Bike Sharing

Borough presidents have limited power, but the influence they wield can still make a big difference for livable streets, especially by making community board appointments and weighing in during the city's land use review process. The four Democratic candidates for Manhattan borough president -- City Council members Gale Brewer, Robert Jackson, and Jessica Lappin, plus former Community Board 1 chair Julie Menin -- often sound very similar to each other, and few distinctions emerged at a forum hosted last night by the Center for Architecture featuring Brewer, Jackson, and Menin. But telling differences emerged when the candidates were asked for their thoughts about the bike-share program and the planning process that preceded the launch of the system.

It's not quite on the level of Beyonce riding a bike over the Brooklyn Bridge, but the list of celebrities taking Citi Bike for a spin continues to grow. This week, two boldface names have joined Seth Meyers, Louis C.K. and Leonardo DiCaprio, who has been spotted on a blue bike not once, but twice.

With more than two million rides and only a handful of reported crashes, bike-share in New York appears to be putting together an impressive safety record. In London and Paris, fatal bike-share crashes, while very rare, have mostly involved large vehicles like buses and trucks.

This morning, the New York Times released a comprehensive poll on what New Yorkers think of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and programs from his administration. Bike-share, bike lanes, and plazas got high approval numbers across boroughs, ages, races, and income levels. Many of the mayoral candidates might be hesitant to acknowledge it, but New Yorkers love their livable streets.

In case you missed it, Citi Bike had its two-millionth trip on Sunday, 76 days after the system went live.

It may be news to the national audience of BuzzFeed, but Anthony Weiner once said he would hold ribbon cuttings on his first day in Gracie Mansion to rip out the city's bike lanes. He now insists the expletive-laced promise was a joke, but he's firm in his opinion that at least two of the city's bike lanes should be removed. He reiterated that position in an interview with BuzzFeed's Ben Smith yesterday, adding that he's "not going to be bullied" on the issue by "policy jihadists."

State Senator Michael Gianaris announced today that DOT has added Astoria to the map for Citi Bike expansion, with planning for station locations set to begin later this year.

Citi Bike reached a milestone Tuesday. For the first time, NYC bike-share riders took over 42,000 trips, for an average of seven trips per bike. The last record-breaking day was July 31, which saw 41,895 trips.

NYC Bicycle Share recently posted about ten days' worth of new Citi Bike user stats, and it looks like the heat wave isn't putting a damper on bike-share trips.