Gothamist: Map of the Day: NYC Bike Maps!

vin

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 10:20:30 -0500

Let's separate the two topics here: biking riding itself is healthy, fun, reduces pollution, etc. Critical Mass is just a debacle with no organization nor purpose, and totally out of control. I am glad the NYPD are busting on these losers.

b

Tue, 02 May 2006 10:35:09 -0500

james -- ever try this thing called "fun"? You might want to try it. It's good for you.

seth

Tue, 02 May 2006 07:40:02 -0500

Thanks for the mention, Gothamist! NYCbikemaps.com is my creation and very much a work in progress. As you pointed out, there are many paths that are missing from the map, but I expect to have them all added in the next week or two (in fact, all of Staten Island’s bike paths & bike lanes were added yesterday). Also just added, is a map of geotagged pictures for bike routes around the city. Be sure to check out the pictures of the paths leading to City Island. Picture Map Besides more bike paths & more pictures there is a lot that I plan to add to the map in the future. More information on future plans & current issues can be found here. Thanks again for the call out & be sure to check back after the 5 Boro Bike Tour this weekend for a map of the route & pictures from the event!

james

Mon, 01 May 2006 21:51:24 -0500

So it is what I thought. Unless I can get a better explanation for why you do that you do, critical mass really is just a pain in the ass- nothing more. You could probably accomplish a lot more if you actually put your brains and bodies to good use. News flash- critical mass represents nothing more than a bunch of morons riding around in circles without any real purpose in a world painfully thirsty for change. Now don't get me wrong, I don't plan on changing the world by myself. I am just saying that I will be busy trying while you dipshits are riding around in circles.

-ed

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 00:51:31 -0500

So John, which is more dangerous, a bicyclist running a red light or a 5000 lb. SUV running a red light? Obviously the NYPD think the former, given anyone's observations who lives in Manhattan! This has almost nothing to do with bicyclists obeying traffic laws, but everything to do about police intimidation, especially after they have been reprimanded in court. Police are sore losers....get to know some and you'll understand.

john

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 23:18:50 -0500

So I'm to presume that all these bikers definitely were abiding by all rules of traffic that apply to other large vehicles as well, such as not running red lights and giving right of way when necessary, right?

-ed

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 16:41:55 -0500

If you witnessed any despicable/illegal behavior by the police, make sure to report it!!! Here's one option: http://www.nyc.gov/html/ccrb/html/complaint.html

Mike

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 16:12:29 -0500

Don't fear the bike ride to City Island. It's reasonably well marked and mostly a level ride through safe neighborhoods.. And, best of all, the cops in the Bronx have better things to do than bust people on bikes.

mike

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 14:21:12 -0500

biking is awesome - I agree with you for the most part, and share your enthusiasm for the transformative power of bicycling, but I don't think the powers that be are attacking Critical Mass because of a conscious desire to preserve the power of oil companies, consumerism, etc. We should probably be more realistic in our assesment of their motives. Remember first, that the NYPD is a paramilitary organization. Therefore, cops do what they're told, even if they disagree (I've met many nice cops (as nice as you can be for taking away my rights under the ultimate threat of a gun), who said this whole thing is BS, and that they'd rather leave us alone). Where this thuggish behavior is ultimately coming from has been debated in many other forums, but I think Kelly has a bug up his ass, especially since the RNC, and Smolka is only too happy to oblige. I think the Police brass also feel threatened. In this "post-9/11 era" (god, I hate that phrase), the police feel they need to be in control everywhere, and that public space needs to be controlled, regimented, etc. Critical Mass, while not an actual danger to anybody, represents a symbolic threat to their power to control the public. We are not bulkly, compliant cars. We are nimble, powerful cyclists. They are used to the usual mindless consumeristic placid behavior of most New Yorkers these days (and I include myself in this description). Any attempt to actually exercise one's rights in a vigorous way is a threat to them. This is not to say that many cops are indeed viscious assholes who just want to kick some "anarchist" ass. I think there also is a class/cultural issue at play here. Many cops, for one reason or another, are not from the City, or are from Queens, Staten Island, etc., areas which lack good mass transit or dense urban land use which is amenable to walkable and bikable communities. Therefore, these cops suffer from what we call a "behind the windshield mentality". The think that it is natural that cars should be dominant on the streets, and that bicyclists, at best, are annoyances who should be marginalized. Any bicycle riders who actually use their full rights to travel are out of the ordinary, and these particular cops instictively try to push them out of their way, by arrest, ticketing, violence, etc. Now, it doesn't have to be this way. In other places, cops know the rights of bicyclists and treat them with respect. Besides fighting the City in court, suing their asses off again and again, and continuing to just ride every day, I think there also needs to be some work on trying to change the culture of the police (and City "leaders"). Part of this might come as the less-enlightened older cops retire, but I think we need to figure out what else we need to do.

biking is awesome.

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 13:04:55 -0500

why aren't there any articles in the NY times or anything about Critical Mass? SHouldn't this be like front page material against oil wars. Critical Mass needs better PR if it's really a protest cause it's not working. Remember when someone defaced Brooklyn Industries? there were tons of articles about Mutant Bike culture then, but why doesn't anyone write stories about the virtue of self powered transportation? There is something bigger here at hand. I just started riding a bike this year and it's amazing! I can go twice as fast as a car or subway train if you account for traffic and the subway wait and it's stops. The best thing about riding a bike is that it's free energy. I always thought that riding all day would make me tired but it's the total opposite. I get so much energy from riding that I feel like punching someone in the face when I get off cause I've got so much excess energy built up from all the cardio I get. Also I don't have to pay 50 bucks a month to take a spin class. I kill three birds with one stone. I get free transportation, free exercise, free sightseeing and I also get the self satisfaction that I didn't pollute the environment. Also you sort of get a vicarious thrill when you almost have a huge accident but through sheer determination and luck you escape injury. So it's sort of like a self controlled roller coaster ride. So with all these reasons the only conclusion I have to make is that the government wants people not to bike so they can make more money on oil, cars, the subway, the bus, the gym, fast food, doctors for health care. It all makes sense now. Cause if everyone biked in the city all these industries would suffer a bit. We live in a world where they charge more for bottled water than soda. Think about that.

Peter

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 13:01:02 -0500

It is pretty easy to get to City Island (and Orchard Beach). It used to take me approximately 45 minutes (one-way) from West 100th and Broadway. We were going to City Island, eating some lobster and then coming back :)

m

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 12:41:51 -0500

Nobody can really claim to speak for Critical Mass, but I'll tell you why I personally. do it. I ride because it's fun (and much safer) to ride together. I think it also shows the City that there is an alternatives to driving around in steel coffins, that transportation can be a positive thing, that we don't have to be addicted to oil, that we don't have to slowly kill ourselves via obesity, asthma, cancer and heart disease, that we don't have to destroy our communities in order to accomodate motor vehicles. It used to be much more fun, when the cops would ignore us, or even blocked traffic for us. Now, of course, they feel the need to arrest people for no reason. I was arrested because I was foolish enough to stop at a red light! It's unfortunate that the cops create such a bad vibe now sometimes. If you've never done it in the years before RNC, it was so much fun! Really, among some of the best, most exhilarating experiences in my life. It's something you can't do justice by describing; you have to try it yourself. So now, of course, in addition to all the above reasons, I think many people ride in order to prove a point to the NYPD -- that just because I have 2 wheels instead of 4, that just because I do NOT, pollute, I have the same legal right to ride on my streets as do car drivers; that they cannot stop us; that we do not need their permission to exercise our legal right to use the streets we all own.

james

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 12:22:58 -0500

I don't understand the critical mass thing. Any point to it, or do you do it because you are bored and want to piss off cops? Now I am not a cop, and I am an avid biker. Just looking for a point, thats all.

vacationland

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 11:57:04 -0500

hey, i was that guy who kept getting hit from behind by a scooter cop and just when i was about to split i was surrounded by 4 of them and got one heck of a surprise. they must not have liked my hat. who has that video?

mike

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 11:46:24 -0500

TA does not produce the bike maps. They are made by the Dept of City Planning. New paper copies should be available in your local bike shop, by becoming a TA member, or by calling 311. Hopefully the 2006 PDF version will be available soon.