Bicycling

Brooklyn Traffic

A correspondent sends in this photo of the morning commute on Bergen Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Moments before snapping it the photographer says he was "stopped at a light with six cyclists, all of whom looked at each other and smiled as if to say, 'any more of us and we'll need a permit!'" Including the cyclist who appears to be riding illegally on the sidewalk and the photographer standing in the middle of the street blocking traffic, I count six bikers. The neighborhoods around Downtown Brooklyn have the highest rates of bike commuting in all of New York City. This spring and summer is likely to set new records.

By Aaron Naparstek

8:50 PM EDT on April 19, 2006

A correspondent sends in this photo of the morning commute on Bergen Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Moments before snapping it the photographer says he was “stopped at a light with six cyclists, all of whom looked at each other and smiled as if to say, ‘any more of us and we’ll need a permit!'” Including the cyclist who appears to be riding illegally on the sidewalk and the photographer standing in the middle of the street blocking traffic, I count six bikers. The neighborhoods around Downtown Brooklyn have the highest rates of bike commuting in all of New York City. This spring and summer is likely to set new records.

Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.