I just returned from the Bridges by Night tour led by NYCC's Hannah Borgeson and Trudy Hutter, among other--a as part of BikeSummer. It was a blast!
About 30 of us rode over the 59th Street, Pulaski, Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges en masse in the warm moonlight. Very mellow, well-behaved, and definitely non-A-type ride (one very fit NYCCer had to try SO hard not to pass everyone, it was cute).
We ended under the Brooklyn Bridge, where we had luscious ice cream and gazed at the waterfront, while a Spanish-language news team was trying to film a segment with the Manhattan skyline as backdrop. My silver Specialized hybrid may now be on a Latin TV program, to be admired by millions. It may also be on BikeTV, NYC's public access bike show, thanks to the presence of Clarence Eckerson (who always manages to film me when I'm eating something. I hope he cuts those parts out.)
Of course, the organizers can't take credit for arranging the warm, sultry (post-thunderstorm) weather and the lazy, nearly full moon. But they get applause for bringing us all together for this perfectly romantic evening, enough to soften the edges of this hard-bitten town.
There are many more rides of this sort, including a Brooklyn waterfront tour Saturday the 12th at 9:30, where I will also be. Then at noon there's a tour of Bed-Stuy, starting at the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan bridge.
Be sure to check out the calendar at www.bikesummer.org, and take advantage of all this generous good will!
A plug for BikeSummer
"""one very fit NYCCer had to try SO hard not to pass everyone, it was cute""..............just from what I've been hearing about your riding this year!
Sounds like a very pleasant evening.
"
...but he knows who he is! And he is much fitter, and cuter, than me.
BTW, the Brooklyn waterfront ride today was also a lot of fun, and civically enlightening as well. Stops included Newtown Creek, Bushwick inlet in Greenpoint (opposite 14th St. in Manhattan, going to become a park somehow shared with NYU), the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Fulton Ferry Landing, some place in Cobble Hill, the Valentino Pier in Red Hook, and the Waterfront Museum.
All along the route we were met by people working to develop the waterfront for public use, who explained efforts to open and link the various sites and what was happening with the projects. Elected officials joined us too, including Rep. Nydia Velazquez (who rode with us), a woman from the Bloomberg administration, City Councilmember Mike Yasskey, boro president Marty Markowitz, Senator Chuck Schumer (who met us on his bike, out riding around Brooklyn). The hardworking activists included Carter Craft from the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, Sharon Soons from the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition, folks representing groups on Randall's Island and Governors Island (which is opening up for public use on July 25!), and too many more for me to remember.
It takes a lot of effort by a lot of people to make this city livable.
I rode 10 of the route's 15 miles, before peeling off with friends for pizza at Nino's--it was long past my lunchtime. A beautiful day to explore Brooklyn!
The official count was 49 riders, and we can at least take credit for picking a date that coincided with an almost-full moon. There are some great pictures from the ride in the photo gallery section of the BikeSummer site.
http://www.bikesummer.org/2003/photos/photos.php?CalendarID=1&OrganizerI... is the direct url.
hannah
"Thanks Hanna:
It was a fun NYC ride (nice photos!), the bridge crossings and the Manhattan Skyline was a thrill for even this jaded New Yorker. I was busy soaking in the kaleidoscopic cityscape when I lost track which side of the river we were on! I totally missed Senator Chuck S. and some of the others Carol W. mentioned (were we on the same ride?). I did meet interesting non-NYCC cyclists and recognized many familiar faces on route to the ice cream factory.
To Carol:
""(one very fit NYCCer had to try SO hard not to pass everyone, it was cute), … And he is much fitter, and cuter, than me. but he knows who he is!""
C’mon Carol, I think I’m better looking than Peter M. (:-b)
Finally a Plug for–
YOGA for Cyclists this Sunday Only! Info on page 16 of July Bulletin. email or call for additional info.
Sunday July 20th, at 2:30 pm
Integral Yoga Institute of NYC
227 west 13th Street (bet 7th and 8th),
NY,NY
Chuck Lam"
"Includes ""Beauty and the Bike"" with guest appearance by frame builder Richard Sachs, and ""Bike Like You Mean It."" See list at http://www.bicyclefilmfestival.com/summer.html
Admission is $5. 2nd Ave at E. 2nd St.
http://www.bikesummer.org/2003/calendar/detail.php?CalendarID=87
"
I hear Peter Weigle will be there too!
Beyond Bikesummer Program #4: Advocacy: other voices in the wilderness. 6:30-8:30 p.m., Urban Center (51st at Madison Ave.).
Each group's representative will discuss cycling advocacy and organizing, review an ongoing or recent campaign or action, and discuss advocacy tactics in general. This will flow into a roundtable discussion and leave time for Q&A.
Introductory remarks to be given by City Councilmember David Yassky.
Presenters:
- -New York Bicycle Coalition, Jennifer Benepe, highlights of their program for NY State road improvements for cyclists -- how, using SAFETEA funds, adapting existing roadways and areas for cyclists and peds.
- -Surfrider Foundation on relationships with political power and community organizing, direct action, environmental advocacy, etc.
- -Ayleen Crotty, Portland group SHIFT (formed after Portland's BikeSummer celebrates Portland's creative bike culture) on organizing events and empowing individuals to become involved in the bike movement. Community among cyclists/bringing cyclists together.
- -San Francisco Bicycle Coalition: Effective relationships with political power and more, featuring SFBC original old-timer Joel Pomerantz.
- -Sue McNamara Tancredi: grassroots organizing in Philadelphia, and more.
- -Transportation Alternatives/Noah Budnick: example of successful membership-assisted campaign and/or car-free day/park campaign.
Beverages/food provided. We should finish in time to catch the screening of the Pee Wee's Big Adventure. (8:30 at W. 14th/Hudson River)
Held at the Urban Center
457 Madison Ave. at 51st Street
Enter through courtyard on Madison Ave.
212-935-9831
http://www.bikesummer.org/2003/calendar/detail.php?CalendarID=52
"...with smart people doing exciting things.
New York Bicycle Coalition: www.nybc.net/join
SHIFT (Portland): www.communitycyclingcenter.org
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition: http://www.sfbike.org/
Surfrider Foundation: http://www.surfrider.org/
Transportation Alternatives: www.transalt.org
SHIFT is a kind of low-budget clearinghouse organization that doesn't even have a permanent space--they use a meeting room provided by an umbrella organization. Still, they coordinate or support bike events all over Portland (including a program that donated some 350 bikes to low-income people for transportation), representing all aspects of the cycling community. Makes me want to visit Portland!
[Note: details here are all from memory, maybe not precise...]
Sue McNamara Trancredi, from Philadelphia, was especially impressive, with her positive outlook and list of rules for activism. (Only attend meetings where you can make a difference; when politicians accomplish your goals, give them credit...) She's now working as a consultant, but spoke of her ten years as a cycling activist in Philadelphia, where several hundred miles of bike lanes have since been built, notwithstanding Byzantine city politics. Makes me want to visit Philadelphia!
The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has also mobilized enormous energy among city cyclists to assert their right to simply be there. Makes me want....
TA's Noah Budnick's presentation seemed lackluster by comparison. As he described it, TA's main programs are to expand bike parking and the Greenway. When questioned by two audience members (including yours truly) as to TA's vision for creating room for bikes on city streets (as opposed to accepting marginalization), he took offense and left the room, saying he didn't have to take s*** from the audience. (Uh, John Kaehny, with all this national brainpower in one room, where were you?)
Unfortunately, the issue of our right to simply be there continues to have life-and-death consequenes. The NYPost reports that a 31-year-old messenger was killed when a truck struck him at 2nd Ave and 55th St. at 4:55pm July 23. As usual, no summons was issued.
But at least one organization is actively trying to reclaim the streets for cyclists: Times Up, which is holding its monthly Critical Mass this Friday (7pm at Union Square). It's maybe not for everyone, but I like this group's anarchic energy, as long as it coincides with personal responsibility that's supposed to accompany it. And as the film ""Bike Like You Mean It"" showed, responsibility, leadership, and change can evolve out of reckless fun. (Times Up organizes lots of other events; several respected NYCCers are committed contributors.)
http://www.bikesummer.org/2003/calendar/detail.php?CalendarID=10
-------------
Sadly, City Councilmember David Yassky could not attend due to the circumstances at City Hall. Deceased councilmember James Davis was, among numerous other accomplishments, an active supporter of car-free Prospect Park."
