Althouse: Bicycle kiosk nimbyism.

May 14, 2013

Bicycle kiosk nimbyism.

In NYC: "why they put these giant racks in these little streets is crazy to me."

24 comments:

rehajm said...: This sums it all up-

“Why do we have to lose that,” Mr. Mossey asked, “and give it up for the bigger picture?”; 5/14/13, 2:34 PM
gerry said...: At a particularly heated community meeting, an inelegant analogy was drawn between the Bloomberg administration and the Taliban.

They insulted the Taliban?; 5/14/13, 2:37 PM
Anonymous said...: for a city with few alleys, some businesses found their unloading access blocked. Interesting idea, I've seen it elsewhere, I don't think it'll work out as hoped in NYC.; 5/14/13, 2:39 PM
David said...: Can we stop talking about Angelina Jolie?; 5/14/13, 2:43 PM
Rocketeer said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/14/13, 2:44 PM
Larry J said...: Any bets on how long it'll be before most of those bikes are stolen?; 5/14/13, 2:46 PM
Rocketeer said...: I can't decide where these bicycle racks should go. I'm bisexual!; 5/14/13, 2:47 PM
edutcher said...: I'd rather walk than ride a bike in a big city.; 5/14/13, 2:52 PM
gerry said...: Can we stop talking about Angelina Jolie?

Would New Yawkers accept artificial racks?; 5/14/13, 2:55 PM
Unknown said...: If they're convenient for some they are equally inconvenient for others.

An Inconvenient Truth.; 5/14/13, 2:55 PM
Peter said...: A bicycle is actually a pretty good way to get around Manhattan (less so for the other boroughs) and I can see where a rented one could provide a convenient way to get to/from transit.

You'd think the streets of Manhattan would be jammed with cars, and in a few places they are. But mostly there are few cars on Manhattan streets due to the absurdly high cost of parking (if you can find any at any price).

It is true, however, that as there are few alleys businesses have to accept deliveries from the street. Which could certainly be a problem if access is blocked by a huge bike rack.; 5/14/13, 2:57 PM
Kevin said...: It's almost like blundering forward with massive government intervention can have unintended consequences or something.

Plus who wouldn't appreciate back to back posts going from bisexual activists to bicycle activists.; 5/14/13, 3:06 PM
Palladian said...: They've installed one of these on the street where I work, which is an already-clogged, narrow, crosstown street in Manhattan.

I like them, because they're an ugly, inconvenient, physical reminder that "you get what the fuck you vote for".; 5/14/13, 3:08 PM
David-2 said...: I thought the following was interesting:

"The city said it had discussed the bike share program at 159 public meetings, and conducted another 230 with elected officials, property owners and other stakeholders."

I have mixed feelings about this. For example:

a) Is this what it takes to get something done in NYC: City officials/bureaucrats have to run 390 meetings and do who knows what else?

b) Couldn't they have spent that time and effort doing something worthwhile?

c) Or just not done it and reduced the size of government instead?

and finally d) Makes you kind of understand, at last, why Bloomberg prefers to operate by decree.; 5/14/13, 3:09 PM
Rob said...: Apparently they need a bisexual advocate.; 5/14/13, 3:19 PM
bleh said...: Bicyclists are the worst.; 5/14/13, 3:23 PM
Archilochus said...: They just installed these on MacDougal Street, next to NYU Law School, eliminating parking on half of the block.; 5/14/13, 3:34 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: “The problem is not that people weren’t informed. It’s the critical mass of the bike stands that has the impact.”

I don't know whether there's an East Coast version of Critical Mass, but in San Francisco it's a Friday-evening massive bicycle ride timed to mess up the commutes of people in cars. Is this a reference, or a coincidence?; 5/14/13, 4:06 PM
n.n said...: They like when everything is "green". It's a state of mind which is incompatible with reality (and their refined tastes), unless they can sell or bribe their way to enjoy the corruption of democratic leverage.

This is why Gosnell's clinic of horrors was permitted a pass. These people like to resolve the inconveniences of the natural order and life through advocacy for out-of-sight and out-of-mind policies, which tend to obfuscate the dysfunctional behavior lurking just beneath the surface.

Anyway, it's a dysfunctional convergence. Fundamental corruption on the Left. Exceptional corruption on the Right. The only thing that is "green" are the shoots emerging from the toilets where aborted human lives are disposed as fertilizer for the ego and material bottom line.

They offer short-term solutions to exacerbate long term problems, which happen to be politically, economically, and socially profitable in the interim. Morons.; 5/14/13, 4:30 PM
ricpic said...: Sadik-Kahn, what a perfect name for the Stalinist witch imposing the good life on the benighted lumpen walkers of New York by drastically increasing the frequency with which they are run down and injured by their superiors, the anointed biker class.; 5/14/13, 6:12 PM
Tim said...: From the article:

“Some people can’t see. Some people just don’t want to see.”

I bet this twit voted for Obama, too.

Fool.; 5/14/13, 6:21 PM
Tim said...: "Is this a reference, or a coincidence?"

I can't answer that question; I can say, having been caught in one before, it is a nightmare, and I'm surprised no bicyclist hasn't been run over and killed by an infuriated driver.

I think justifiable homicide would be the ruling. It's unbelievable.; 5/14/13, 6:25 PM
William said...: I see more bike lanes but there has been no noticeable increase in bike riders. This might be an idea whose time has passed.; 5/14/13, 6:55 PM
Ambrose said...: A perfectly nice stretch of Park Ave - right at the corner of 42d where cabs used to pick up and drop off Grand Central fares, and the very efficient airport busses were based - is now closed to vehicles and filled with about 50 (as of today empty) bike stalls. It seems to me that someway could have been found for fewer bike stalls and a shared space.; 5/14/13, 8:08 PM