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I commuted by bike for years in NYC and frankly I do not recommend it. The traffic has always been bad but it’s now significantly worse, and the bike lanes that

I commuted by bike for years in NYC and frankly I do not recommend it. The traffic has always been bad but it’s now significantly worse, and the bike lanes that exist make riding even more dangerous. You are always within reach of parked cars doors, and the lack of a physical barrier on most lanes means they are often driven over by cars. Perhaps worst of all, even faulty bike lanes give cyclists a sense of entitlement and false security. The fact remains the roads were not built for cycling and cars always win in a battle for space. I’d love to see bike-only roads, routes, or such. But until there is both proper segregation and consequences when cars kill cyclists (there are currently none) it’s a death wish. Every day I see eager young cyclists riding with no helmet, no lights, and not infrequently without brakes (on fixies) and I am compelled to yell out my advice on working harder at staying alive.

dh-g 9y ago
I have never looked at the data for NYC but for many cities cycling is about as dangerous as walking. The data might surprise you.
sandover 9y ago
Don't ride in the door zone. Don't let cars make you ride in the door zone. Take the car lane instead. I've gone 15,000 miles safely in dense urban environments because I am heads-up about the 2 main threats: intersections, and the door zone.
- ad_hominem 9y ago
  Just be prepared to be ticketed by overzealous NYPD cops. http://gothamist.com/2017/04/28/nypd_bike_lane_tickets.php http://gothamist.com/2017/04/28/nypd_bike_lane_tickets.php
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- alsetmusic 9y ago
  > Don't ride in the door zone. Don't let cars make you ride in the door zone. Take the car lane instead. Please don’t do this. During the time that I commuted on a bicycle, it was very frustrating when other cyclists didn’t follow the rules of the road (zipping through stop signs is another example). It causes resentment in drivers. This leads to aggressive behavior towards cyclists.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - soperj 9y ago
    I don't know the rules of the road for NYC. Where I'm from though, you are supposed to take the lane. Quite frankly, it's insane not to take the lane, since people think they can pass you in their car, while staying in the same lane.
    - u801e 9y ago
      Traffic lanes are rarely wide enough for two vehicles to travel side by side with sufficient space between them. For example, on a street with 10 foot wide lanes, a 6 foot wide car would have a margin of 2 feet on either side of it and 4 feet between it and a car in the adjacent lane. For buses that are 8.5 feet wide, they have about 0.75 feet on each side and 1.5 feet between them and another bus in an adjacent lane. A cyclist is about 2 feet wide at a minimum. To have a 2 feet of space on each side, they need a lane that's 6 feet wide. To have 0.75 feet on each side, they need a lane that's 3.5 feet wide. For the car and bus examples above, neither can leave enough space in the lane while they're in it for a cyclist. So the only way to safely pass one is to change lanes.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
  - rpearl 9y ago
    In most (all?) states in the US cyclists are legally allowed to take the lane when it is unsafe to stay to the right.
aqme28 9y ago
Cycling in NYC is highly dependent on the bike lanes on your route. There are good stretches of quality bike lane here and there (especially in Brooklyn), however there are parts of e.g. Chinatown that I would not recommend on a bike.
- subpixel 9y ago
  I would add to that list the entirety of Queens, where I regularly see people cycling down Northern Boulevard. I'm not familiar with roads in other cities to compare it to, so you'll have to use your imagination when I say: it's very dangerous.
  - akgerber 9y ago
    Much of Queens Boulevard already has a protected bike lane, and more will soon: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2017/08/04/eyes-on-the-street-the-queens-boulevard-bike-lane-reaches-rego-park/ https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2017/08/04/eyes-on-the-street-th...
    - subpixel 9y ago
      None of the bike lanes on Queens Boulevard are protected. And according to the article, when it is "protected", it will be with "plastic posts". Here's what cement dividers on Norther Boulevard protect riders from (scroll down for photos): http://qns.com/story/2017/12/07/poorly-designed-hastily-constructed-another-queens-rep-wants-northern-boulevard-bike-lane-gone/ http://qns.com/story/2017/12/07/poorly-designed-hastily-cons...
djtriptych 9y ago
Commuted for years, also Brooklyn to Manhattan about the same distance. Had to stop due to back issues but I can echo all the OP’s benefits. Biking is somewhat dangerous in NYC, and every other American city. I agree with OP that NYC drivers are generally very good though. It’s the bikers responsibility to bike as though drivers are -trying- to kill you. First heard that advice when riding motorcycles and it’s stuck with me. I’ve been in a few spills on my bike. A big one with a pedestrian who strolled into a protected high speed path at prospect park. Another one with an invisible pothole at night in park slope. The last was pure user error, riding tipsy from my local bar home :) Generally, riding in nyc, like walking in nyc, is a unique skill set. You really MUST be able to do things like look behind you while riding, and it’s quite helpful to be able to accelerate to near traffic speeds. Of course you must assume any car door can open at any time. Route planning also goes a long way; it’s usually worthwhile to take a slightly longer route to stay on smooth streets or protected lanes. Extra wide one-way streets in Brooklyn are generally quite good for cyclists as well.
- subpixel 9y ago
  > Generally, riding in nyc, like walking in nyc, is a unique skill set I don't mean to fear monger, but I suspect that confidence is just as dangerous as ignorance when you're on a bike in NYC. Very experienced cyclists also end up dead: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/nyregion/cyclists-death-shows-biking-perils-persist-in-new-york.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/nyregion/cyclists-death-s... Cycling in NYC can be fun, healthy, and might eventually help push the city into better accommodating non-vehicular traffic. But it's also particularly dangerous, there is no getting around that.
  - djtriptych 9y ago
    I'm not sure that a story of one experienced rider being struck and killed invalidates the common sense argument that more experience is better than less experience. I did not mean to impress that the techniques I mentioned above, if mastered, would result in 100% safe riding. As far as biking being particularly dangerous in NYC, you'd need stats like miles traveled vs fatalities for a number of major cities to make that determination. It might be more dangerous in NYC, but it might not.
nirajshr 9y ago
have been riding in NYC for past 2 years. I do agree that bike lanes give you a false sense of security. You have to remain vigilant at all times. It's not that stressful. For me, I have come to enjoy riding in the city now. You need time to develop the sense of various moving objects around you.
meuk 9y ago
Driving without brakes is just ridiculously dumb in general, but especially so in a place like NYC.
Piskvorrr 9y ago
At least on the island of Manhatto, the roads were not built for cars, either ;)

dh-g 9y ago

I have never looked at the data for NYC but for many cities cycling is about as dangerous as walking. The data might surprise you.

sandover 9y ago

Don't ride in the door zone. Don't let cars make you ride in the door zone. Take the car lane instead. I've gone 15,000 miles safely in dense urban environments because I am heads-up about the 2 main threats: intersections, and the door zone.

ad_hominem 9y ago
Just be prepared to be ticketed by overzealous NYPD cops. http://gothamist.com/2017/04/28/nypd_bike_lane_tickets.php http://gothamist.com/2017/04/28/nypd_bike_lane_tickets.php
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
alsetmusic 9y ago
> Don't ride in the door zone. Don't let cars make you ride in the door zone. Take the car lane instead. Please don’t do this. During the time that I commuted on a bicycle, it was very frustrating when other cyclists didn’t follow the rules of the road (zipping through stop signs is another example). It causes resentment in drivers. This leads to aggressive behavior towards cyclists.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- soperj 9y ago
  I don't know the rules of the road for NYC. Where I'm from though, you are supposed to take the lane. Quite frankly, it's insane not to take the lane, since people think they can pass you in their car, while staying in the same lane.
  - u801e 9y ago
    Traffic lanes are rarely wide enough for two vehicles to travel side by side with sufficient space between them. For example, on a street with 10 foot wide lanes, a 6 foot wide car would have a margin of 2 feet on either side of it and 4 feet between it and a car in the adjacent lane. For buses that are 8.5 feet wide, they have about 0.75 feet on each side and 1.5 feet between them and another bus in an adjacent lane. A cyclist is about 2 feet wide at a minimum. To have a 2 feet of space on each side, they need a lane that's 6 feet wide. To have 0.75 feet on each side, they need a lane that's 3.5 feet wide. For the car and bus examples above, neither can leave enough space in the lane while they're in it for a cyclist. So the only way to safely pass one is to change lanes.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- rpearl 9y ago
  In most (all?) states in the US cyclists are legally allowed to take the lane when it is unsafe to stay to the right.

aqme28 9y ago

Cycling in NYC is highly dependent on the bike lanes on your route. There are good stretches of quality bike lane here and there (especially in Brooklyn), however there are parts of e.g. Chinatown that I would not recommend on a bike.

subpixel 9y ago
I would add to that list the entirety of Queens, where I regularly see people cycling down Northern Boulevard. I'm not familiar with roads in other cities to compare it to, so you'll have to use your imagination when I say: it's very dangerous.
- akgerber 9y ago
  Much of Queens Boulevard already has a protected bike lane, and more will soon: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2017/08/04/eyes-on-the-street-the-queens-boulevard-bike-lane-reaches-rego-park/ https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2017/08/04/eyes-on-the-street-th...
  - subpixel 9y ago
    None of the bike lanes on Queens Boulevard are protected. And according to the article, when it is "protected", it will be with "plastic posts". Here's what cement dividers on Norther Boulevard protect riders from (scroll down for photos): http://qns.com/story/2017/12/07/poorly-designed-hastily-constructed-another-queens-rep-wants-northern-boulevard-bike-lane-gone/ http://qns.com/story/2017/12/07/poorly-designed-hastily-cons...

djtriptych 9y ago

Commuted for years, also Brooklyn to Manhattan about the same distance. Had to stop due to back issues but I can echo all the OP’s benefits. Biking is somewhat dangerous in NYC, and every other American city. I agree with OP that NYC drivers are generally very good though. It’s the bikers responsibility to bike as though drivers are -trying- to kill you. First heard that advice when riding motorcycles and it’s stuck with me. I’ve been in a few spills on my bike. A big one with a pedestrian who strolled into a protected high speed path at prospect park. Another one with an invisible pothole at night in park slope. The last was pure user error, riding tipsy from my local bar home :) Generally, riding in nyc, like walking in nyc, is a unique skill set. You really MUST be able to do things like look behind you while riding, and it’s quite helpful to be able to accelerate to near traffic speeds. Of course you must assume any car door can open at any time. Route planning also goes a long way; it’s usually worthwhile to take a slightly longer route to stay on smooth streets or protected lanes. Extra wide one-way streets in Brooklyn are generally quite good for cyclists as well.

subpixel 9y ago
> Generally, riding in nyc, like walking in nyc, is a unique skill set I don't mean to fear monger, but I suspect that confidence is just as dangerous as ignorance when you're on a bike in NYC. Very experienced cyclists also end up dead: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/nyregion/cyclists-death-shows-biking-perils-persist-in-new-york.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/nyregion/cyclists-death-s... Cycling in NYC can be fun, healthy, and might eventually help push the city into better accommodating non-vehicular traffic. But it's also particularly dangerous, there is no getting around that.
- djtriptych 9y ago
  I'm not sure that a story of one experienced rider being struck and killed invalidates the common sense argument that more experience is better than less experience. I did not mean to impress that the techniques I mentioned above, if mastered, would result in 100% safe riding. As far as biking being particularly dangerous in NYC, you'd need stats like miles traveled vs fatalities for a number of major cities to make that determination. It might be more dangerous in NYC, but it might not.

nirajshr 9y ago

have been riding in NYC for past 2 years. I do agree that bike lanes give you a false sense of security. You have to remain vigilant at all times. It's not that stressful. For me, I have come to enjoy riding in the city now. You need time to develop the sense of various moving objects around you.

meuk 9y ago

Driving without brakes is just ridiculously dumb in general, but especially so in a place like NYC.

Piskvorrr 9y ago

At least on the island of Manhatto, the roads were not built for cars, either ;)