” reads a news release from Bottcher’s office.
In the past month, there have been several high-profile bike and scooter accidents and injuries on the Upper West Side and in New York City, including two in Central Park, where one woman out jogging was left in a coma, and another where a 17-year-old boy e-bike rider died after ramming into a car near City Hall.
“Most cyclists ride responsibly and simply want a safe, efficient way to get around our city,” Bottcher wrote in a news release. “Pedestrians deserve to feel safe, and so do cyclists.” He added that “consistent enforcement of our traffic laws” was also a key part of the solution, as well as establishing “appropriate licensing and registration requirements for higher-speed e-bikes that are, in reality, much more like motor vehicles than bicycles.”
The “Slow Your Roll, Respect the Stroll” message will appear on kiosks in both English and Spanish.
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good luck with that.
How about “Do the crime, do the time” with pictures of a Tour de France wanna be in spandex and a delivery guy on an e-bike in cuffs. We need well-disclosed rules and enforcement of those rules.
And yes, cars cause problems too, but all of the whataboutisms about cars are not constructive to this conversation.
Cant arrest e bike guys when they are noncitizens and will potentially be deported .
Perhaos noncitizens afraid of being deported should obey the law. Citizens too.
How quickly an anti-bike screed turns to racism.
“Non citizen eBike guy” is not a race.
So they are immune from justice..
In Sanctuary cities they are.
Why not? All the more reason for them to be more careful.
“Most cyclists ride responsibly and simply want a safe, efficient way to get around our city,”
I just spit my afternoon espresso out all over the café window when I read this.
I can’t help but notice that immediately after this story, the Ruthless Advice column reveals Karen was hit and seriously injured by a car. But not a peep from the EVSA or any commentators chiming in on the dangers of cars… wonder why not?
UWS Dad,
Have no affiliation with EVSA but family and friends who’ve been hit by bicyclists, some seriously.
Seeing your various posts over time, may I ask if you are part of Transportation Alternatives?
Otherwise not understanding the frequency of your posts, what appears to be constant interjections and not infrequently “going after” others?
NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance is a grassroots organization of over 1500 members, including 131 pedestrian and cyclist victims of e-vehicle and moped violence. We are calling for accountability and advocating for safety for all by requiring registration and license plates for all e-vehicles, as well as full-scale micromobility safety. This includes prohibiting e-vehicles from all parks and greenways.
Why would you expect them to speak about Karen being hit by a car?
I can assure you they are against pedestrians getting hit by cars. Every one of is is a pedestrian at some point.
I’m sure they are against getting hit by cars in theory but they never seem to say anything in support of street calming measures meant to protect pedestrians from cars.
Why do you have to use another person’s horrible personal injury to promote your own agenda?
Because one has nothing to do with the other. The comparison is spurious.
I would have given anything to be in that meeting. How many adults did it take to come up with a slogan that wouldn’t offend cyclists? How about, ‘stop breaking the law?’ 🙄
Yeah. This is really going to make a difference. Really. I swear.
Slow Your Roll, Respect the Stroll. Cute. Just like signs on every single tree in this neighborhood, pleading with people not to let their dogs pee in tree beds (and kill trees/plants), Respect the stroll….. Cyclists, PLEASE……
Also needed: “Its no fun when you stab someone”
BRILLIANT!!
Lol. Thanks for the laugh
Maybe something like “Don’t forget to take your meds” might be appropriate also:)
May I suggest “take as prescribed, stay alive”?
Every time I have a close pass by a driver when I’m walking or on a bike, I always wave “Thank you for not killing us!”
Strangely City DOT and NYC tourist office proactively messaged to encourage World Cup tourists to bicycle.
No proactive message to walk and use core MTA bus and subway.
Unbelievable
Sadly most cyclists won’t be able to read the signs as they’re blowing through red lights and mowing down pedestrians.
Yep. And there’s no point in posting these cautionary signs on Riverside Drive where the next cyclist who stops for a red light will be the first.
Apparently, wearing spandex means never having to say you’re sorry.
There should be a similar campaign aimed at drivers. Just today I had a UPS truck blow through a red light in front of me as I was crossing Broadway. When will the clueless drivers of these 10,000 pound vehicles learn that they don’t own the city? The city wasn’t built for these enormous trucks.
The same thing happened to me on 86th St…I heard people screaming and I didn’t realize what was happening until I felt the whoosh of the UPS truck and I froze and watched it turn the corner. I don’t think anyone would be thinking to get a plate or vehicle number at that point. 😖
Did you do anything about this? To my experience, UPS are extremely responsive to complains about their drivers acting in an unsafe or discourteous manner. You need to get the plate number or vehicle number off the back of the truck.
UPS drivers, Fed Ex and USPS. They FLY down Columbus Avenue!
This neighborhood doesn’t have space for all the dogs that everyone has. It would be nice if people didn’t have to copy everyone else and make having a dog a requirement.
What do dogs have to do with UPS and other trucks driving recklessly/running lights? Seriously, are you okay, or did you just need to get your personal bugaboo out somewhere? Get a grip. Oh, and the neighborhood has PLENTY of space for dogs, and the dogs are not the ones running lights and endangering pedestrians and others.
They do endanger many senior citizens who must be on the alert for dogs coming out of nowhere, as their ‘pet parents’ are spaced out on their devices, not caring about anybody else. The dogs zigzag all over the place, creating extra stress for others who must waste their own time and energy trying to move forward. Nobody wants to trip over small unattended dogs.
Fat chance!!!!!
“The campaign returns as concerns continue about dangerous riding behavior, particularly involving illegal e-bikes and high-speed e-bikes operating on city streets and sidewalks,”
So they are asking these illegal e-bikes and high speed e-bikes to slow down rather than confiscating them? It’s like negotiating with terrorists.
As almost everyone else has implied, you simply CANNOT “legislate” or “force” behavior. Bikers (and while there may be a FEW “good ones,” MOST are selfish) are going to do whatever the heck they please, pedestrians be damned. Sweet slogan; but will have ZERO effect.
Someone had his coffee. Capslock ON
You can force.good behavior. Just like you do with cars. Ticket them for speeding and running red lights. But they’d need to have licence plates.
Not necessarily. The NYPD can impound the vehicle until the operator responds to the summons. I have to think that this is more likely to encourage a response than any summons will.
DoorDash and other corporate funders of TransAlt so far have succeeded in blocking any move to license bikes, esp. E-bikes, require insurance for E-bikes, etc.
Actually, the Council has blocked any and all attempts to license and register bikes for DECADES – LONG before delivery services like DoorDash and Seamless even existed. The bike lobby has been extremely effective even without those services. Now, of course, it is even worse, since the City derives a HUGE (indirect) income from the delivery services.
So forget about licensing and registration; it is never going to happen.
Decades ago we didn’t have E-bikes. Your “Actually” is gratuitous.
Parent here.
Another concern –
Many more teens and high school students on Citibike even though most have free OMNY cards.
They are even less careful than adults and many endanger themselves and endanger pedestrians.
Not uncommon to see teens doubled up with one sitting in the Citibike basket.
I’m not certain what you want here. I’ve seen kids riding recklessly on Citibikes, down Broadway, down Riverside Drive, and what do you want people to do? Admonish them? Report back to you somehow? Seriously, what are you asking for, Parent?
Age verification (and subscriber verification) for renting Citi Bikes would be a good thing.
It’s alarming seeing literal children on the gray ebikes. Terrible road sense/judgment.
Not for nothing, minimum legal age to ride an ebike in NYS is 16, and those who are 16 or 17 (tho this disappears at 18 and up) are legally obligated to wear helmets.
No problem (legally, or my take personally) with riders down to 14 renting the classic Citi Bikes, or even younger w parental supervision.
Yes, I see this a lot in the afternoons in Central Park. Just today I was almost mowed down by a boy who took a sharp turn from the drive onto a pedestrian path. He was on a gray electric Citi Bike, no helmet, and looked to be under 13.
Illegal AND violation of Citi Bike agreement for a 13-year-old to be using any Citi Bike. Next time, get a photo of the person AND the bike number and file a complaint with Lyft (the tech company that owns Citi Bike) and with DOT.
A 13 year old riding the classic bikes is allowed (per Citi Bike terms) with parental supervision.
Though general law for riders under 14 needing to ride with a helmet would also apply.
There are signs at pedestrian paths all over Central Park. They indicate, no bikes or scooters. Hordes ride right by those signs on bikes and scooters. Makes me think of the sign in the metro in Naples: “Vietato Attraversare I Binari.” Forbidden to Cross the Tracks. I saw a dude walk to where the sign was and then cross the tracks at that spot.
Like similar traffic laws, without enforcement cyclists running red lights, or riding against traffic, or riding on sidewalks, the behavior will not improve.
One can only hope that the cyclists who need this public service most will slow down long enough to actually read the message.
This campaign sounds like something The Onion would make up.
How about you ie our electeds go back to allowing the NYPD to enforce the violations against bikes. They are require to follow all the rules of the road but almost never do.
Cue the bike mafia for this comment
“Allowing?” Since when are the police forbidden to enforce the law? They are too busy chatting with each other or looking at their phones or dozing in their cars.
How about, “Just keep your damn bikes off the sidewalks, don’t silently sneak up on pedestrians from the rear and finally, pretend you are a responsible adult for a change”.
From my observation, “most cyclists” do not ride responsibly. It’s a special event when one stops at a red light. These signs on the LinkNYC kiosks are a good start to remind cyclists of the law, but there are no such kiosks along Central Park West where cyclists ride south in the northbound bike lane, run red lights, and ride on the sidewalks and on the pedestrian walkways in the park. Older people who need more time to cross the street are in real danger.
There’s there’s a much more cost-effective and better way to do this. Write them $500 tickets for running a red light. I have watched POLICE sit there and allow cyclist to speed through red lights until the laws are earned forced. No one is going to pay attention to them.
It’s impossible for police officers to safely pursue an ebike going 40 MPH on the sidewalk or the wrong way on a one-way street. A ticket blitz (such as those done for automobile drivers) might be effective, but would likely be met with charges of racism and anti-immigrant (delivery bike drivers). What needs to change is bike culture. Friends visiting from Europe and west coast cities like Portland and Seattle are shocked at how NYC bike riders ride on sidewalks, against traffic, routinely run red lights and stop signs, and fail to yield to pedestrians. Bike riders need to understand that, while there may be thousands of them, there are millions of pedestrians, and that pedestrians need the ability to safely navigate our streets and sidewalks.
There’s also much less space on sidewalks and in the streets due to all the wining/dining that seems so necessary to most people. These people then go home and order food from restaurants and complain that the bikes delivering their food are bothering them. It’s all a bunch of (roasted, salted) nuts!
How about confiscating the bikes and making the owners retrieve them at a pound in Far Rockaway? A week of an all-out blitz of this sort would solve the problem.
Forget politics. Someone (we) need to do something to get humans back on track to being HUMAN again. We’re all guilty. We’ve become a very selfish, self-centered, spoiled brat society. What happened to sweetness (not cupcakes)? Interact with young people, delivery workers, old people, anyone, everyone….. Heads out of phones. Humans before dogs, too. Sad to see hungry, struggling people watching dogs getting treats. If we want people to really care for us, maybe we should try caring for them.
Because it rarely helps, and I’ve tried over the 45 years I’ve lived in this neighborhood.
You were going strong up until the dogs part. Giving Fido a treat is not right?
Signs are nice. But having cops hand out citations for cyclists who blow through lights and break the law are nicer. And will be much more effective.
When I’m bicycling I’ll gladly “stop” or at least slow down at a red light, However, if there are no pedestrians or cars crossing, I’m gonna then ride through.
Why? On a bike, you are subject to the SAME traffic laws as cars, motorcycles, etc. You are legally obligated to STOP at a red light.
How would you feel if an 18-wheel delivery truck had the same attitude about traffic lights as you do?
I would be angered by the driver of an 18-wheeler (generally not legal on NYC streets to begin with! enforcement is very much lacking #Illegal53) doing this.
Because bikes and heavy freight trucks are not the same.
Yes, but a bike can seriously damage a human if they collide. Bikes are subject to NYC traffic laws.
A regular bike (weighing 20 lbs or so) going 5-7 mph will not do anywhere near that kind of damage. OP ‘jaywalks’ with the bike which seems a far cry from the general outcry here.
Thank you for the honesty. I am the same. Particularly on Riverside Drive.
“Cyclists, please: … “??? Ooo, maybe that’s a bit harsh, don’t you think? I’d say this is primarily a campaign ad for the senator
To whom should it be addressed?
The spandex bros are the worst and are a danger to life and limb. I have no clue why it’s legal to ride like that. It’s really maddening, and everyone should hiss and swear at them as they fly past us at a million miles an hour. Screw those guys.
My sense is that for most a bike is freedom. If one has to stop at each corner, for red lights, stop signs, etc., it takes that freedom away. And in NYC the best way to get that freedom is to get on the sidewalk to avoid cars, and to swerve around pedestrians rather than walking your bike around them, etc, etc., etc.
Obviously not all cyclists do this but from my experience it’s the majority, and that is a lot!
e-bikes are in fact motor cycles and should be treated as such for licensing, insurance and traffic regulation purposes.
Methinks this is tilting at windmills. Until there is meaningful enforcement nothing will change. I am 76 yo and loved riding my bike in the City. I now only ride in Central Park early in the morning. Its simple too treacherous out there.
They need to make cyclists accountable as drivers are with vehicles. Registration and license plates should be required as they don’t follow any of the laws and people are getting injured.
Strict enforcement with real penalties is the way to go.
My idea would be to put speed bumps at the end of every block that would force cyclists to slow down. If that’s not enough, but them at the beginning and end of every block.
Speed bumps in bike lanes should have been a thing years ago
I like it!
Can we get that in Spanish?
Meh, the delivery riders in general are much more considerate of pedestrians and more likely to stop at lights than the commuters and recreational riders, and the scooters are the worst,
That may be so, but what does that have to do with Rachel’s question about getting it in Spanish?
No bike lanes on west 72 street
Catchy, yes. But totally useless. Ebikes and escooters ride way too fast to stop and read signs like those. And they’re too busy running red lights, dodging pedestrians on the sidewalks, and weaving in and out of traffic going the wrong way on one-way streets, to stop and read.
I came within a hair’s breadth of being hit by a teenager riding a skateboard at top speed on the sidewalk. Having osteoporosis it terrified me. Are people allowed to ride skateboards on sidewalks? Doesn’t anyone care about trying not to hurt someone??
Legally a skateboarder (without any electric power, tbc) is a pedestrian.
They should be considerate of course, but skateboarding is not a crime.
As a biker, unfortunately, this message would be lost on deliveristas. Regulate the delivery apps so that they have to follow the law. Riding against one-way traffic should be a penalty on their account. That’s the least they could do.
No, most cyclists do not ride responsibly.
Weak…
Smart, catchy but ineffective. Nobody reads those signs. We need license plates, traffic enforcement and fines. Bicyclists, delivery people, motorists scooter riders need to have consequences.
Most cyclists do NOT ride safely or with any respect, including respect for their own lives. They are in a great rush to get somewhere as fast as they can,
Has gotten past ridiculous. Moving to Westchester next month. The scooters, runners, cyclists, homeless, marijuana and cigarette smokers and anti semitic, Socialist mayor finally made this born and raised tough guy New Yorker say Uncle. Good riddance !
Runners are offensive now too?!
Sounds like the suburbs are more your style my friend.
Don’t let the door hit your hiney on the way out then…
A good start but there still needs to be enacted legislation that would require vehicle registration, insurance and licensing for e-bikes/scooters and e-bike/ scooter drivers. Followed by NYPD enforcement.
I almost was hit by someone on a small motorcycle riding on the sidewalk under scaffolding today. The NYPD needs to stop & confiscate these illegal vehicles when they see this.
We should be covering this in schools, starting early, together with many other things children will need to learn if they are to grow up in a humane, well-functioning society.
The kids don’t even know how to walk properly (watching where they’re going) on sidewalks, as they’re taught that behavior from their parents and their teachers.
I learned most of those things from my parents. But then again, I’m old.
I’d like to see some speed traps ticket or confiscate the rides that are souped up. I saw a guy on an ebike going > 60 on the west side bike path when I was out for a run. I’ve seen loads of super fast scooters and bikes, but nothing as fast as this guy. It’s insane.
What a pile of poppycock.
That’ll teach ’em LOL
Don’t like delivery riders? Stop ordering delivery! The boom is delivery riders is directly tied to more people ordering delivery more often. Order locally, and take a walk to get it!
These signs are useless. The only way to gain some control is by fining cyclists and e-bike riders. They go faster than the cars, do not stop at red lights, and yes, many of them ride on the sidewalks. No one has done a thing to control this chaos and protect pedestrians. As for Central Park, I rarely walk through anymore. I am always impressed with my visits to the city parks in Madrid, where police patrol the grounds on scooters.
Now we need one that says “streets are for people, not 2000 lb hunks of steel”