Send Us Your Pics of Snowy Neckdowns and (Un)Plowed Bike Lanes

How is the first snowstorm of the de Blasio era treating you?

Clarence has been out on the streets, perhaps working on a sequel to his “Snowy Neckdowns” blockbuster from 2011 (which was itself a sequel to this 2007 video). After the streets have been plowed and drivers carve out their routes, all that snow piling up at intersections shows us the excess road space that could be reclaimed permanently to calm traffic. Here’s an example that Doug Gordon captured on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn today:

If you see good snowy neckdowns (a.k.a. #sneckdowns), send us your pics and we’ll run the best on the blog.

We also want to know how well the Sanitation Department is keeping the protected bike lane network clear. Winter biking is more practical than most people realize. It’s actually pretty damn comfortable if you keep your ears and extremities well-insulated. But unplowed, snow-packed bike lanes can ruin it for days on end. Remember how long the Prospect Park West bike lane went unplowed in 2011?

The city did a good job on the Eighth Avenue protected bike lane this morning:

How about the other protected lanes and the bridge paths? Do the protected bike lane conditions match the status reports on the city’s plow tracker? (According to the tracker, as of 12:30 p.m., all of Prospect Park West has been plowed within the last three hours.) Send us your pictures and reports in the comments or tweet us at @StreetsblogNYC.

  • Andrew

    No love for snowed-in crosswalks and sidewalks?

  • ohhleary

    The Broadway bike lane north of Times Square was plowed when I walked by at 9am, too!

  • Guest

    The Williamsburg Bridge bike path was clear midmorning. There was bare pavement almost the entire span. I’ve never seen it that much clearer than the roads. Maybe some of the snow was blown off by the wind, but I’m hoping instead it shows a new commitment to keeping it clear!

  • Joe R.

    Although it’s not applicable to my personal situation (i.e. I work at home) I see a lot of value in unplowed sidewalks and streets, especially when things are so bad that the buses can’t get through. It gives you a valid excuse to stay home from school or work.

  • Adrian

    Brooklyn was awful. The Manhattan bridge bike path was perfectly clear, must have been freshly ploughed less than 30mins before I rode it. 1st Avenue bike lane was terrible below Houston and above 42nd street, but generally fine in between. The main issue in between was that shop owners had cleared the sidewalks in front of their shops, and dumped the snow in the freshly ploughed bike lane

  • Slip n Slide

    Just curious, what tires/wheels/bike did you ride on today? My Schwalbe Marathon 26×1.5 were sliding all over the place.

  • Joe R.

    Seriously, thin slick tires are great in stuff like this. I didn’t ride today, but I recall that the 700×20 tires I have on my bike dig right into everything unless it’s more than about 2 inches thick. Ice of course is an issue regardless of tires but to me it’s kind of fun spinning out the rear wheel on ice while trying to accelerate.

  • Andrew

    Valid excuse? I gather you don’t know my boss.

  • Daniel

    I used Nokian A10 700×32 snow tires yesterday. They squeezed onto the 14mm rims that work with my regular slicks and the studs gave me traction when the snow sat on top of a layer of ice. But if I lived in Buffalo I might buy wider rims to go with wider winter tires; the A10 tires kept me upright, but I was expending a fair bit of energy cutting grooves into the snow.

  • Adrian

    I actually Citibiked it. Did my usual journey from Barclays Centre to 47th St. It was distinctly slippy on occasions in the morning (c. 7:30ish), but traffic was calm enough that it was perfectly safe. I did have to check the bike in half way though, as it took a lot longer than usual. The journey back at about 5pm was absolutely fine, but the bike lane on 2nd avenue wasn’t ploughed at all below 14th st so I avoided that.

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