Shameless Bike Lane Block, Courtesy Rite Aid Truck

I'm glad I stayed out of this thread!

Anyhow, somebody better call a whaaambulance!

NYC = Organized Chaos. Live it learn it love it.

Ok, i understand, watch out for the bikes, they get their own lanes, blah bla bla. But, what about stupid cyclists that dont follow the traffic laws and when you have the right to cross the street and the cars and trucks are stopped at red light, a bike comes out of nowhere speeding towards you! They arent so innocent!

Why is it that anti-cyclists are usually unreasonable? Not willing to give anything... There is a tremendous amount of good that would come with it, for personal health, traffic congestion, the enviroment.... Imean, you've heard it all before. I mostly walk or ride the train. When necessary I take a cab or rent a Zipcar, or for longer trips I rent a regular rental. But I do have a bike. I wish life was such that it would be convenient to ride my bike more often- especially with how much fun I have on it and how it makes me feel physically and howuch quicker it gets me from A to B-, but it's not in MY life. But I'm rreasonable. I often see these arguments and I thinkost cyclist are being reasonable and just want a little something that benefits a greater whole and community. I find "motorists" just being hateful and unwilling to have any community at all. Why's it got to be like that?

Count me as one bike rider who doesn't particularly care. It's not even a safety issue in this instance, due to the buffer zone (you can just ride around, whereas a typical double-parked car forces you to take the next traffic lane).

I'd rather ride in the street with traffic anyway. If that were the norm, more of each group (drivers and cyclists) would get used to sharing the road.

Honestly, are you guys new yorkers? Who gives a shit. Ride around it dumbass gentrifiers.

have you guys heard the news? kafkask hates blocked bike lanes!

I hate blocked bike lanes as much as any cycling New Yorker, but c'mon - I'd love to see your fat Gothamist ass haul hundreds of boxes using a hand truck. Cut the drivers some slack. Let's get angry at the cars or COPS who park on them.

I hate blocked bike lanes as much as any cycling New Yorker, but c'mon - I'd love to see your fat Gothamist ass haul hundreds of boxes using a hand truck. Cut the drivers some slack. Let's get angry at the cars or COPS who park on them.

I hate blocked bike lanes as much as any cycling New Yorker, but c'mon - I'd love to see your fat Gothamist ass haul hundreds of boxes using a hand truck. Cut the drivers some slack. Let's get angry at the cars or COPS who park on them.

I hate blocked bike lanes as much as any cycling New Yorker, but c'mon - I'd love to see your fat Gothamist ass haul hundreds of boxes using a hand truck. Cut the drivers some slack. Let's get angry at the cars or COPS who park on them.

Has Gothamist or any of the blogs that b*tch and moan about the hardships of bike riders ever posted a photo of the assh*le bikers blocking and riding on the pedestrian sidewalks? Or the countless stories of obnoxious cyclists who cut people off when they are walking across the street or how they yell at people for not paying attention to them as they come speeding towards them through the traffic signal.

If you are physically capable of going around a parked vehicle while riding a bike, then you should be wearing a helmet and strapped onto the short bus where you'll be safe.

Or how about the assholes riding bikes on Central Park paths who actually ring their gay little bells at you like you're supposed to get out of their way?

To be fair, an audible signal can help avoid a collision and doesn't actually translate to "out of my way."

But I doubt you're interested in being fair, given your inexplicable use of "gay" as if it were a slur.

sorry that was to have read not capable...I got distracted by cyclist riding through the park's area where there are tables and chairs for us bi-peds.

There are several grocery stores and other types of stores, which have spaces reserved for delivery trucks at specific times. For example, there's a Gristedes (or some other grocery store) on 70th near 2nd Ave, where only delivery trucks can park from 6-9 pm, so that's when deliveries have to be done.

Why can't they set up something like that here? Tell Duane Reade that deliveries are only allowed from 8-10 at night, for example, and no other cars are allowed to park in front.

Aside from that suggestion, though, while I think the truck should not have parked here, I do not understand why, if they're going to break the law, they couldn't at least park further back from the intersection, so cyclists can see potential jaywalkers, and pedestrians can see cyclists blowing red lights - the current situation is so dangerous. Also, why couldn't the truck just park in the striped area? I know they're not allowed, but the current parking job is just jerky in all respects...

that trucks restocking the kleenex from all the crybaby bikers to that bike friendly riteaid.

i tend to smell badly after bicycling. butthat doesnt mean you get to block the entrance to riteaid. i have my rights. bicycling should be plentyful and like masterdam in new york city. why not mr. bloomberg. you wount get my vote for a third rail.

Dear drivers who hate bikers,

Imagine how open the city would be if we ONLY had delivery trucks and the majority of individual passengers used bikes and subways, not cars.

My favorite part of the day in the city is riding blocks and blocks and blocks for free in safer bike lanes while angry, resentful people stuck in too-large cars, stuck in their own traffic, stuck in bad road design, stuck in thinking that goes back to 1950...stew over how much bikers suck.

As I blow past you and move on down the road and arrive 30 minutes before you do, I need only remember posts like these full of quotes about "fucking bikers" to get a really big smile. Makes my day.

Sincerely,

A guy who bikes and votes (for bike lanes)

P.S. You're invited to join us anytime.

i love it when we fight! more bike articles!!!

Humorously enough, the last time I saw a cyclist on 8th Ave, he wasn't using the bike lane at all...at least someone is using that pavement!

the bottom line is really that these kind of bike "lanes" are laughably designed. a bike lane does not need to be 10 feet wide. it does not require a 6 foot buffer from the parked cars. simply use small curbs to make it different grade.

Actually, they were designed that wide so the street sweepers could still run along the curb. The added width of the buffer was to create pedestrian refuges at each corner, which make crosswalks shorter and walking across the street much safer.

Hey, I have a deal for you bikers! Learn to obey the traffic laws and stop at red lights and we might consider keeping your damn bike lanes open.

Until then....FUCK OFF!!!!

http://www.bikeblognyc.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/IMG_32561-768x1024.jpg

Ah... this spurious argument returns once again!

Notice how nobody ever says, "Until all pedestrians stop jay-walking, emerging mid-block from betweeen cars, we will roll up the sidewalks and make them an extra lane" ... or "Until all cars stop running red lights, cutting me off when turning, we'll make a turnip patch out of their lanes"...

The accountability of all for the actions of some only seems to be applied to cyclists.

Why not stay out in lovely Wyandanch and enjoy the bike-free LIE?

Yield to cross-traffic and pedestrians, sure, but why exactly should bikers stop at red lights?

When's the last time you waited for a walk sign when crossing a street when there were no cars passing by?

How about no trucks (of a certain length) 7am - 7pm

And make commercial areas in "No Standing Except Deliveries" 7pm - 7am?

Less trucks during the day, less cars in Manhattan (nowhere to park them at night).

Right, because who would want businesses to conduct business like deliveries during working hours!

Deliveries could not be conducted during daylight hours in the City of Rome in antiquity.

Hell, why don't we BAN these bastards with their oversized trucks and introduce these: http://bikecart.pedalpeople.com/

Then if bikecart users stop in the Bike lane to drop off goods, we can bitch about how they're double parked, like we do when cars do it.

On a serious note: Get over it. Just ride around the damn thing. Look at the space between the right side of the truck and the curb. Unless your a corpulent piece of shit, you can squeeze your bike riding ass through the gap and onward to your miserable wine and cheese eating whole foods shopping bottle water drinking existence.

If they ban trucks, who will deliver all the tofu and spandex shorts?

So, I guess the truck blocked the one or two bikes which use 8th Avenue each day.

I have driven down 9th Avenue Fri-Sun for weeks on end and I have almost never seen any bikes on it. The car/bike ratio must be something like 10000/1. The bike lanes are a ridiculous idea.

JDS- usually enjoy your musings, but these bike lane bits are just troll bait. Enjoy your hits.



As a former bike messenger of 4 years and also a delivery truck driver of 4 more. I see nothing wrong with this scenerio. There is a certain level of anarchy involved in how NYC works. And it oft includes sharing. Go the fuck around bicyclists. I know I did.

I love the "I was a bike messenger so I make more sense" position. First off, things are different now, more people are out riding to work & school and some of them are less experienced and need more space so they and others don't get too close.

This lane helps with that.

Rite Aid has had similar issues, before with the 9th avenue bike lane, and they found a way to stop making deliveries in the 9th ave. bike lane. For more info on that, see here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/lpq/2123718034/

I expect Rite Aid will be 'shamed' and bothered enough and this will eventually stop. Next story.

People with less experience who are afraid to merge into traffic for 4 seconds to go around this truck should probably not be riding in Manhattan. What do those people do when they have to ride on one of the large majority of streets that don't have bike lanes?

They're less likely too, maybe?

Well, that was half of my argument, RatherBeBiking,(please review previous statement) and the point being is that I have experience from a few angles. Your argument resembles that of a Park Slope Stroller Mom. If you can't hack it get the fuck out of the street. You're in the way.

Wait, so I'm in your way but you're going to go around the 60 foot truck in the lane? I don't get it. I bet you're one of those 'bad ass' guys who spits on these lanes and rides out in traffic, pissing off more people who are already fuming over the new lanes.

...most sensible comment I've heard so f&*^%$ far.

I was refering to #34 -tnturner's.

any street cyclist, who isn't a pansy, views such an obstacle as part of the quotidian routine.

+1, he isn't blocking the lane completely at least.

There is a nice big red no standing anytime sign right where the truck is parked. If there are any traffic cops patrolling the area at the time, that's more revenue for the city, more revenue for more bike lanes. Yay.

OK, now i've had enough...

Do they pay a luxury tax for bike lanes?

Since they are vehicles and have a lane are they required to have bicycle insurance?

Who will pay my bills if I get hit in the bike lane as a pedestrian (who ALWAYS has the right of way) ??

If I do not use the bike lanes I should get a tax rebate, my taxes paid for them.

Truckers Unite.

When Manhattan has to leave the borough to shop all hell will break loose.

Pedestrians do not always have the right of way in New York state (thank you AAA, for that). But I give it to them anyway, because I think it's the right thing to do.

Have a nice day!

These bike lanes are idiotic. They cause huge traffic backups on 9th Ave, deliveries to all the small stores on 8th and 9th are next to impossible, especially w/ the vulture-like NYPD just waiting to slap tickets on any truck or van that stops, even for a moment.

They take up one-third of the road, and are hardly used at all. And pedestrians think nothing of using them as personal walkways.

This is Nanny State bureaucracy run amok. As much as people wish that there was no traffic in Manhattan, the fact is that there is traffic, and it shouldnt be made worse for a few smug bicyclists.

I believe the logic of separated bike lanes is to get some of the people out of those cars, who would be riding a bike but are afraid of the hostile culture that exists among many drivers. Not a majority, but enough to cause reasonable safety concerns.

The problem right now is that the separated lanes don't really exist in a network, so that person is still going to drive. And that's why you might see the 8th Ave lane empty much of the time (I don't know, I live in Brooklyn where bike traffic is always heavy day and night).

In an ideal world, we'd all use bikes when the only things we have to lug around can fit in a backpack.

I tend to agree. Cycling is encouraged as a means to reduce traffic, not to complicate it.

The idea is to make cycling easier and more convenient for all people, not just the die-hard cyclists. A bike takes up very little space compared to a car. Get people on bikes instead of in a car and traffic is alleviated that much more.

Physical capacity of the road is only one cause of traffic congestion. The presence of a bike lane might take up 4ft of the available road space (maybe some extra ft for buffer) but how many otherwise unnecessary cars does it take out of traffic on a regular basis?

I imagine the net effect would be in favor of more space for car traffic.

Furthermore if you have the majority of cyclists in a designated 4ft of the road instead of 'wherever' it keeps traffic flowing more regularly. Obstacles (cyclists) are another cause of traffic congestion. With more cyclists confined to bike lanes you reduce the occurrence of those obstacles. Bikes travel at different speeds too - I think if a motorist had a choice (aside from the impossible option of banishing bicycles all together)between having a cyclist in regular traffic or out of their way in a bike lane - they would choose the latter. Am I crazy on this?

90% of my commuting in the city is on a bike.

While I do think this was a poor parking choice, I do not think I would be outraged if I came upon this. There's plenty of room in the zebra lines for the truck to park YES, but it doesn't take any effort or risk of safety for me to bike around through the zebra lines myself. If it made whatever difficult unload they had to do that much easier then the inconvenience on me wasn't that great.

I more so get concerned when I have to divert from a bike lane into car traffic because it's blocked. Not that riding in traffic is bad, but when you're on a street with a designated bike lane I think the car drivers are less likely to expect you to be out of it.

In the end its about safety for everyone not an epic battle of righteousness.

The stuff comes in on pallets and is unloaded with power jacks which cannot climb curbs, that's why they can't park away from the sidewalk.

And if the truck did park on the stripes, someone would still complain that the guys unloading the truck were crossing the bike lane and getting in the way.

Rite Aid found a way to make deliveries without using the bike lane on 9th avenue, and they'll figure it out here.

Exactly. Cars cause far more of a problem in blocking bike lanes because of their sheer number. And since they can get away with it, it's considered socially acceptable - like pissing on the street was in the 80's.

But do you send them to Transportation Alternatives?

imagine if it were the other way around, and auto traffic had to deal with bikes constantly blocking their designated lanes.

wait -- bikes are allowed in those lanes too.

bottom line is that traveling in this city basically sucks every so often, no matter what mode of transport you use. find a radically better way to get people and cargo around or get over it.

Seriously, just bike around the truck. You're going to make these hard working delivery ppl go, say, 20 yds more for each thing they have to unload? Fuck the bike lane. My goodness.

"You're going to make these hard working delivery ppl go, say, 20 yds more for each thing they have to unload?"

That's called "having a job". If they don't want to do it, I'm sure someone else will.

So, the answer is a resounding "yes"... in the interest of safety.

Unloading palletized deliveries with a hand truck takes exponentially longer than removing the pallets whole and therefore exponentially more labor expense, which would be passed on to you, the consumer. And since there are only so many hours in a day and each delivery would take much longer to make, they would need more trucks to stock their stores, creating more pollution and more traffic. Yeah, great idea.

Do you guys ever think about what you're writing? You're saying we should erase the past 40 years of transportation technology so a few people can avoid a non-existent danger? THERE'S PLENTY OF ROOM TO RIDE AROUND THE TRUCK. AND IF YOU REALLY HAD TO, YOU COULD RIDE IN THE NORMAL LANE FOR 60 FEET.

longacre is correct.

Good.

I got no sympathy for these cyclist retards when it comes to trucks and unloading. Its hard enough to navigate a truck through Manhattan, at least the unload can be somewhat easier.

Seriously, cycle people need to shut the fuck up.

"Seriously, cycle people need to shut the fuck up."

What a coincidence; I was about to say the same about obnoxious jagoffs.

You want a designated lane for loading and unloading, take it up with the city. Don't bully your way into someone else's spot just because you can't manage to figure something out.

I haven't biked since moving to NY and after seeing how people treat cyclists out here I probably won't start anytime soon. Assholes + big vehicles = lose-lose scenario for a guy on bicycle.

"Don't bully your way into someone else's spot just because you can't manage to figure something out."

Isn't bullying how the cyclists got these concessions in the first place? The city operated fine before these lanes existed and bikes had to share traffic lanes with other vehicles.

The city "operated fine" in the past because there weren't as many bicyclists on the roads. Now that there are a lot more, bike lanes are perfectly reasonable and logical additions.

Sharing the same road -- especially roads driven by motorists known for their constant traffic violations -- is incredibly dangerous for cyclists. It only makes sense to offer them a dedicated lane where they can ride without having to worry that someone will mow them down.

Nobody has exclusive rights to the roads. Cyclists have had to concede to motorists for decades. It's only fair that motorists offer a LITTLE compromise. Giving up barely a fraction of the road for the safety of others hardly seems like an unreasonable request.

There are a lot more bikes? Can't see even one of them in that picture. In fact virtually none of the whining, bitching and moaning done on Gothamist over blocked bike lanes includes a actual picture of an actual bike in an actual blocked bike lane. That's because bike lanes are a waste of space that should be turned into sidewalks.

The fact of the matter is, cities that actively work to make the roads more accommodating to and safer for cyclists have seen an increase of cyclists on the road. Simply put, the more bike-friendly your city, the more bikers it sees. Which means fewer cars on the roads. Which is a good thing.

And for the record, I honestly don't care about the truck or cars blocking the bike lane. If it were me I'd just go around. I've biked under less safe circumstance. Ten seconds on the edge of traffic is nothing.

Yet by the same token, I honestly find it spiteful and self-defeating when people hate on bike lanes. Biking is a good thing. It's healthier, cheaper, and better for the environment than the alternatives. Why is it a bad thing to try to encourage that by making New York more bike-friendly?

A lot more bikes compared to thirty years ago, absolutely.

I really don't see why so many people are so bothered by bike lanes. There's plenty of road. There's plenty of sidewalk. Why is it so heinous a crime to ask that some of that road be used for cyclists?

I can't help but find it a little ironic that the greatest city on the planet -- a city that prides itself in its many other "green" initiatives -- is so resistant to allocating a few feet of asphalt for cyclists.

OK, lets go with that logic. The city operated fine, too, before automobiles were introduced and we had paved roads thanks to 19th century bicyclists.

http://www.greentechhistory.com/2009/05/how-bicyclists-built-the-roads-that-carried-the-cars-that-pushed-them-off-the-roads/

Bicyclists were here first, we paved the roads, and we're just taking back a little piece.

I will sympathize more with cyclists when they start to respect traffic regulations and pedestrians themselves.

boring. wake me up when there's a new complaint that hasn't been reiterated 1000 times (and logically refuted) on a bike thread.

I will sympathize more with automobile drivers when they start to respect traffic regulations and pedestrians themselves.

But people who drive trucks for a living, think it's "hard", and feel comfortable calling _others_ retards? Hilarious, but no sympathy.

You're right, trucks that size have no place in Manhattan. They should be banned.

Yeah tell that to all the people in this city that need the goods that they bring to market.

Or do you suggest leveling half of central park and putting in a train intermodal depot complete with gantry cranes?

Yeah I didn't think so.

Fuck, you got me. Clearly, an articulated truck half the length of a city block is the only way I'm ever gonna get my cigarettes and Ben Gay.

that rite aid must do good business.

8th appears to be one of the better bike lanes, too.

shame this has to happen. can't the truck be on the other side of the ave. and use U-boats to bring inventory in?

There is a Rite Aid trailer in that lane almost every weeknight by around 9-10pm.

Oh please.....a truck temporarily blocking the precious bike lane to make a delivery.

Yeah. Who do those bike riders think they are, taking up a whole ten feet of the street to keep out of the way of insane motorists that wouldn't think twice about running them over? They should be ashamed of themselves for wanting to ride in a lane designated for them. Damn hippies.

Hell, while we're at it, screw those handicapped folks, too! If I wanna park right in front of a business, I'm gonna. Why should I have to kowtow to Gimpy Joe over there?

The "park around the corner" argument doesn't hold water. When in NYC was the last time that you saw a 4-5 car length parking spot open?

How about two "No Parking. Deliveries Only" signs, about 4-5 car lengths apart?

Where do you envision those signs going? I don't think your response makes sense.

First, the delivery truck has 2 options: legal parking or non-legal. Legal parking consists of the following: "the film crew method". Wait for a car to move out of its parking spot, then put a cone down, and continue to do so until you've monopolized 4-5 successive parking spots. Then, when you've taken up sufficient space, park the truck in there. In addition to being greedy, the store also has to time its deliveries just right, with the precision of a NASA space station.

The other option is non-legal, which yields the following: traditional double-parking, parking around the corner, or what the picture depicts. Before the creation of bike lanes, plus the buffer lane, he could have easily double-parked on the main street, thereby creating a double-parking situation, which, is a nuisance, but often-seen, and drivers have gotten used to going around them. Now, with the addition of the bike lane and the buffer lane, if the truck were to double-park, ie, park next to the line of parked cars, he would essentially be triple-parking, or further narrowing an already restricted traffic space. Doesn't make sense. 2nd option is parking around the corner: still reduces him to double-parking. Doesn't make sense. What he did in the picture makes the most sense. Hogging the space only for the time that he needs to deliver the goods. A bicyclist can easily maneuver around that. In fact, a bicyclist, with a smaller and more agile vehicle, is in a better position to maneuver around him than a motor-vehicle.

Agreed, the truck has few legal and reasonable options. There's the rub.

In a civilized city, delivery trucks would have to be reasonably sized and park in appropriate designated loading zones.

These would come at the expense of a few parking spots, not of the bike lane, thereby discouraging congestion- and pollution-inducing behavior while encouraging healthy, green transportation alternatives.

"Wait for a car to move out of its parking spot, then put a cone down, and continue to do so until you've monopolized 4-5 successive parking spots."

Now imagine this method if parking isn't allowed at all.

Those 4-5 spots are available right away for deliveries!

I must have missed your point. How do you envision working?

Where else are trucks suppose to be park to make their delivers? Everyone wants their food and supplies, right?

"park around the corner and use a hand truck!"

In the photo there appears to be a fairly wide swath (with diagonal stripes) which could certainly be used for a short-term stop to unload. The truck wouldn't fit completely, but the bike lane would still be usable.

In the photo there appears to be a fairly wide swath (with diagonal stripes) which could certainly be used by bikes to go around he truck. The bikes would fit completely.

"Believe it or not, we don't publish every egregious bike lane blocking photo that lands in our inbox, "

yes you do

Clearly the automobile parking is the problem.

I can't see how business are supposed to get deliveries with all those cars there!

We must get rid NYC of all on-street automobile parking before it destroys the businesses that make this city run!