Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

SEE IT: Streetfilms Shows How Much Better Kids’ Lives Are When they Can Safely Bike To School…

1:43 PM EST on November 20, 2020

This is reality — and it’s why so few kids actually bike to school. Photo: Clarence Eckerson Jr.

Biking is cheap, fast, promotes independence and exploration, is great exercise, and, for the most part, it's fun. So why don't more kids bike to school (when it's open of course)?

The reason, of course, is because bicycling in New York City is dangerous.

Let's put that another way: Biking in New York City is really unsafe.

Twenty-nine cyclists were killed last year. And we're on pace for just as many this year.

But what if it wasn't that way? What if cycling was so safe that, well, a child could do it?

Streetfilms documentarian Clarence Eckerson Jr. and StreetopiaUWS Executive Director Lisa Orman asked the same question and found that when kids and parents believe that cycling is safe — thanks to the kind of protected infrastructure enjoyed by most Manhattanites below 110th Street — kids not only will bike to school, but they want to bike to school.

Which is better for everyone, especially the kids, who benefit from time away from screens, feeling more connected to nature and the city, and also exploring their own independence.

So meet six kids who, for now, are the lucky ones. Imagine how great this city could be if every kid had a commute like Erik, Eleanor, Arielle, Arjun, Alex and Grace...

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Eric Adams’s McGuinness Blvd. Capitulation Did ‘Nothing’ for Pedestrians, Greenpoint Pols Charge

Mayor Adams's watered down bike lane redesign of McGuinness Boulevard failed to improve pedestrian safety, elected officials charged.

November 29, 2023

Wednesday’s Headlines: We Beat the DOT Edition

We beat the DOT in court after it rejected our FOIL request. Plus more news.

November 29, 2023

Pols Detail ‘Road Map’ For Safe Streets in Western Queens

A group of western Queens lawmakers released a plan for street safety projects they want to see before 2030.

November 28, 2023

Tuesday’s Headlines: Restorative (Traffic) Justice Edition

Two stories highlighted a restorative justice program that allows traffic crash victims and perpetrators the chance to meet face-to-face. Plus more news.

November 28, 2023
See all posts