You can ring his bell: Mayor Bloomberg used a bicycle bell Monday to kick off Citi Bike, New York’s new bike-share program, as D.O.T. Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, behind him, beamed proudly.
BY JEFFERSON SIEGEL | New York started rolling along with other cosmopolitan cities worldwide last Monday with the launch of Citi Bike, the nation’s largest bike-share program.
“We have the A train, and we have yellow cabs and we have the Staten Island Ferry, and today, Citi Bike joins the ranks of the transportation icon family in New York City,” an ebullient Janette Sadik-Khan, commissioner of the Department of Transportation, said as she joined Mayor Bloomberg outside City Hall for the opening ceremony on Monday, Memorial Day.
“Citi Bike isn’t just a bike network,” she continued. “It’s New York City’s first new public transit system in more than 75 years.”
“We now have an entirely new transportation network without spending any taxpayer money,” Bloomberg said as he and Sadik-Khan stood in front of a dozen cyclists sitting on the cobalt-blue bikes. Bicycle bells pealed in place of applause as the two spoke of a new dawn in citywide transportation.
The program, delayed for a year, first by software problems and then by equipment damage due to Superstorm Sandy, had 15,000 members already signed up by opening day. Those early adopters will have access to 6,000 of the sturdy blue bikes at more than 300 locations throughout Manhattan below 59th St. and in a half dozen Brooklyn neighborhoods. The program anticipates 10,000 bikes will be available at 600 stations before long.
Standing quietly in the crowd was Chelsea resident David Byrne, an avid cyclist and founding member of the new wave band Talking Heads.
“In London and Paris the scale is different from New York and it really works,” he said while holding his bike helmet. “It gets people out, it changes people’s mental map of how they see the city.”
Citi Bike has faced opposition at every turn. The program was criticized for a plethora of anticipated complications. Naysayers said there would be a mass of injuries by inexperienced cyclists, plus a slew of drivers losing parking spaces, businesses losing customers and thefts of bikes. Some scoffed that the bikes would be unable to carry overweight people.
“Bike racks take up space but cars take up more spaces,” Bloomberg responded to the program’s critics.
“I own a bike but I know there are times when this will be really handy,” Byrne told The Villager, adding, “Everybody should keep talking. In other cities the local businesses have found that it’s actually good for business.”
Lee Schalop and his son David, cycling in Union Square, came down from the Upper West Side on Monday just to try out a Citi Bike. (Hey, is riding double considered fare-beating?)
Three members of the group Friends of Petrosino Square quietly held small protest signs throughout the launch ceremony. Afterward, the group’s founder Georgette Fleischer approached Sadik-Khan and was able to hand her a letter protesting the installation of one of the bike racks at the narrow tip of the square, at Spring and Lafayette Sts.
“We’re asking her to please move the racks out of the dedicated parkland that we worked so hard for, for years — the section, specifically, at a space for large sculptures and other 3-D installations,” Fleischer said of the politely worded but firm missive.
She said the group had been trying to make contact with Sadik-Khan and D.O.T. for weeks, to no avail. She said a petition with more than 500 signatures requesting that the racks be moved will also be delivered to D.O.T. soon. Sadik-Khan took the letter and put it in her bag before pedaling off uptown with a half dozen other cyclists.
The bike-share program has tried to anticipate every eventuality. Bikes with flat tires or other mechanical issues can be brought to any bike rack. A user can then press a wrench icon, which will allow the bike to be locked to the rack and another will be made available. A mobile phone app advises users where nearby racks are located.
An unknown number of subscribers had not received their “keys” by Monday. Citi Bike set up a table at Union Square on Sunday and Monday to distribute the distinctive blue keychain fobs to annual members who wanted to use bikes on opening day.
As crowds gathered around the City Hall bike rack for photo ops, Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson, a bicycle rider, described the Citi Bike he was about to pedal.
“Feels good,” he said. “It’s sturdy and I like the color.” Wolfson, who also owns a Specialized Sirrus bike, echoed others who suggest the bikes are perfect for commuting.
Susan Van Niftrik of the West Village concurred.
“We moved from Amsterdam, so we love bikes,” she said. “When you’re 2 or 3 years old you learn how to ride a bike, so it’s a part of life.
“I have a racing bike for long distances. This is for the inside of the city,” she said as she lifted, then pulled, one of the new blue cruisers out of its rack.
Later that afternoon, a steady stream of people were observed using the Citi Bike rack on Union Square North. Lee Schalop and his son, David, were seen giving one bike a whirl.
“We rode the subway down just to try it out,” the Upper West Siders said as they dismounted.
The three-speed bikes weigh in at just over 42 pounds, including puncture-resistant tires filled with nitrogen. The bike racks are solar-powered. There are three levels of use: a 24-hour pass for $9.95, a seven-day pass for $25 and an annual membership for $95.
The bike-share program is being managed by NYC Bike Share LLC, which will share any proceeds with the city. Citigroup is paying $41 million as the primary sponsor and Mastercard is paying an additional $6.5 million.
As of late Monday, Citi Bike reported that 6,050 bike trips had been made since the launch earlier in the day, with each trip averaging 20 minutes and a total of 13,768 miles traveled.
