Eyes on the Street

Reader Liz Patek sends these shots of the new road markings on First Avenue in the 60s. The protected bike lane that Manhattan Community Board 8 approved last summer is going in.

As a New Yorker in DC for the National Bike Summit this week (stay tuned for the upcoming Streetfilm), my eyes popped at the sight of the ample-yet-filled-to-capacity bike racks at many Metro stations. Bike-to-Metro trips increased at a rapid clip in the aughts, and in 2010 WMATA, the agency that runs Metro, laid out a plan to triple the number of riders who arrive by bicycle by 2020 and quintuple the volume by 2030. Most stations outside the downtown core already have dozens of racks and secure bike lockers.

Via Shannon Park (@GothamGoddess), this was the scene on Park Terrace West at Isham Street in Inwood this morning. Hard to tell how the driver of the SUV managed to mount a parked livery cab, but we do know a few things.

Here's another shot of the NYPD bike corps in glorious action. Our tipster says this driver was nabbed after running a red on Ninth Avenue near 34th Street.

Submitted by Streetsblog reader Hilda, this was the scene at Eighth Avenue near West 44th Street this morning. Writes Hilda: "And I will note that the cop on the bike HAD TO LEAVE THE BIKE LANE to go around the cab before pulling out his ticket book."

Via Bowery Boogie, two photos of bike-riding NYPD officers writing up two other cyclists for running red lights at the corner of Bowery and Delancey.

The city recently replaced four parking spots at Park Terrace West and W. 218th Street, in Inwood, with a no standing zone. The 34th Precinct reportedly requested the change to give drivers exiting Park Terrace West, a northbound one-way street, a better view of east-west traffic on 218th.

In what's starting to be an annual tradition, Streetsblog's first reader-submitted photo of 2012 shows a bus stop pole brought low by the impact of a motor vehicle. 2011 got off to a similar start.