Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

Cory Booker Joins Fledging Bike Collective for a Ride Around Newark

booker_bike.jpgNewark Mayor Cory Booker pedaled with the Brick City Bike Collective on its inaugural ride. Photo: Moiz Kapadia.

Via Mobilizing the Region, here's some more mayoral bike news, this time from across the Hudson. Newark's Brick City Bike Collective launched earlier this summer, bringing a new voice for safe streets to a city that sorely needs it. After just those first few months, they managed to woo Mayor Cory Booker to come along for their first organized ride. The Tri-State Transportation Campaign's Kyle Wiswall reports:

Since the middle of the last century, Newark has been an autocentricplace that is hostile to cyclists. Wide roads like McCarter Highwaybisect communities and encourage speeding, while broken glass andpotholes increase the chances of a crash.  The Collective is workingget more Newarkers out on bikes, make drivers more aware of bikers andencourage city planners to implement bike-friendly policies andinfrastructure. So far, the group has 60 members.

At its inaugural ride, the Collective traveled up Beaver Streetthrough Branch Brook Park, ending at Independence Park in theIronbound.  Members got the unique opportunity to chat with their Mayorin an informal setting.

“Enjoying Newark on two wheels is a vision I share with many others,and Newark has the potential to be a truly green, bike-able city,” BCBCmember Elizabeth Reynoso told TSTC staffer Zoe Baldwin during the ride. TheBrick City Bike Collective taps into that, giving riders a voice andbuilding a community that will encourage more and more people to getaround the city by bike."

BCBC is putting on monthly rides and bike repair nights. They also have an event that sounds really cool planned for Sunday, August 23: A "biking audit" where participants will document the state of the streets so they can tell the city what to fix. Given their high-placed contacts, we expect to hear more from them soon.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Daylight Again! Council Seeks Universal Parking Ban At Intersections

The city will also have to physically protect 1,000 corners from parking each year.

December 6, 2024

Friday Video: Wider Bike Lanes on Second Avenue

The Department of Transportation has made some excellent improvements on the long-dangerous roadway. Check them out.

December 6, 2024

Friday’s Headlines: City of ‘Yes, But’ Edition

The City Council passed Mayor Adams's "City of Yes for Housing" plan by a vote of 31 to 20 on Thursday. Plus more news.

December 6, 2024

Adams Considering Letting Midtown Business Group Issue Parking Tickets So NYPD Can Tackle ‘More Serious Issues’

The Department of Finance retracted its proposal to allow the 34th Street Partnership to be the first business improvement district empowered to enforce city parking rules after we started asking about it.

December 5, 2024
See all posts