An MTA bus crashed into a Citi Bike station at 95th Street and Columbus Avenue on Sunday, smashing several of the bikes and the information kiosk attached to the station.
“About 8 am this morning, a #7 bus going down Columbus Avenue veered off at 95th Street to the left and crashed into the island containing Citibikes. I saw the result at 9 am,” wrote tipster Glenn Richter.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who took the photo above, told us that no one was injured in the crash. The MTA did not respond to a request for comment.
Photo by Stefan.
Photo by Stefan.
Photo by Mercedes.
Poor beleaguered bus drivers. Bike Lanes, bikers and electric bikes have made their lives so incredibly difficult. And am not being sarcastic. And I doubt the MTA or the DOT is supportive.
Had this not been a citi bike station it would have been a parking spot for one or two cars. If the bus driver had crashed into a parked car, would you blame the crash on all the curb space we give over for car parking?
Bike lanes are on the left. Bus stops are on the right. If anything, the lanes have made their jobs easier, not harder.
Yeah, as the transportation business pros say, “That parked car came out of nowhere!”
I’m sensitive to the challenges of driving a bus in the city, but… this is a multi-lane avenue and a stationary object. If you can’t drive down a multi-lane avenue without hitting stationary objects, then I don’t think you can really blame cyclists for the problem. I don’t know what went wrong here — driver error, mechanical issue, etc. — but I think it’s pretty safe to say that blaming cyclists doesn’t make any sense.
Nothing about this crash was caused by bikers or bike lanes.
I know people hate Citibike, but this is getting out of hand.
pin a medal on that driver
LOL you won the internet today with that one.
YEAH!
It’s about time the MTA is taking care of business and doing something good for the neighborhood!
Seriously. So people being healthy and not ruining the environment while commuting is so offensive to you? What is your problem with Citibike?
Buses usually stay to the right as stops are on the right side, so I’m not sure what caused this, particularly at 8 am on a Sunday morning, when traffic should be light – it seems very odd.
Thanks for the reporting, WSR, and please follow up regarding the driver’s explanation of what happened.
And just as the bike riders scream that they are lumped together with the ones that disregard the rules …
The bike riders will say that this is a reason to get rid of passenger cars.
We need better commercial drivers (buses, trucks, taxis and Uber, etc). These are the ones causing the damage.
Citi Bikes Obstruct City Bus, Causing Crash
Great tongue twister lol
Wow. I didn’t see the anti-bike crowd finding a way to applaud this. But ok, just remember that bus drivers are practically immune from fault in this town and likely nothing will come of the “accident” due to their powerful union defense. Keep that in mind every time you WALK across the street … even with the light.
Re: “bus drivers are practically immune from fault … and likely nothing will come of the “accident” due to their powerful union defense.
As a 31-year-veteran NYC Teacher (now retired) and proud UFT member allow me to speculate:
1) There will be an investigation, at which the driver AND her/his union rep will, will testify; and
2) IF it is determined that the driver WAS at fault (i.e. not cut-off by another vehicle, not a medical issue, etc.) there will be some sort of censure.
As for “their powerful union defense”: THANK GOODNESS for same:
1. unions protect workers against despotic employers;
2. for decades unions have helped bring working-class-people into a middle-class existence. Perhaps there would be much less ‘Income-Inequality’ if workers still had union support!
3. NYC is a union-town…has been since the 1930’s and hopefully always will be.
Well put. Its time to stop union bashing and realize that we are doing so well because we have had unions
Bad bus drivers need to be removed from the road and re-trained, or let go. I cannot count how many times a bus has pulled out of a bus stop with no regard to other vehicles that have the right of way. If the bus driver uses his directional signal to show other drivers that he is intending to pull out, that does not allow the bus driver to pull out or change lanes. I have called 311 and the MTA with the bus number, time and location of numerous incidents, and have never been contacted as a follow-up. So yes, they appear to be untouchable.
Counterpoint: in many jurisdictions (Santa Clara county in California, say), buses leaving a stop actually have right of way over traffic in the lane they’re merging into.
It’s a greater-good sort of thing: lots more people on that bus get a little boost to their commute than people in 3-4 (tops) likely-single-occupancy vehicles who need to pause for the bus to come out.
It’s a little surprising that NYC doesn’t have a similar rule, actually. (To clear, in fact it doesn’t, but I would advocate for it.)
I hate Citibike. They have taken over hundreds of parking spots on the UWS alone. A garage costs as much as renting a house in just about any other city. People that hate cars shouldn’t live in a major city.
Here’s a mindblower: if CitiBike didn’t have a station there, it could have been your car that got smashed.
I don’t think so, not my car.
Why would I park my car there?
I live in the lower 80s and not a fan of citi bikes.
Besides the “bike lanes” this is probably the worst idea the city has come up with their joint adventure with Citi bike.
There are roughly 45 Citibike racks on the UWS, each occupying about 2.5 car lengths on average. That’s 113 parking spaces. Let’s round up generously and call it 150 spaces. As of 2018, around 215k people lived on the UWS. Assuming that number is static, the loss of these 150 parking spaces is inconveniencing 0.06% of UWSers. Even if we are super generous and assume that each lost parking spot inconveniences a family of four, that’s still less than a quarter of one percent of the neighborhood population who are caused to have to look a little harder for free on-street parking that is subsidized my my tax dollars. A true tragedy of the commons!
In conclusion: gimme a break.
Actually, people that live in a dense city with abundant public transportation shouldn’t be complaining about parking spots or cars. If you want a car, pay for it and the huge amount of space it takes up. 75% of UWS’ers don’t have cars, so why should we pay for you to park your loud and polluting form of transportation for free?
Mass transit is only “abundant” if you’re getting to the area of Manhattan below 59th street from somewhere North, East, South or West.
If you’re getting from our neighborhood to a house in Westchester, or a lab in the Northeast Bronx, or an office in Westbury, mass transit is absurdly time consuming and expensive.
OUR neighborhood includes people who need cars.
And nobody is paying for those cars but the owners.
I agree and good for you, thanks!
I come from Denmark where you are almost born with a bike. NY has adopted many systems for bike lanes from Copenhagen and it is probably a good thing. However, in Denmark and Holland most bikers follow the traffic rules which is the reason it works. In NY you have bikes going against the traffic even in bike lanes irrespective if there are arrows which direction to follow. Also bikes on the sidewalks and bikes constatntly running red light. this is why there is chaos and lots of accidents. if bikers understood to follow the traffic rules everybody will get along.
Amen! Simple solution
Come back to us when car drivers start following the rules. Then you can talk about bikes.
Yeah, that’s right Jay…,cars never go the right way and heed traffic signals. If you don’t agree, a least make cogent comment.
I love walking and bicycling and I always use public transportation. The fewer personal cars on our roads, the better. They’re less and less necessary and I’m thankful they’re being phased out. Someday we’ll look back and wonder why we gave over so much to car owners (who are a definite minority around here, in spite of all the noise they make.) People who love cars shouldn’t live in big cities!
Well said!
An accident? Not bloody likely. The driver aimed directly and killed the varmints!
I don’t blame the driver he hates city bikes because they’re constantly cutting the buses and trucks and cars off on the Avenue and they should be taking their bike lane good for him!!!
This sad comment section is what happens when your story is picked up by the New York Times.
Give this man the Bus Driver of the year award!
Citibikes are a plague. I’ve never been run over by a bus, but citibkikes threaten every day
You can disagree with the existence or extent of Citibikes in NYC without cheering and celebrating a dangerous accident that could have killed someone. Some of you need to double check your morality.
Buses should chase after trucks and other buses, not dinky little bikes. It’s just not fair
My wife’s always telling me not to stand on that same concrete island while waiting to cross the street and I always tell her she worries too much.
You cant make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Manhattan ISN’T Harvard Square, and was never meant to be. You can’t just jam in together permanent street closings, permanent route limitations, ltd. pedestrian pathways.
You’re in a chem lab. Explosions will continue to happen: Hit cyclists, hit cycles, subway malfunctions, etc.
Looking at the damage and the length of the slide the bus must have been going pretty fast. Perhaps the bus driver had a medical emergency.
“No one was injured” except for the lovely young tree which had thrived under the care of several local people. The loss of any tree these days is important to note.