Walking a Citi Bike on Broadway at 63rd street. Photo by M. Maas.
The Department of Transportation wants to add additional Citi Bike stations to the plan that was approved last year to make the Upper West Side bike-sharing network more dense so it’s easier to find a bike. Some of the six new stations would be added below 86th Street, where Citi Bike already exists, while others would be added to the stations that will start going into the area between 86th and 110th next month.
As we’ve reported, bicyclists have criticized the Upper West Side Citi Bike network because bike stations are depleted too quickly, making it hard to find a bike at certain times of the day. The new bikes would go at the following locations, as shown with black markers in the map here (pdf) and at the bottom of this post:
- Amsterdam Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets
- Amsterdam between 78th and 79th
- 87th and Amsterdam
- 92nd and Broadway
- Central Park West between 101st and 102nd
- Broadway and 110th
We’ll be posting more on the changes announced at Tuesday’s meeting.
Manhattan CB7 FinalPlan Updated WInfill 20160705
People are already starting to find some holes in the expansion plan:
Biggest @CitiBikeNYC wasteland on the #UWS. Dead center is W97- widest sidewalk in all of NYC. Pls consider @NYC_DOT pic.twitter.com/ruQaDS5mDf
— Joe Gall (@JoeGallX2) July 13, 2016
I have noticed an increase in Citibikes in the parks.
Yes, and tourists on those Citibikes ride on pedestrian-only pathways (despite signs indicating they must walk their bikes there). Some Rules of the Road should be posted at Citibike stations = No riding on sidewalks or park pathways, and follow the road regulations for drivers.
Those exact Rules of the Road are printed on every handle bar of every bike.
That’s a great idea posting the rules AT the docking stations because the signs in the park are few and far between and not very noticeable. I was hit for the 3rd time by a cyclist last week. The person riding was a tourist and didn’t know how to stop or communicate with me (in English). I’ve been doing physical therapy off and on for 2 years for foot/leg injuries, but as for ticketing the police won’t do anything unless you go to the emergency room, which I opted not to do.
This is great! Looking forward to more stations!
Too many already. Walking in the 70 s on the west side is getting dangerous – bikers don’t watch where they’re going!
I am one of those pedestrians that does not walk around staring at my phone and have been brushed by bikes going through lights/stop signs. Obviously cars and bikes at times violate the laws; however IMO bikes are more flagrant and consistent abusers of the rules of the road.I walk and I ride my bike-I’m not ahi-bike or anti-car. But truth is that bikes often don;t give a damn about pedestrians.
Re: “But truth is that bikes often don;t give a damn about pedestrians.”
And neither do most bicyclists, although the better-mannered ones WILL argue with their headstrong, arrogant machines, but usually to little avail.
THIS may explain why so many bikes just go zipping through red lights…and why yelling “RED LIGHT, AS-H-LE !” has so little effect on them, for most bikes do not speak English.
Who is behind the suspicious absence of Citibike stations between 95th Street and 100th Street.
Gall’s on it.
Most cyclists do watch where they are going. Many pedestrians, including myself, are not as observant as they should be. Look up from your phone and look before crossing the street.
Many of these people ride at great speed through traffic lights and stop signs. In the designated bicycle path on Columbus Avenue they ride illegally in both directions on a one way street. The same thing is now happening on the new bicycle lane in Amsterdam Avenue. The police should ticket these people and if they continue to violate these standards the bicycles should be impounded for public safety reasons.
So.. no ticketing for the pedestrian using the bike lane as a sidewalk expansion?
Its the cyclist’s fault if someone gets hit in the bike lane?
Licenses would help in this regard. I completely agree and folks note that Lin above stated that she was hit by a cyclist on the SIDEWALK! I do not know how a pedestrian could be at fault in this situation.
Jim, you nailed it. I imagine back in the dark ages, people were not used to horse-drawn carriages, and later cars. Just have to adapt folks. Look where you are going, don’t step off a curb into a bike lane without being aware of bikes. That said, there are far too many bikes breaking the laws at this early stage of the biking revolution. Officials need to figure out how they are going to stop the sidewalk riders, wrong way riders, etc. Bee, get used to it, and adapt.
Yesterday eve I was hit by a bicyclist on the sidewalk, at Columbus Circle, who kept yelling she’s sorry (like a whining kid) but never bothered to get off to see how I
was. She just kept going. I would call that a hit
and run.I am lucky the impact didn’t break my arm where the handlebar hit me. It did hurt. Had I been walking just a little bit faster, I would have been down on the sidewalk.
So sorry to hear about that. Twice cyclists have fallen off their bikes after they’ve hit me but the 3rd time the guy kept speeding down Broadway. The bus had actually stopped for me mid-turn at the intersection of 72nd and B’way and the bike came around the back of it and right through the intersection. Just out of curiosity, did anyone ask how you were? The thing that surprised me the most about each incident is that no one seemed to notice. There’s so much going on here and as someone else mentioned, everyone is on their phones, so I suppose unless an ambulance is called no one is even going to realize what happened. Today I saw a cyclist hit someone who had just come out of the subway (also on 72nd and B’way) and it knocked the cell phone out of the pedestrian’s hand and he was scrambling on the ground for the phone in the middle of the street and everyone just kept walking around him. I’m afraid that’s become the norm.
I hope that has not become the norm. As the complexity on our roads increases, people need to be more cooperative, not less.
24 years in New York, and I’ve never been hit by a bike. You’ve been hit three times. Hmm…
Bicycles are not the real problem for the doomsayer curmudgeons here. Change is the problem. Some people cannot handle even beneficial evolution.
Maybe I just have a deep seated need to repeatedly see my physical therapist. 😉
Sounds like the problem is the pedestrian on the phone not aware of his surroundings.
Sorry to read of your injury. I hope that you recover quickly.
“The moral of the story, in all three cases, is the same. Whichever mode of transportation you currently happen to be using—whether you’re the pedestrian, the cyclist, or the driver—you are correct, no matter the scenario. Everyone else is in your way, wrong, annoying, and otherwise a terrible human being.” From the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/cars-vs-bikes-vs-pedestrians
Yay citibikes! Boo grouchy pedestrians!
I don’t object to bicycles, but I do object to their riding them on busy sidewalks.. there are those who are afraid to ride in the streets.
I also object to the delivery bikes who go against the lights and traffic and are a true hazard.. otherwise, it’s all good..
I hope this turned down, until law enforcement is proven on cyclist NOT obeying biking laws.
Right, I hope they ban call cars till they stop hitting and killing people, and obey all the traffic laws, and police actually enforce the traffic laws, and hit and run drivers actually go to jail for killing people. They really shouldn’t allow any cars in Manhattan till the police “figure things out.”
Hyperbole?
Love da hair
Dude has an awesome fro, indeed.
I love this photo – a happy New Yorker!
Who is behind the suspicious absence of Citibike stations between 95th and 100th Street?
I suspect it is in response to a small group of neighborhood NIMBY’s who have the ear of a few key CB members. It’s too bad that these few individuals, who have no interest in ever using the bike share system, would have the ability to impede the system’s ability to serve as a viable alternate infrastructure network. Cronyism and petty local politics at its worst.
Another NIMBY comment??????????????
I was just wondering that myself. What’s up with that???
Mayor?
I will sit back and wait for the day that Citi no longer desires to participate and it will be left to the city to operate and maintain the program or subsidize it heavily for another “sponsor” to step in.
I’d say Citi is very happy with how things are going. They are getting more advertising everyday through Citibike. Why would they want to give that up when they’ve already paid for it?
At the moment they probably are happy but at some point the costs will make it not worth it. If the negative publicity of poorly maintained bikes or seemingly always empty stations makes people think of Citi as the inept owner of this program the public relations and optics won’t bode well for them. Perhaps another economic disaster and there is no desire politically for a bailout for banks making Citi go away. All plausible. But you’re right. At the moment it’s probably a sweet deal. Give it a while.
Look at Chicago’s model: https://www.divvybikes.com/
It is great and works well in a city that is decidedly NOT bike friendly.
Yep…all about the money. No regard for our streets or pedestrians or smooth traffic flow. Not to mention public transportation. Where is the M104 bus?? No grand central, no UN stops. It just cuts off at 7th avenue. For the comfort of a handful of bike riders. Someone is making buckets of money on this..pretending this is popular ..not so much in reality. This is not Amsterdam, not Aspen. This is New York. We have businesses to run. How do we stop this and take our streets back?
Those businesses you speak of run on pedestrian dollars, not driver dollars. This is not suburbia where people drive their cars to the mega shopping centers and park on the free lots. Businesses along bike lanes have benefitted from the additional exposure which leads to additional patronage. The streets belong to the masses, and here in NYC the masses are carless.
But Bernie says we are Amsterdam when it comes to free health care and college!
Without Senator Sanders as a candidate we will have neither health care nor higher education coverage.
um, there is an m42 bus that runs along that route. No need to muck up the schedule of the 104 more (by introducing it to more stops in heavy traffic areas) when a bus already runs the 42nd st. route.
Anon: guess you don’t take the bus or need grand central. The M104 went up and down Bway to then cross on 42nd as far as UN. Now everyone has to hassle at 7th ave to change to another bus …thru the hoards of tourists and Elmo people. You’re lucky to be clueless about this…Ms Brewer was working on this but somehow it never got fixed. Someone really BIG said forget it.
How are the elevators running at the UN Stop, that is the topic of this thread?
Fortunately, no staircases need to be taken since both Times Square and Grand Central have elevators.
Staircases, for one.
Is there an issue with the subway that travels underneath this route that is much quicker?
What are we missing here?
I’m entirely aware of the routes and the switch. Generally long trips on public transit DO require changing busses/trains. There are many options for getting to Grand Central and the MTA does not need to waste more money running a duplicate bus route so that you can choose to not exercise your other options or have to touch tourists. Elmo, if you’re not aware, is now confined to small strips of “commercial performer” space now.
Putting the bikes in front of two huge high school buildings is stupid. Will not end well.
It will end with high students riding bikes to school. I grew up in Manhattan and did it every day.
Not likely.
Riding from school.
Vocational training for locksmithing”
Used to be,you just had to look both ways for cars…now you have to look 4 ways for bikers, cellphonies, texters, pokemon seekers, other pedestrians, children,flocks of pidgeons.etc. etc….NYC is actually turning into a pedestrian danger
Fantastic – I can’t wait! I only hope they’ll fill in the gaps and add more stations over time.
That’s great that they’re planning to add more…. but could they actually start adding the ones they planned for before??? It’s a year behind schedule!
Bikes are on the rise!
Bikes will take over the Isle of Manahatta!
Bikes will take over the world!
Bikes! Yay!
Hail Bicycle God!
There is nothing to do but submit!
Wow, if there is a stop on Amsterdam between 65th and 66th, where will all the cars that park there all day and night with Fire Department cards be able to park? Who will the FDNY people give the placards to now?
The “on-duty” FDNY cars that are permanently there (I’ve seen locals park with cards, when they are obviously not working) are going to want to take up the teachers spots now on Amsterdam. (Teacher all-day spots is another issue too!)
Residents in the area (and others) have been petitioning at least since last year to have that excellent wide sidewalk on 97th between Columbus and Amsterdam (north side only) turned into a park. Please note that the referenced sidewalk is exactly one block from Central Park. We need a Citibike kiosk there since the subways are along CPW are overcrowded and increasingly unreliable. We don’t need a park one block from Central Park!
The perfect spot for the location of the bikes on that wide sidewalk would be near Amsterdam Avenue…the area of the sidewalk caked in pigeon waste.
Janet, No one is trying to turn the 97th Street sidewalk into a park and yes this 50′ wide sidewalk is an excellent spot for a Citibike station.
This is the widest sidewalk in manhattan and can easily handle pedestrians and some modest enhancements which would make the street more sustainable and environmentally friendly for everyone.
A Citi Bike docking station would actually be a perfect addition to a pedestrian plaza if one were built. They aren’t mutually exclusive. The one helps the other. Together they enliven the block and the neighborhood.
Right!
an additional benefit is from not adding another obstacle to the street.
Unfortunately, that nice wide sidewalk will eventually become a staging area for the construction of the JHA building in the Park West Village parking lot. The good thing about citiBike is that they can be moved easily once the time comes.
So true. I’ve seen them moved from one end of a block to the other just so some sidewalk repairs can be done. Particularly easy when they are sidewalk mounted as opposed to on street in the parking zone.
YES!!!
This is a lame expansion. Still the density does not meet the generally accepted guidelines of the National Association of Transportation Officials. A huge increase in ridership would ensue if density was correct. Leading to increased revenue and the ability to further expand. Putting 3 token stations above 87th is a waste.
P.S. All of you morons complaining should realize that streets were not invented simply for Automobiles. Your ancestors were the same ones complaining when cars took over the streets that were designed for horse and carriages.
West 97th Street sidewalk is NOT a wasteland. That is the same false claim being made by the people that want Stryker Park put on that same sidewalk. It is already a congested & busy sidewalk. The following already take place on that sidewalk 1) a weekly farmers market. 2) a Lot of children & strollers – a school is there 3) tractor trailer deliveries cross over that sidewalk to pull into Whole Foods loading docks. 4) a lot of regular pedestrian traffic on that sidewalk 5)the future nursing home location there can lead to even MORE ambulances & ambulete activity that already occurs on that same street in front of the Ryan Center clinic. There is too much already going on there to add the mix of Citibikes riding on the sidewalk and in the street. This area is already overdeveloped .Citibike riders frequently ride on sidewalks, we don’t need this risk of collision against pedestrians in a location right in front of a school.
Not sure which 97th Street you’re referring to, but the north side of West 97th between Columbus & Amsterdam is far from bustling or congested. I’m there almost every day and most of the time it’s pretty sparse. There is plenty of room for Stryker Park and even a Citbike station, both of which would be a massive improvement for this block.
If you read the suggestion more carefully, you’ll see that it says that there is a “Citibike wasteland” between 95 and 100 which is a fact. Right in the middle of it is a fantastic opportunity – a very wide sidewalk on a cross street. If you want to fill in the dead zone, what better spot than West 97th St.
I agree with your conclusion.
Bustling at times yes, congested no. Have you noticed that the wonderful Friday Greenmarket on 97th Street effectively reduces the width of the sidewalk to about 15′ without impacting the pedestrian flow or making anyone late for school?
Your article says the new rack is coming to “Amsterdam between 77th and 78th” but the map puts it at the corner of 79th &Amsterdam, between 78th and 79th
Nice helmet.
The more the merrier.
There is a population boom, and more people want to be in the same space at the same time. Pedestrians must learn to stay on the sidewalks until they have the light. Bikers must learn to stop. I think police need to ticket jay walkers and bikers who ride the wrong way. No need for ticketing blitzes, just systematic continuous enforcement of the existing rules. There is no law against walking while texting, but there should be.
“Bicycles are not the real problem for the doomsayer curmudgeons here. Change is the problem. Some people cannot handle even beneficial evolution.”
Seriously, doomsayer curmudgeons? I’m personally in favor of evolving into a pain-free-walking curmudgeon. I have no problem with bike lanes as long as the cyclists stay in the lanes and follow the regulations. I’m against the free flying cyclists who zip down the sidewalk/pedestrian paths and through intersections and have no regard for pedestrians OR cars/taxis/buses.
To anon..perhaps you’d also cut the M57 and M31. You don’t live in nyc …it’s obvious. Dannyboy..yes the stairs. Also luggage. Grand central serves millions of people ..a direct route is essential. The drivers have told me these decisions are made in Albany…so that’s the story. We hope for change but as with the booksellers–no one knows how to get it done .
I live on W81st st, sorry to disappoint you. The MTA does not have limitless funds. Thus, priorities. Your desire to not touch tourists in Times Square isn’t really high on their list, nor should it be. You can take the bus on multiple routes), take the subway, take a taxi, take an uber, walk etc. Grand Central is not serving millions of people from the UWS daily. The vast majority of us have to be in a hurry and take the subway. If you want to avoid Times Square and take the bus then here’s a pro-tip: take a cross-town bus and then a downtown bus on the East Side. OR take the M5 down/over to 42nd and 5th and grab the M42 there.
CitiBike is an incovenience to many, and only benefits the few — the tourists, and the young and affluent, mostly single, those that have jobs mostly in the finance and tech sector that sits all day staring at a computer, and live a few blocks away from where they work. And most that praises this godsend and blessed alternative mode of public transportation greenwashing machine will not be here in a few years. That once they get older and start having a family, they’d move to or back to the ‘burbs where their precious CitiBike will not be there to inconvenience them.
Hey jor – that’s quite a stereotype you’ve got going. You forgot that we also all have beards and wear little fedoras.
As for the affordabiliy issue, the $140 annual citibike membership is a little more than what the average commuter pays each month for the subway so wouldn’t citibike be the better option for lower income residents?
I’m not single and almost 40 and I’ve come to love Citibike. Sometimes I’ll use it to get from 72nd st. home (especially now while I’m pregnant and the platforms are so hot) or after I shop at TJ (since I’m not supposed to walk/carry a heavyish bag). Additionally, I don’t have bike storage at my apartment so in the evenings when it cools down I walk over to CPW and grab a bike and go for a 5 mile loop through the park with my husband for non-impact exercise. When our baby is born this winter we’ll be staying in the city and I’ll keep using Citibike. My husband uses one in the morning to ride 4 miles downtown to work so there’s one more seat/space on the subway for you!
You came one step short of posting your fetal ultrasound photo. Get over yourself.
Apparently the next wave of Citi Bike installations is coming in September, above 86th Street. We only wish the proposed site on your list was in fact on 87th and Amsterdam–it’s 87th and West End Avenue, at least for the moment. Those of us who live on the block are opposed to the location there, next to one live construction site and another one coming, the reversal point of the M86 bus, and the presence of a nursing home and rehab center that already brings regular arrivals of ambulances, delivery trucks, and Access-a Ride vehicles. There are many other reasons why this corner isn’t an appropriate location for a Citi Bike stand, and why the Department of Transportation doesn’t take an in-depth look at the impact on a neighborhood of what it does is a real issue.
off topic: Dante deBlasio step back. *This* is the afro of the year!
self-entitled and narcissistic, just listen or look at the CitiBike lemmings’s comments, esp., the pregnant lady. make sure you stop at red lights and yield to to others that have a right of way — the pedestrians, automobiles, bikes, heck, even your fellow Shittybikers, and make sure you don’t suffer a miscarriage and have another self-entitled narcissist to carry your legacy.