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One of the main things to look at when getting a new apartment is how close it is to the subway. Sometimes even taking one subway to work can become a time-eating endevour, but take a look at AMNY's piece on extreme commuters and you'll realize what some people go through to work in this city.
In the first of what they promise to be an ongoing series, we meet Julia Hecker who commutes 100 blocks each way to work. Not that unusual, however she does it by bike. Working at Mt. Sinai Hospital for 12 1/2 hour shifts, biking there and back each day in often freezing temperatures. With hardly ever hitting the breaks, the 100 blocks between her Lower East Side apartment and 101st Street is only around a 20 minute ride.
According to the U.S. Census, less than one percent of New Yorkers bike to work, a very low number in relation to other more bike-friendly cities in the world (Amsterdam is 30%). For Julia, her commute would be much easier and safer if the city followed through on plans for an East River bike path, the existing East Side bike path stops abruptly at 34th Street.
So how do you get to work?
Photo via the NY Sun, who in 2004 reported bike commuting into Manhattan reached a 20-year high.
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From Queens, door-to-door an hour or so to Manhattan: A 15 minute bus ride and 40 or so mins on the subway. Annoying? Yes, but worth it for a very large, cheap apartment in a safe neighborhood.
I also ride my bicycle to work, 17 miles round trip, most of it on the Manhattan Greenway and on-street bike lanes. One way is 147 blocks plus some crosstown riding. It takes anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes depending upon the weather.
As long as there is no ice - I ride a bicycle. 18 miles round trip. I mostly use the Class A paths on the edges of Manhattan - but I do a few miles of on streets riding as well. Takes me about 45 minutes each way.
I ride to work too (unless it's raining or there's snow/ice on the ground). My commute is nothing compared to these folks, though: it's only about 60 blocks from the LES to lower Park Avenue; it's about 20 minutes via bike, as compared to about 40 on the subway.
The East River greenway would take me out of my way (you go northeast, then northwest to get around the East Village) so I just ride up 1st Avenue and down 2nd.
Wait... Julia Hecker commutes 100 blocks without a helmet? You'd think that someone who works in a hospital would know better than that!
I call bullshit on her 20-minute commute... from Houston on the East Side to Mt. Sinai on the West Side is at least half an hour.
Of course, in the video she doesn't seem to have much of a regard for red lights, even at major intersections... what a fool this chick is! She's begging for a head injury.
Also, you aren't supposed to ride your bike on the pedestrian paths in parks (it says so on the pavement markings), but the video shows her doing that too.
Way to go, AM New York - you really found a great example of a considerate, safety-conscious biker for your story.
What's the big deal? 100 blocks is five miles, a trivial distance on a bike.
Actually now I'm confused... Mt. Sinai is on the Upper East, right? So why is she going through Central Park...? I guess maybe there's some branch of the hospital on the West Side too. Not that it really matters - she's still stupid for not wearing a helmet.
I bike most days it's not raining, too cold, or icy. From Forest Hills to Wall Street, about 10 miles....under an hour. But it is no ride for the light hearted. Myrtle Avenue is a nightmare. And before people start hollering about getting all sweaty and dirty--it's just not the case with me nor any rider who is in shape and can put out a measure effort. It's not for everybody, but I sure wish there were more cyclists and fewer cars out there.
I ride almost every day, when it's too cold, raining or icy, I walk. It's approx. 1.13 miles, according to HopStop, all in Brooklyn. On a bike, it's only 5 minutes, and I planned it that way.
the bike lanes in central park are a loop that come very close to the avenue edges, making it an attractive alternate to riding uptown on an adjacent avenue (ie ride in CP instead of on fifth/park ave or CPW). and the 5 miles could definitely be done in 20 minutes on a bike assuming minimal traffic light stops.
I call BS on this one too; that commute takes longer than that. Also, she is a complete idiot. Blowing the lights and not wearing a helmet is not only bad for her but for all of the people that do follow the rules. What a puff peice, who does she know at AMNY? I mean come on, the fake commute time and the ego stroke - she looks like a chubby to me. Also, riding in those boots?? Come one, BS.
i'm fortunate that the company I work at provides car service to/from work - i'm especially grateful during freezing times like these or when it's super sweaty hot in the summer
I don't think it's possible for her to do that ride in 20 min., not on that crappy bike that she has. LES to 101st? 20 min average would be TOUGH.
smart guy: I actually figured it out: she must be using Central Park for her trip over to Columbia for classes (referenced in the article). In the video, she says she uses 1st Avenue to get to work. Anyway, she doesn't seem to be using the Loop in the video - she is using pedestrian paths.
I used to commute a few miles from Metrotech to Bedford and Carmine in the Village.
It took about 12-15 min. and even beat the subway commute time-wise, by about 10 min.
The Manhattan bridge is great for biking, not as busy as the Brooklyn.
The only problem was getting across town once i crossed the bridge. Canal was insane, and going up a few blocks and using Houston wasn't much better.
I kept it up for a couple years until I got a truck door in my forearm.
After I got the 13 stitches, I continued, but eventually good sense won out.
The double parked/speeding delivery trucks, cabs, people, etc. Do not have time in their rush, to or from work, to recognize or worry about bikers. Most parts of NYC just aren't bicycle friendly and can be quite dangerous.
I think she said she rides up 1st and works her way across. It would make a lot of sense to ride from 59th to Mt. Sinai up the Park Drive. Way more pleasant, no traffic depending on the time. But 20 minutes? Not the way she's riding in the video. She's blowing through lights, but she'd have to be cranking to make it that quickly. But whatever, it's great to see people getting it done on their own power. And it's even better that she's not an annoying bike geek, but an attractive, normal person who just likes to bike. Good for her. But, Julia, if you're reading, put the brain bucket on, sweetie.
"...not wearing a helmet is not only bad for her but for all of the people that do follow the rules"
What rules? THere are rules about the lights you mention but no "rules" about helmets. And howthefark is her not wearing a helmet making things hard for other people?
Idiotic sentiment on your part.
I drive my car to work, from Greenpoint to LIC. Screw the G or B61. I love my gas-guzling auto!!!!
Here's what the article itself says:
[emphasis mine]
I bike the four miles from Bushwick to Brooklyn Heights each day. Even this commute, which goes down the atrociously paved Flushing Ave, is twice as fast as the subway-- about 20 minutes.
how is this commuting "extreme".. she should be street luging or dirtbiking to work.
The pictures of her riding in the park aren't central park, I think it's Stuyvesant Square on 2nd and 16th. I doubt she rides through ther on her commute, it was probably more for a photo-op.
A couple of times a week I run home from work with a backpack - 9 miles one way. It takes about 1 hour and 5 minutes usually, only 20 minutes more than the subway!
I also wondered about the helmet...but I wouldn't be surprised if she forsook it for the sake of looking "cute" for the photo-op. Not that that would be a good excuse...
devo: aha, you're right - that does look like Stuyvesant Park.
JT: I think that the "not following the rules" part was only about the blowing the lights, not about the lack of helmet (the sentence structure is a bit misleading). I think it's interesting that NYC doesn't (yet) have mandatory helmet laws for adults, though.
Criticism of her aside, though, the biking conditions in this city are disgraceful, especially in manhattan, which ought to be a bikers' (and pedestrians') haven, thanks to its density and flatness.
"What's the big deal? 100 blocks is five miles, a trivial distance on a bike."
I second that.
It would take me 20 minutes taking the west side highway. but to get to the west side highway would take me an extra fifteen minutes from the LES. So I call bullshit. Also you'd need a road bike not a mountain bike, A mountain bike would take at least an extra five minutes. also, carry no weight. If you had a road bike with nothing on it pedaling at full speed you could probably make it in 20.
I commute from Ocean County, NJ to 9th Ave. between 15th and 16th every morning, and my commute goes something like this: car to the bus stop, wait in the cold/heat/weather; travel around 80 miles to Port Authority, which is about and hour and a half on a good morning; take the subway to 14th St.; then walk a block to the office.
When it's nice, though, I'll walk to Port Authority. Takes about 30 minutes.
my commute... 15 min walk to Grand Central, 40 min train ride to White Plains, 25 minute bus ride to the office (if everything arrives on time)
I live at 57th and 2nd and work at 34th and 5th and walk to and from work on most days unless it's pouring rain. Straight there is about 25 minutes. Good exercise and a great way to learn about blocks, alleys and avenues I wouldn't normally see. I try and mix it up, for instance, some days I'll walk to 10th and take that to 57th and then across town; a lot of different routes makes the commute interesting every day.
I live on the upper west side(west 100's) and last summer I worked at Great Kills National Recreation Area in Staten Island. Commute=40 min bike ride to S.I Ferry for 20 minute ferry ride+25 Min. on the S.I Railway+1.5 mi more bicycling to park ranger station. Did this for 5 months.
"I think it's interesting that NYC doesn't (yet) have mandatory helmet laws for adults, though."
Interesting? It's entirely appropriate. We don't require helmets for lots of activities that are roughly as safe as cycling, so why should cycling get special restrictions? It shouldn't.
jt: from The New England Journal of Medicine, “A Case-Control Study of the Effectiveness of Bicycle Safety Helmets": Proponents of legislating mandatory helmet use cite strong evidence that helmets can prevent many fatalities and up to 88% of potential brain injuries in bad falls.
That seems like a good enough reason to me...
I'm often tempted to tell you hard-core helmet proponents (trying damnest nto to invoke Godwin here) to fark off. Seriously, what happened to freedom and personal responsibility here? If I or anyone else chooses not to wear a helmet while performing an activity it's our own risk and none of yours. You wanna wear a helmet or full body armor, be my guest. Just leave me and my fellow risk takers alone! We have enough stupid laws to protect us from ourselves as it is.
Yup a 20 minute bike ride is totally EXTREME!
I drive 15 minutes to the Metro-North station, travel 65 miles (or 111 minutes) by train to GCT and then take the 4/5 down to city hall. When everything goes well, it's a 2.5 hour commute.
Eddie, you crack me up you jagoff.
"Seriously, what happened to freedom and personal responsibility here?"
Do you live in the same country as the rest of us? There is no such thing for most of our society it seems.
And I was talking about the lights so bite me and my poor sentence structure. As far as the helmet goes, yeah she should have one on because if something does happen she'll be eating out of a straw if she keeps blowing those lights. Bet she wears an iPod too while riding. Whatever, just don't expect me to pick up the tab for your future diaper changer.
Oh yeah, yes, I do ride to work.
No need to take things so personally, Jack. No need for name calling either; which goes for both myself and the subject of the article.
Just because our personal freedoms are already being lost at a record pace does not mean we should throw up our arms and accept defeat. Quite the opposite, really. It seems like if people such as Gwin up there have their way we'll soon need a license to get out of bed. I exaggerate, but really, that's the biggest risk we take. People slip in showers and fall down stairs and drown in soup all the time. Doesn't mean it should be legislated against.
I'm truly tired of being protected for the sake of insurance companies under the guise of it being for my own good. There are plenty of people out there already eating out of straws. Trust me dude, you are not the primary burden carrier of this fact and never will be.
Frankly, I wasn't even responding to you personally. You've demonstrated nothing in this discussion aside from your own paranoia and ignorance. Unfortunately, people like you out there have the power to make people like me give up our freedoms for your piece of mind. It's a vicious cycle. Far worse then the relatively minor risk of a head injury due to a cycling incident.
*sigh* Eddie, I'm not at all "hard-core" about everything being legislated. I was simply pointing out that I think it's interesting that helmets aren't mandated by law yet, considering they are shown to save lives.
But hey, way to pass quick judgment on me.
Gwin, even if you accept the conclusions of that study, so what? Does the fact that doing X can prevent a large number of injuries in a certain activity mean that it should be mandated that we do X. Or even, by choice, you should recommend that everyone do X?
Without looking at the odds of the thing X is trying to prevent, the cost of doing X, and the possiblity that there are other cheaper or more effective means to protect oneself, what you're talking about is nonsense.
I am sure that wearing a football helmet would prevent a large number of injuries to people's faces from slips and falls. So what? I am sure that wearing a helmet will significantly reduce the severity of head injuries sustained while walking. So what? The overall risks in walking are not that high. The overall risk of people cracking their faces open sliping are not that high. So what's the point?
The same thing general safety is true of cycling, despite scare-mongers saying otherwise.
When you start making safety recommendations for other people's activities, first take a good hard look at the issue of overall risk in your life and ask yourself why you're recommending helmets for some activities and not for others.
Gwin -- take a look at this, pro and con on cycling helmets:
www. chapmancentral. co.uk/ web/public.nsf/Documents/maxi-faq-helmets?OpenDocument
"I'm not at all "hard-core" about everything being legislated. I was simply pointing out that I think it's interesting that helmets aren't mandated by law yet, considering they are shown to save lives."
There are a zillion things that could be "shown to save lives" Is it interesting to you that not all of them have been legislated?
Pedestrians die almost every day in NYC after being hit by cars. I'll bet helmets and body armor would help. Even with airbags and seat belts, people in cars die. Helmets would help for sure -- why isn't the legislature doing something?
We see in Texas that there are efforts underway to force women to get a new vaccine for HPV. Great -- hey it'll save lives.
Tetanus? When did you last get your tetanus shot? I find it interesting that they are not required by law.
Quick access to portable defribillators has been shown to save lives. I'm surprised the City Council isn't requiring them in every building.