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I live in the East Village and am convinced that cyclists in New York City have no regard for human life. The NYPD seems to be cracking down on their lawless be

by jdanp 9y ago

I live in the East Village and am convinced that cyclists in New York City have no regard for human life. The NYPD seems to be cracking down on their lawless behavior, but I think a push away from cycling and towards ride-sharing (a la Via) is the solution for our transit issue. With our broken subway system and high volume of cabs, ubers, etc; it is clear that New York is a driving city - but not a parking city.

ghaff 9y ago
The NYC subway system is far from the nicest in the world and it has a lot of infrastructure problems--in part because of its age. But a system that moves about 6 million people on the average weekday can't be all that broken.
- jdanp 9y ago
  You're right, my use of the term 'broken' was a bit harsh but this summer was particularly bad in terms of track fires, delays, station shutdowns, and persistent subway signal system problems, so much so that 'fixing the subway' has become a major talking point of the mayoral race.
  - deevolution 9y ago
    No reason to appologize for being "too harsh" at all. There is no reason to tollerate the state of this system. The nyc subway is hanging on by threads. By modern standards it deffinitely is broken and there are a whole lot of bugs to fix. The whole thing is running on ancient infrastructure. Saying otherwise will allow it to coninue as it is.
  - pcsanwald 9y ago
    I don't think you're being too harsh, but the point is that a lot of the worst problems are relatively recent: This past year has apparently been horrendous, but I lived in NYC from 2000-2016 and the subway was consistently way more reliable than cab for getting anyplace, especially during the workday in midtown. Every time I took a cab to an important meeting in manhattan, I regretted the decision. Whereas I've taken the subway to hundreds of meetings/appointments and really only gotten delayed impactfully a handful of times. No doubt that things have declined significantly in the past year, but I do think that saying NYC is a "driving city" is overstating.
the_gastropod 9y ago
Most NYC residents don't own cars. I'm not sure I'm buying your "New York is a driving city" assessment. New York is a dense city. Bicycles: 1. Don't pollute the air the that 8 million people breathe. 2. Take up a fraction of the space of a car. 3. Are faster than cars for most trips people make. Don't toss out the entire idea of a bicycle because a few cyclist ride like idiots. Drivers sometimes behave this way, too. And when they do, lives often end.
- staticelf 9y ago
  NYC don't even have a train from the airport to the city. Of course it is a driving city.
  - the_gastropod 9y ago
    Two of the three major airports in the metropolitan area (EWR and JFK) have trains to the city. And LGA has buses.
- jdanp 9y ago
  You're totally right, from the Rockaways to Riverdale cars are difficult to obtain for the majority of NYC's residents. I meant that New York is a 'driving city' in the sense that for-hire drivers such as cabs, Vias, etc are ubiquitous and necessary. Cycling has several benefits, but I believe the current situation makes it a hard sell. I don't believe cars will organically leave the road as more people turn to bicycles, and I don't believe cyclists can coexist with the current volume of vehicles. Proposed initiatives to limit this number, such as Bloomberg toll for driving through Manhattan, seem totalitarian. Cars are dangerous, but when I cross the street I am pretty certain the driver will be following basic laws: such as driving the correct way on a one-way street or stopping at a red light. The same can not be said for cyclists, in fact I witness them and their motorized bicycle cohorts breaking these laws every single day.
InitialLastName 9y ago
> cyclists in New York City have no regard for human life. I'll meet your anecdata with the data that cyclists aren't the ones killing people. The folks doing the killing are frequently your beloved cab drivers (and charter buses).
lifebehindbars 9y ago
LOL @ lawless behavior. This is a ridiculous comment. Drivers speed, run red lights, double park, block the box, pollute the air, honk their horns all fucking hours of the day, and kill a ton of people every year. EVERY major metropolitan area is experiencing fixed street capacity and a growing population. You cannot add more roads, more cars, more trains (at least in the short term) to move all these people: cycling and walking are the best ways to move in a dense area and we should be doing everything we can to promote the infrastructure and lifestyles for both of these activities. Getting rid of this toxic ideology would be a pretty good start.
- dionidium 9y ago
  honk their horns all fucking hours of the day This is one of those NYC stereotypes that turns out to be entirely true and it's an awful aspect of living here. This is mainly a problem in Midtown, but it's bad enough there as to be one of the worst things about the city.
addicted 9y ago
1 pedestrian death by a cyclist in about 8 years. I’d say that’s pretty good regard for human life. OTOH, cars kill a pedestrian almost daily in the city. Funny you don’t complain about them. Also this is despite bike lanes being adjacent to the sidewalk and actually protecting pedestrians from the actually dangerous cars by providing a buffer (pedestrian deaths on avenues which installed bike lanes, such as 2nd and 8th dropped after installation, and in comparison to avenues that did not.)

by jdanp 9y ago

ghaff 9y ago

The NYC subway system is far from the nicest in the world and it has a lot of infrastructure problems--in part because of its age. But a system that moves about 6 million people on the average weekday can't be all that broken.

jdanp 9y ago
You're right, my use of the term 'broken' was a bit harsh but this summer was particularly bad in terms of track fires, delays, station shutdowns, and persistent subway signal system problems, so much so that 'fixing the subway' has become a major talking point of the mayoral race.
- deevolution 9y ago
  No reason to appologize for being "too harsh" at all. There is no reason to tollerate the state of this system. The nyc subway is hanging on by threads. By modern standards it deffinitely is broken and there are a whole lot of bugs to fix. The whole thing is running on ancient infrastructure. Saying otherwise will allow it to coninue as it is.
- pcsanwald 9y ago
  I don't think you're being too harsh, but the point is that a lot of the worst problems are relatively recent: This past year has apparently been horrendous, but I lived in NYC from 2000-2016 and the subway was consistently way more reliable than cab for getting anyplace, especially during the workday in midtown. Every time I took a cab to an important meeting in manhattan, I regretted the decision. Whereas I've taken the subway to hundreds of meetings/appointments and really only gotten delayed impactfully a handful of times. No doubt that things have declined significantly in the past year, but I do think that saying NYC is a "driving city" is overstating.

the_gastropod 9y ago

Most NYC residents don't own cars. I'm not sure I'm buying your "New York is a driving city" assessment. New York is a dense city. Bicycles: 1. Don't pollute the air the that 8 million people breathe. 2. Take up a fraction of the space of a car. 3. Are faster than cars for most trips people make. Don't toss out the entire idea of a bicycle because a few cyclist ride like idiots. Drivers sometimes behave this way, too. And when they do, lives often end.

staticelf 9y ago
NYC don't even have a train from the airport to the city. Of course it is a driving city.
- the_gastropod 9y ago
  Two of the three major airports in the metropolitan area (EWR and JFK) have trains to the city. And LGA has buses.
jdanp 9y ago
You're totally right, from the Rockaways to Riverdale cars are difficult to obtain for the majority of NYC's residents. I meant that New York is a 'driving city' in the sense that for-hire drivers such as cabs, Vias, etc are ubiquitous and necessary. Cycling has several benefits, but I believe the current situation makes it a hard sell. I don't believe cars will organically leave the road as more people turn to bicycles, and I don't believe cyclists can coexist with the current volume of vehicles. Proposed initiatives to limit this number, such as Bloomberg toll for driving through Manhattan, seem totalitarian. Cars are dangerous, but when I cross the street I am pretty certain the driver will be following basic laws: such as driving the correct way on a one-way street or stopping at a red light. The same can not be said for cyclists, in fact I witness them and their motorized bicycle cohorts breaking these laws every single day.

InitialLastName 9y ago

> cyclists in New York City have no regard for human life. I'll meet your anecdata with the data that cyclists aren't the ones killing people. The folks doing the killing are frequently your beloved cab drivers (and charter buses).

lifebehindbars 9y ago

LOL @ lawless behavior. This is a ridiculous comment. Drivers speed, run red lights, double park, block the box, pollute the air, honk their horns all fucking hours of the day, and kill a ton of people every year. EVERY major metropolitan area is experiencing fixed street capacity and a growing population. You cannot add more roads, more cars, more trains (at least in the short term) to move all these people: cycling and walking are the best ways to move in a dense area and we should be doing everything we can to promote the infrastructure and lifestyles for both of these activities. Getting rid of this toxic ideology would be a pretty good start.

dionidium 9y ago
honk their horns all fucking hours of the day This is one of those NYC stereotypes that turns out to be entirely true and it's an awful aspect of living here. This is mainly a problem in Midtown, but it's bad enough there as to be one of the worst things about the city.

addicted 9y ago

1 pedestrian death by a cyclist in about 8 years. I’d say that’s pretty good regard for human life. OTOH, cars kill a pedestrian almost daily in the city. Funny you don’t complain about them. Also this is despite bike lanes being adjacent to the sidewalk and actually protecting pedestrians from the actually dangerous cars by providing a buffer (pedestrian deaths on avenues which installed bike lanes, such as 2nd and 8th dropped after installation, and in comparison to avenues that did not.)