Bike New York and Ken Podziba

Ken Podziba is the President and CEO of Bike New York, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to encourage and promote bicycling in New York City through education and public events, and by collaborating with community organizations and municipal agencies. He joined Bike New York in 2010 and is most proud of the major expansion of Bike New York’s free education programs that reach 16,000 students annually. Under Mr. Podziba’s leadership, Bike New York has established 12 community bike education centers in all five boroughs, year round classes, summer camp programs for underserved children, and multilingual classes. Additionally, Bike New York is the education partner of the Citi Bike bike share program. Bike New York produces the nation’s largest bicycling event, the TD Five Boro Bike Tour, as well as regional rides that aim to promote cycling as a green, healthy addition to the daily lives of New Yorkers. Bike New York recently created the country’s largest consumer bike expo, Bike Expo New York (BENY), a two-day public event which attracts more than 60,000 attendees and more than 100 exhibitors.  BENY serves as a forum to bring the bicycling community together to discuss how best to encourage cycling as a safe and sustainable means of transit and recreation and create greater diversity.

Prior to joining Bike New York, Mr. Podziba served as the New York City Sports Commissioner from 1998 through 2010. He was appointed to this position by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and then reappointed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2002. In his role as Sports Commissioner, Mr. Podziba oversaw an organization responsible for attracting sporting events to New York City; the events that the Sports Commission helped attract and/or produce under Mr. Podziba’s tenure include the MLB All-Star Game, the Goodwill Games, NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, the NYC Cycling Championship, the WNBA All-Star Game, PBA Bowling in Bryant Park, the Freestyle World Wrestling Championship, the Archery World Championship and NASCAR Champions Week. The Sports Commission also led NYC’s bid for the FIFA World Cup and played an instrumental role in New York’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. Additionally, under Mr. Podziba’s leadership, the Sports Commission created a series of Mayor’s Cup championship events for public school student athletes.

Mr. Podziba also served as the Deputy Commissioner/Chief Financial Officer of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, the Assistant Commissioner of Finance for the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, and the Senior Project Manager for the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Mr. Podziba began his career as an urban planner for the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, where he served as the agency's project manager for MetroTech, a $1 billion commercial, academic, and high-technology urban renewal project that served as the catalyst for the revitalization of downtown Brooklyn.

Mr. Podziba graduated from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Whitman School of Management. He received a scholarship to Columbia University's School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where he received a Master of Science degree.

New Jersey Bike Walk Coalition and Cyndi Steiner

Cyndi Steiner is the CEO of New Jersey Bike Walk Coalition (NJBWC). Prior to becoming the Executive Director of the New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition, Cyndi Steiner had a  twenty-year career in corporate project management and information systems management with Ernst  & Young. Cyndi is also a current member and past president of the Board of Directors of Bike New. She  is a former racer, having raced from 2003 through 2013, and won the 2008 NJ Women's Category Four  Cup Series and the State Time Trial Championship in her age group that same year. She also placed  third in the 2013 women’s Medio Fondo NJ and second in her age group in the 2013 NJ Highlands Gran  Fondo. This year, she will serve as the Grand Marshal for the Gran Fondo NJ due to her role with the NJBWC.

Cyndi holds an MS degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in information systems management and a BS degree from Cornell University.

The New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition is a statewide membership advocacy  organization dedicated to making New Jersey a better place to live by working  with various stakeholders—townships, elected and appointed officials, clubs and  enthusiasts, community advocates and other leaders. Each year, NJBWC holds  the NJ Bike & Walk Summit, presenting cutting-edge topics with local, regional  and national speakers. The NJBWC led the campaign for ADA - compliant access  to the George Washington Bridge, and, along with our partners, won a Complete  Streets implementation, including bike lanes, as part of the Rt. 35/Jersey Shore  rebuild project. Other recent accomplishments include building a broad coalition of  organizations to preserve federal bike and pedestrian funding in New Jersey, passage  of Complete Streets policies in a number of NJ municipalities, and partnering with  the Protect the Palisades Coalition to limit development along Rt 9W. NJBWC is  currently working to obtain a four foot/safe-passing law and a vulnerable road user  law for the state.