Is Manhattan best seen by bike?
Is Manhattan best seen by bike?
2011
I’d read that New York is one of the best cities for urban cycling but wanted to see for myself. A great deal of effort has gone into it, and it helps that some boroughs including Manhattan are entirely flat, but there are lots of routes, great bike maps to guide cyclists, and lots of bike shops to support them.
There are several main north-south bike ‘arterials’ including Broadway southbound, 8th Avenue northbound, the Hudson River Bikeway on the west and East River Esplanade on the east. I used Broadway and 8th Avenue, both of which have separated bikeways with separate stoplights for bikes to reduce risk of right and left hook accidents in which cars accidentally cut off bikes when turning. (Separate stoplights give time for cyclists to get ahead before this happens.) Every 2 or 3 lights you catch a red light which doesn’t slow many New York cyclists, but you can use these routes to get from lower Manhattan to Central Park quickly and relatively safely.
Central Park has a circular bike route within it and there is a bike lane on Central Park West. You don’t need to remember any of this except that there are great bike routes and a good map to find them.
I biked across the Brooklyn Bridge halfway, and it was very crowded on this, July Fourth. Saw progress on the Twin Tower site and found two of David Bynes’s bike racks, one of which is shown in the upper right. Visited Wall Street, Times Square, Central Park, the Hudson, and had one slow leak which was quickly repaired by a bike shop very near where I noticed it. On a reasonably cool summer day (mid 80s) biking seems to me the best way to see the city.
Manhattan biking
7/4/11
At least on a holiday, the answer is yes. Great routes connect the city, often with separated bike paths with bike stoplights. No need for subways or taxis and you see more.