noglider 

This is so good, I'm in near disbelief!

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/re...al/09bike.html

10 Wheels

Nice...

anaheim flash

that....is....so.....cool.

i am getting tears in my eyes.

pubb

Call me a skeptic, but I look at this as yet one more reason for businesses to leave NYC and head over to bike-phobic Joizy. At $1000/square foot, I don't imagine there are many employers progressive enough, even in NYC.

Pubb

AdamDZ

A LOT of people commute in NYC including many executives and influential people. This will make even more people interested in commuting by bike, they'll start asking. Many buildings were already allowing bikes inside before this law was even a rumor, some even didn't mind if you used the main lobby.

This law does leave a bit too much room for landlords to get an exception but I also believe that many will embrace the idea. Businesses, in particular in the creative fields will not move to NJ just because of this.

This is an enormous win for the cycling community. I believe credit for this goes to Transportation Alternatives.

Adam

exile

Sounds good as a commuter. However as an employee I'd be kinda pi$$ed if a bike had a better view than I did.

noglider 

Bikes are not just for hipsters in NYC. You have a lot of ordinary people riding merely because it makes sense for them. They are not bike enthusiasts. These people are good for us, because they add legitimacy to cycling and bike commuting.

Bike commuting is UP in NYC, as it is in a great many places.

I was a bike mechanic in NYC many years ago. I was away in college during the transit strike that took place in the spring of 1979. Mayor Ed Koch told everyone to ride a bike, and THEY DID. My boss told me what madness it was. He worked 7am to 9pm and still couldn't keep up.

I worked that summer, and a customer who wore a suit and tie rode his bike in. He told me that with the transit strike, he SOLD his car and BOUGHT his bike and he planned never to go back to the car. It warmed my heart.

gerv 

Sounds like a great idea, but hopefully it does not take away the need for the city to provide some bike parking facilities. Not everyone who bikes in the city will be commuting to a building where there's a freight elevator, so the city also needs to step up here. Does the bike access law mention more general parking plans?

noglider 

In a way, the specifics don't matter. What matters is that this is one of many elements of a wave of legitimizing bike commuting.

I think buildings of a certain minimum size have freight elevators, by law.

I've worked in jobs where I can lean my bike up against my desk. It's very, very nice.

AdamDZ

Are you implying that our riding is not legitimate?

LOL Just kidding, just kidding

I agree that biking is significantly up in NYC and it's not just hipsters. Most hipsters only ride on nice days anyway. I've seen very few in the last few days. But there are a lot of people who look like bike enthusiasts or just regular people. And I haven't seen that many when I started commuting on and off several years ago.

We've had a bike shed at work for years and it was usually half empty. For the last 2-3 years it's always full and people started bringing bikes inside. At first there were some objections but security never actually stopped anyone from bringing their bikes in. The mgmt promised to expand the shed, but nothing happened since they have other expenses so we just bring the bikes in and security looks the other way. I hope we'll get the shed expanded eventually and there were rumors of gym and showers but I'm not holding my breath.

What I want to see next is those bike lockers where you can lock your bike in it with all the gear on it. I would go shopping locally a lot more if I could lock my bike securely like that.

Ironically, today, the first day this law goes into effect is the coldest day so far, 21F and windy.

Adam

chucky

+1 Or something similar.

TRaffic Jammer

Here in Toronto, I get to mag pass into the executive underground parking, and lock up. Then I go upstairs, for 5$ a week, I have access to a 24/7 gym with spin bikes/classes .. weight room, and even yoga if I wanted. I have a small locker all my own and change room with shower/shave facilities. It rocks. I gotta say this is a boon for NYC cyclists, good on an already great city, the 21century takes hold in one of the world's most progressive cities.

rumrunn6

this reminds me that when I visited Ground Zero 14 days after the attack I stopped at a bicycle locked to a street sign. It was covered in dust and that is where I collected a memorial sample of debris, concrete chunks and dust the consistency of flour (which I would eventually bury on a beach in MA). now I'm thinking that the bike owner may have been lost in the towers ... if you all recall 14 days after could have been 2 days after - nothing had changed except there were several stacks of flattened fire engines and ambulances cordoned off away from the site.

dgk02

My building just announced the plans. They've installed several bike hangers - where the bike hangs from the front wheel in a slot on the wall with a metal loop for a lock. I'm a bit worried about warping the front wall but I reactivated a thread in the Mechanics forum to ask about it. Looks ok from what's there already though.

I thought we'd bring them up the freight elevator and I'd just stick it in my office but this actually is better - faster certainly. And to get to the racks you need to go right past the security booth in the loading dock. I intend to get a much nicer bike now that I don't have to leave it in front of the local Wendys.

JerseyBoy

Kudos to TA and city govt for getting this passed, but my bldg is taking full advanatge of 30 day review process. We'll see...

jayfromqns

Great News! As a NYC resident, and as a bike commuter I'm very happy to hear this.

rogerstg

I doubt that you'll see any buildings moving to Jersey. It seems that the law only allows bikes in freight elevators. It does not add a burden to businesses or requirement that they be allowed in offices. It simply stops anti-cycling maintenance supervisors from making up rules to stop cyclist/employees from using the freight elevator.

The simple fact is that many business do allow bikes in offices, but the landlord's representative stopped them before they got there. I say "landlord's representative" because I seriously doubt that the landlords, the corporations that own some of these buildings, care if a few 25# bikes get a ride in a freight elevator.

noglider 

I think what this does is chip away at a subconscious anti-bike prejudice. People are afraid of crap like bikes getting the floor dirty. Yeah, and they allow baby strollers. How does that make sense?

vtjim

Yep. Baby strollers, wheel chairs, people's shoes. I don't know about you guys, but I carry my (30-pound) MTB in to my office if the tires aren't dry, and I keep it parked on rubber mats that hold drips. I do that just to be a good citizen and not get noticed.