It's no "Meat & You: Partners In Freedom," but we enjoyed this 17-minute tutorial on how bicycles were made in England in 1945, back when bike lanes weren't a political bargaining chip, and pie cost six pence, and… more ›

Since bikes are on our brain today, we thought we'd dip into the NYC Municipal Archives again to check out some old school, two-wheelin' New Yorkers. Click through for a look back at cyclists in 1927 through the '40s, a good hundred years after the first bicycles were being introduced to the public (though who knows when that guy in photo #3 was riding around, there's no date given). more ›

Wouldn't it be great if you never had to worry about your bike light turning on in your pocket and exhausting its battery without your awareness? The designers of a new rear bike light called Blink / Steady feel your aggravation, and want to lighten your load. Designed by the head of the Gowanus Studio Space, Blink / Steady contains an accelerometer, so it only burns when the bike moves. And it's tough to steal because it slides over the seatpost and is screwed on. more ›

It's been a tough four weeks to ride a bike around the Lower East Side: Stanton, Rivington, Suffolk and Norfolk streets were all stripped of their paving, making it rough on riders' bikes and derrieres. One of our commenters even noted, "I have to find a new commute from Greenpoint or else I'll start getting chronic yeast infections from that turbulence." Luckily for ladyparts, the DOT tells us that the resurfacing of Stanton and Rivington will begin tomorrow night, weather permitting. Norfolk & Suffolk will begin on the 21st. more ›

Unlike Old Amsterdam, New Amsterdam lacks charming canals into which rusty bicycles can be tossed out of sight, so our bike-carcasses are left to rot on the street. If you call 311, the Department of Sanitation will pick up the bike within a week or so to recycle it, but in the last 18 months only 40 bikes have been removed. To illustrate that this is just a drop in the graveyard, WNYC's Transportation Nation has created a map of all the city's busted bikes hogging up prime bike-parking real estate based on submissions. more ›

For the past few months the city has been talking to locals about where they want the share stations to live, and now we are getting closer to finding out where the winner locations will be. Because clearly the city can't put a station in every location that residents have suggested in the city. You wouldn't be able to cross the street! more ›

A driver struck a cyclist this afternoon in Bensonhurst then drove away, leaving the victim in critical condition. The NYPD had little information regarding the victim, other than that it was a young male, but Daily News photographer Debbie Egan-Chin is at the scene, and wrote, "reportedly the kid was run over then car backed up over him before running away." Police spokesman Brian Sessa told us that they don't have a description of the vehicle yet. more ›

Over the past year, acclaimed traffic engineer Sam Schwartz has been pitching a form of congestion pricing that would lower the tolls on bridges uptown and charge cars traveling the Queensboro, Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges $7 ($5 with E-ZPass). The former traffic commissioner also wants to impose a surcharge on yellow and livery cabs heading over those bridges. This "congestion pricing" (or "Mucous Mulct," as we prefer to call it) would raise $1.2 billion annually. But part of that money would come from a 50-cent toll on cyclists crossing those bridges into Manhattan. more ›

Soon enough, there will be one less lane of (car) traffic in Central Park. In addition to the new East/West pedestrian/bike path on 96th Street the Central Park Conservancy is now getting ready to drop one of the two car lanes on the open-to-cars-at-rush hour Terrace Drive in favor of a second bike lane. Olmstead and Vaux would be proud. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] On March 5th, we gathered at the base of the Manhattan Bridge to kiss our sweethearts and ring our bells: order was restored and our bikes were back where they belong, on the North Side. But in our recent trips over the bridge we couldn't help but notice that seven path-blocking, construction awnings are still making it tough for cyclists heading in opposite directions to squeeze by, and one large ladder surrounded by cones makes for an interesting obstacle. (See ladder below.) Are these hazardous barnacles here to stay? more ›

Next Sunday, the Seventh Annual Memorial Ride and Walk will take place across all five boroughs to commemorate cyclists who have been killed on the streets of New York City in the past year. more ›

We hear the bogus excuses all the time: "They're not serving you like a waiter would! Delivering $50 of food is the same as delivering $10. The food is always cold so why tip?" Hard-hearted cheapskates should take heed of the story of Chinese food delivery man Lin Dakang in the Times, for if you still don't change your stingy ways, you probably deserve that Loogie Lo Mein the next time you place an order. more ›

A cyclist is in critical condition after having being struck by a vehicle shortly after making an abrupt stop for a car making a sudden left turn. According to the NYPD's press office, a 23-year-old man was riding his bike southbound on Second Avenue at around 9:48 a.m. yesterday and was "forced to brake suddenly for a vehicle making a left turn" onto East 18th Street. The official account notes that he then fell off his bike, and was hit by another vehicle. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, and both cars remained at the scene. more ›

This morning, in a news conference on the City Hall steps, Council Member Jessica Lappin announced a new bill to double the fines on drivers of electric bikes, from the current $500 to a crushing $1000 per ticket. She said her office has been deluged with complaints about "the scourge" of these souped up delivery bikes, which can hit speeds of 30 mph. In a recent survey, a whopping 72% of her constituents said they'd "been hit or almost hit" by a delivery bike, and not surprisingly, about the same percentage favored increasing fines on electric bikes. more ›

Sometimes when we're bored, we'll pop in one of the "Grand Theft Auto" games and just drive around on a dirt bike popping wheelies (oh, San Andreas). It's just fun, y'know? But we've never actually considered doing it IRL, let alone on the streets of Manhattan. And we certainly never considered doing it in real life on the street of Manhattan one handed. more ›

If you lock your bicycle to a CityRack in SoHo, how long will it take before mendacious thieves pick its bones completely clean? Well, judging by the poor dismembered bike in this time-lapse video, a little under nine months—or 36 seconds. The designers and "brand strategists" at a company called Red Peak locked a fully loaded bike—basket, water bottle, bells, lights, etc.—on a busy street in SoHo and took a photo of it every day last year. Here is the sad story of that bike's consumption by a city starving for water bottles, spare bike parts and scrap metal: more ›

How serious are the police taking their promise to slow down speeding bikers in Prospect Park? So seriously they are following the Daily News' lead and actively try to enforce the speed limit in the park. Still, "We’re not going to be jumping out of trees, ticketing for little things like wearing headphones," an NYPD spokesman told the Brooklyn Paper. more ›

In keeping with the tabloids' "fresh" narrative concerning the battle in public parks between heartless cyclists vs. vulnerable pedestrians, the Daily News visited Prospect Park with a radar gun last weekend and "clocked bikers going as fast as 31 mph—even through a red light at a crosswalk." And like the NYPD, they have no respect for journalism: " 'Move from here! Move from here!' one cyclist clad in racing gear yelled at a reporter who was not even in a bike-only lane." more ›

A cyclist dares to challenge the behavior of a pedestrian in Central Park, and the New York Post cannot BELIEVE the injustice. 46-year-old Sabine von Sengbusch is suing 28-year-old Meghan Rohan after von Sengbusch's bike struck Rohan after she allegedly walked into the bike lane near 69th Street and East Drive. Rohan shattered her elbow, but the cyclist is claiming the accident caused her "great physical pain and mental anguish." Maybe Rohan can use the Frisbee Defense? more ›

What was once the Native American's Wickquasgeck Trail through Manhattan is now Broadway, probably the most famous thoroughfare in all the land. Stretching north from Bowling Green all the way up to Westchester, it rambles even further as U.S. 9. Perhaps inspired by all that pavement's potential, one intrepid cyclist recently picked up the trail in the Bronx and pedaled all the way down to the bottom of Manhattan, filming the entire trip. Here's the kinetic time lapse video of the adventure—be sure to stay tuned for a "terrible idea" at the 2:44 mark. more ›

Arturas Zuokas, mayor of the Lithuanian town of Vilnius, is a hero to those of us who frequent the city's bike lanes. If a luxury vehicle happens to obstruct them in Vilnius, he is not afraid to use his tank to enforce the law. We dreamed of a day when Mayor Bloomberg and Janette Sadik-Khan will plow over those giant tour buses on the Bowery, but it appears that Zuokas is taking his message to NYC. This video shows him slapping a sticker depicting a tank crushing a car on a Chrysler blocking a bike lane on Prince Street. more ›

Since September the city has had pedestrian safety managers on each of the East River bridges, an experiment set to end on November 26th when the DOT will review the $80,000-a-month program. But as far as the cyclist-hating Post is concerned, the program is already a total dud. They say that commuters have already decided the program isn't working, while quoting one cyclist, who had, according to their report, one collision. Now, we've been a bit skeptical of this whole thing ourselves, but just to be sure we decided to head over there yesterday to see what some of those glorified crossing guards had to say for themselves. more ›

Yesterday, the FDNY and NYPD raided Zuccotti Park and confiscated Occupy Wall Street's "generators and fuel from Zuccotti that posed a fire safety threat." Even the biofuels, man! But cycling advocacy group Times Up! energy-mapped the whole park and determined it would take 11 pedal-powering generators to fuel the movement, at the total cost of around $8,000. more ›