Daily Life

New York is a busy city with huge territory, millions of inhabitants and an elaborate public transport network. Despite that it is a city built on a flat terrain, where the main landmarks are placed within short distance from each other. The city offers very good options for those who want to stay healthy, go jogging or cycling. It is a place that provides very good conditions for the people on bikes, but also hides many dangerous like busy streets with pedestrians, busy roadways, etc. Actually, cycling is quite popular is New York City. There are different cycling clubs, bike sightseeing tours, utility and delivery cyclists, and individual cyclists, who just love that way of reaching different areas. The delivery bikes are used for the fast food and pizza deliveries, there are also bicycle messengers for light loads and shorter distances and there are also cargo bicycles for heavier packages. It would be interesting to mention that the first specialized bike path was arranged in New York city back in year 1894 and today the city is among the settlements in the United States where riding a bike is popular and safe.

In case that you are staying in a nice New York apartment in the central area or in the good neighborhoods, it will be nice to rent a bike and get to know the city in this way. As a traveler you should know that there are pedicabs that became quite popular in the city, as they provide transportation on short distances, as well as different guided tours in Central Park area. The number of the licensed pedicabs in New York City is 850. There is a new tendency that will start operating from this year and it will work on the grounds of the sharing of bicycles. For that reason in New York City will be built special bicycle stations. The cycling in New York City is usually done in the motor traffic lanes, but in addition to that there are bikeways that connect most of the neighborhoods. The bicycle paths in the parks are called Greenways and an example of such spot is the Hudson River Greenway which is very popular. Other Greenway paths are the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway, the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, and the Greenway connecting the Pelham Bay Park with the Bronx and then the Moshlow Parkway and the South County Trailway. Other good cycling areas are the north shore of Jamaica Bay and the south shores of Flushing Bay and Little Neck Bay.

The street bike lanes are marked with paint and signs, which are marked between the traffic lane and the parking lane. Quite often though, these are blocked with vehicles and they prevent the free and safe cycling. On some streets there are concrete blocks to separate the lanes, which is a good solution to the problem. In other areas such as the zone between Broadway and Herald Square two lanes are turned into bike paths and zones for pedestrians. New York City Council makes everything possible to promote the cycling and make it safer and with a better impact on people’s life and on the environment.