NYC Through the Prism of Public Transportation, Sidewalks and Citi Bike

NYFD, by Ben Renert. To see more of his great fotos, you can follow Ben on Instagram.

I am home in New York for a bit and it is great to be back in the apocalyptic hellscape! I love being in the best city in the U.S. for car-free living. I walk here almost as much as I do in Mexico City (CDMX) and when I need to travel further distances there is always Citi Bike, the MTA and a growing ferry system.

“New York City is an apocalyptic hellscape.” - The mantra of just about every Faux News wingnut.

Lest one believe the trash talk out of the sewer at La Casa Blanca, AI and Faux News, New York remains the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

- from The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

The Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor from Brooklyn Bridge Park.

This terrible moment in U.S. history that we are living through will pass.

It is the people (immigrants!), the accessibility and the vibe that makes New York the best city in North America and a contender for one of the best cities in the world.

Immigrants built (and build) the U.S. Astoria.

And there is so much here to savor.

A family-sized Masala dosa.

Extortion

The convicted felon and the rest of his crime family will not destroy us. Walk or bike or take the trains and buses around New York and you can see and feel, hear and taste the power of the City's kaleidoscope of cultures.

Our resistance to authoritarianism and xenophobia is present in every face and headscarf, kippa and Cruz Azul gorro you see on the heads of those you pass. Yes, every day more buffoonery is happening with taco extorting concessions out of our allies and trading partners, deporting hard-working immigrants and using the justice system to attempt to muzzle Constitutionally-protected speech. But as hard as it is right now, the crimes they are committing will not break us.

Get on the Bus

OK, so now that I have gotten that off my chest, I can move on to the good news; the state of public transportation and parks and livability in NYC.

Metro North at Melrose, El Bronx.

Where else in the U.S., save Chicago, can you get around the region so easily, car-free?

The Triborough Bridge and midtown at sunset. Astoria Park.

When I am back in New York, I see the City through the prism of the MTA, sidewalks and Citi Bike. Can I walk or pedal or take the train or bus there? And thankfully, for a growing swath of the four boroughs I consider NYC, the news is good. Yes, I know there are five boroughs but life is short. Richmond, as vast and interesting as it is, is usually not in the cards.

I am excited that the extension of the Second Avenue Subway to 125th Street is happening and that the Interborough Express which will better connect Brooklyn and Queens is a go. I am encouraged that congestion pricing is raising dollars for needed public transportation improvements and I love that 34th Avenue (Paseo Park) in Jackson Heights is a linear park. The City’s massive waterfront seems to get better by the month and it serves everyone gratis.

On the waterfront. ❤️ Brooklyn Bridge Park.

We are lucky that more and more of the City is being remade for livability. As in any place, there is a give and take, a to-be-expected tension between different visions for the city. With so many things wrong with the current political environment, it is refreshing to see that reason often has the upper hand in New York, at least when it comes to public transportation, parks and bike- and livability.

Of course, I am not blind. There remain real problems with the trains, buses and the City as a whole including decrepit, sweltering subway stations in need of elevators and AC and signal improvements that will speed train times and reliability. I dream of the day when there are true bus rapid transit (BRT) lines, like Metrobús in CDMX, throughout New York. The MTA’s SBS is a start, but it’s not BRT.

Two weeks ago, the work week started with a power outage at West 4th Street that derailed MTA train service throughout the system.

What is wrong with this picture? Everything! An A train running as an E at Queens Plaza.

After mulling my fate in an air conditioned B train at the 125th Street station that morning, I thought, OK, I will bike downtown. Never mind that the humidity was already brutal. At least I’d be moving and getting in a much needed workout.

In Harlem, you can still find 31 flavors.

Getting to the nearest Citi Bike dock at St. Nicholas Avenue and 124th Street, I had my pick of bikes. With Lyft (Citi Bike’s vendor) maximizing its profits by focusing on e-bikes, at too many docks these days it is rare to find a regular bike. I usually go with the regulars, and this steamy day was no exception. Within minutes I was cruising south (going the wrong way on Central Park West) in the wide, safe and shaded protected bike lane. IMHO it is past time the NYCDOT made CPW a two-way bike lane which, de facto, it already is.

Mi Casa

Being home has also meant time with family and friends and outings to some of the most beautiful places the Best Coast has to offer. That’s a good thing.

Gertrude's Nose, Minnewaska State Park Preserve. Thank you Alan!

Yours in transit,

Joel

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