Yes, neat to see the rack in front of my home. And to get confirmation of the over-installation along the 9th Ave. cycle track, and of the complete absence of racks on the perimeters of Grand Central and Penn Station, or inside Central Park.

I think it’s a good tool to have. Now you can go to business owners and point out just how many blocks away the closest city-owned racks are, and how great therefore is the need to install bike parking for their establishments.

Liam-

http://nycbikemaps.com

http://www.ridethecity.com/

Also, when are we going to get some good organized indoor bike parking? I would love to give my money to someone who promises a place for my bike where it won’t get stolen or wet while I work. I know that there are some west coast operations that provide such a service but why aren’t there any here? Rent to expensive? Land acquisition costs? What about in parks? Most parks prohibit cycling on pedestrian paths and open spaces, but don’t have a good place to lock and store bikes.

Too cool!

Turns out. there is an online rack repair request form at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/cityrackrprform.shtml

So I just requested repair/replacement of two bike racks and identified them by the ID numbers on this map. Maybe that’ll help get something done.

When is the evil Time Warner Center going to acquiesce and install bike racks around the perimeter of the building? I work inside the Time Warner Center and the building management refuses to allow the installation of bike racks on any of the sidewalks outside the building. They tried telling us it’s a security issue but the real reason is they don’t want what they considered an unappealing image – bikes chained up at racks – anywhere outside their high priced condos, the five star Mandarin Hotel, or the high end stores in the mall. It’s a disgrace. And they won’t let any of us bring bikes into the building even if we have room for them in our offices and cubicles.

The Time Warner Center is anti-bike and anti-environment. Spread the word.

Dan @ #6, there are two little-known free indoor bike parking facilities at the AMNH and the Met.

Steve @ #12,

And (as I’m sure you are aware) all the other racks in the Columbus Circle vicinity are full of bikes for rent.

NYC DoT, Dep’t Parks & Recreation, and Planning should collaborate to dramatically ramp up the City’s involvement in Central Park bike rentals and bike parking to go along with it. the current situation is laughable. Tourists astute enough to know about the sole municipal rental concession at the Boathouse are forced to walk to the middle of the Park it in hopes of finding a sufficient number of single speed 150 lb clunkers available to rent. Often they are disappointed, or so I have been told by one of the kids who works the concession. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are offering a variety of rentals at unregulated terms and prices, surely without paying any taxes to the city, and using up all the available bike parking to do it. Tourists are spending a higher percentage of their money on incidental vendors they happen to encounter while walking around the Park to get to major destinations, instead of fitting in additional destinations (where the real spending and tax revenue generation goes on) by traveling efficiently among them by bike.

The City should offer (itself or through a concessionaire like Metro Bicycles or Bike & Roll) a fleet of modern rental bicycles and tandems. Locate the rentals at kiosks located near Columbus Circle, the Plaza, 72nd Street on the East and West sides, and the southern terminus of the new B’way cycle track at 44th St., and at 110th & Lenox. Print up self-guided tour maps like the one recently released for Queens, each with a different theme (museums, kids, architecture, explore the park, etc.). Install bike parking (maybe some new “green” design will allay the inevitable aesthetic objections at the major destinations (Zoo, Hecksher, Hans C. Anderson, Carousel, Delacorte, Swedish Marionette, Harlem Meer/Dana, Boathouse, Conservatory, tennis courts, etc.) and at each of the major gates the park. The parking will serve commuters and other non-tourists, as well as tourists. Use such a system as a pilot/launching platform for an expanded bike share throughout Manhattan

Charge a modest amount for everything, payable by credit card, and the concession will more than pay for itself. It’s so obvious.

I see six, count’em, six lockups in a one-mile radius of my nabe (Avenue J between Coney Island Ave and Ocean Ave). in that same radius we have a campus of Touro College, two elementary schools, and a high school. The neighborhood chokes on its own traffic at around 3 PM and doesn’t calm down again unti well after 6 PM. I would assume the store owners object to bike racks because they take away from foot traffic, but there’s no attempt to regulate parking around those areas.

To Whole Foods Columbus Circle –
I am a frequent shopper at your store and am writing with a very specific concern.

Every time I take my bike to your store, parking is nearly impossible to find. If you look out in front of the Time Warner Center on any given day, you will see scores of bikes chained to trees and signposts. Often, there is no more space for a bike. I noticed yesterday that on one of the signposts on 58th Street, there is a sign saying bikes will be removed if attached to the sign. This is not only not encouraging customers to bike to the store – it is borderline harassment of bikers.

All of this wouldn’t be so absurd if Whole Foods didn’t have a policy of encouraging people to drive to the store by providing FREE CAR PARKING!

From your website –
> Public Parking
> We offer validated parking with purchase! Park in the garage at The Time Warner Center on 58th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, and you can receive 2 hours free parking when you make a purchase of $150* or more at Whole Foods Market! Simply bring your receipt and parking stub to Customer Service after you check out and they will validate your parking for up to 2 hours.
>

I can’t believe that in this day and age – with all the information about the impact of cars on global warming, asthma and other respiratory ailments that Whole Foods Columbus Circle, which sits on top of 5 subway lines and is adjacent to 2 bike paths, would encourage people to use their gas guzzling, polluting and noisy vehicles to shop there – while discouraging a healthy, clean and free alternative. Biking also contributes to community building as bikers interact more with other bikers and pedestrians than people in cars could ever dream of doing.

The back of your business cards are printed with “Whole Foods Core Values” – there are 6 of them. Number 5 states – “Caring About Our Communities and Our Environment” – I would say that when it comes to biking to your store, you fall far short of approaching this goal and appear to be working against it.

I know that the Time Warner Center controls the property etc – but as a major tenant there, I’m hopeful you could act in your customers (and the planet’s) best interests by speaking with them and doing whatever is necessary to rectify this wrong. Only by speaking out is change possible.

My suggestions would be –

a) take some space in the parking garage and put bike racks in there and make them available free of charge to WF customers.

b) work with Time Warner and/or NYC Dept of Transportation to install a bike parking facility like the one on the north side of Union Square on the sidewalk near the store.

I think this would be a great boon for your store – you will be living up to your core values and you can generate some good press (have a ribbon cutting and invite Transportation Alternatives representatives to attend). You will also be making your employees healthier – I just got off the phone with Leticia – a shift manager – who told me that she has heard this complaint before – not only from customers, but from other team members who would like to be able to bike to work.

I welcome your comments and appreciate your time,

Steven Kopstein

Thank goodness!  My husband and I just bought bikes, and this Google Bike Map is a lifesaver.  Thanks!