The Battery Park City Authority unilaterally imposed its new cyclist-dismount rule at the North Cove Marina just days after promising Community Board 1 to work with a working group of BPC residents to formulate bike-safety policies, irking some locals.
BY COLIN MIXSON
A new rule mandating that cyclists dismount as they pass Battery Park City’s North Cove Marina is pitting pedalers against pedestrians.
Pedestrians praised the Battery Park City Authority for instituting the new policy for the dock-side stretch that connects the north and south ends of the waterfront esplanade, saying that it will help prevent their untimely deaths at the hands of reckless pedal pushers.
“It’s a great rule,” said Upper East Sider Curtis Sumpter, a pedestrian Downtown Express found strolling along the esplanade. “Cyclists act like they’re not as damaging as cars. If one hits you, you’re gonna find out they are.”
The Battery Park City Authority’s new rule requiring cyclists on the esplanade to dismount and walk their bikes past the North Cove Marina has had mixed results, with some (foreground) obeying the rule, and others (background) ignoring it.
But — surprise, surprise — cyclists say the new rule is a nonsense solution to a non-existent problem.
“I’ve never seen an issue with people biking into pedestrians,” said lifelong Gateway resident Olivia Goodkind, 19, who frequently bikes along the esplanade. “It seems a little pointless, to be honest.”
The dismount policy came with new signs installed around the marina instructing bikers to get off and walk, along with directions for Brookfield security guards to yell at any cyclist they see flouting the new rule.
But aside from the signage and a few harsh words, the new rule doesn’t have a lot of teeth, and it’s not uncommon to see cyclists simply ignoring the new policy, according to Goodkind.
“I notice everyone bikes through,” she said.
The authority instituted the new policy after bringing the issue of bike safety to Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee last month, where board members and authority liaison Nick Sbordone agreed to create a working group of community members to propose new rules to increase safety along the esplanade.
Then-committee chair Anthony Notaro praised the authority’s forward thinking in bringing the issue to the community board and agreeing to work with locals to institute smart policies.
“Community Board 1 and its BPC Committee have long advocated for a thoughtful review of the area and then execution of a clear plan to address the issues of safety and sustainability,” he said. “We look forward to working with the BPCA and all stakeholders in this important effort.”
But the working group has yet to meet, and the dismount policy came without any community engagement — a fact that angers some locals and furthers the authority’s reputation as a heavy-handed panel of Albany appointees out of touch with the community it governs.
“I thought there was going to be a process and [the working group is] not even going to meet for another month” said bike rider and Washington St. resident Ester Regelson. “I get the impression they make these decisions without consulting the community all the time.”
There are three main north-south bike routes on Lower Manhattan’s west side. They include a path on Fifth Avenue, the Hudson River Greenway, and the Battery Park City Esplanade.
But with heavy traffic along Church Street, the only uninterrupted north-bound route west of Broadway, and the massive amount of pedestrians on the narrow greenway — where a cyclist was struck and killed by a motorist while crossing Chambers St. last month — the esplanade is by far the safest route for locals who rely on their bikes to get around, according to Regelson.
“The awful gauntlet on Church St. is horribly unsafe and there are way more people on the greenway and in larger crowds than around the marina,” she said. “Now we have to dismount, which is a huge inconvenience. To have to get off and walk a bike, it’s like getting out and pushing your car, or walking barefoot — if you have wheels and you’re using your legs, your vehicle is useless.”
— with Jane Argodale
