A City Made For Cars

newyork

If only the whole of New York was like Central Park.

I’m currently spending two weeks in New York. All I can say is New York is a city made for the automobile. Everywhere you see six lane highways, but no room for any meaningful cycle lane.

If you go to Manhatten, there are quite a few cyclists darting around the street. These cyclists are viewed with a mixture of admiration and contempt. Admiration for being brave enough to cycle through the streets filled with SUV’s, taxis and buses in a seeming perpetual drag race to the next traffic light. Cyclists are also routinely criticised. This is not just for the obvious things like running red lights, but also just for being in the road. For example a cyclists swerving to avoid a parked car, is a nusiance because the car has to slow down and will be routinely honked. The impression I get is that there is currently little cultural appreciation for alternative forms of transport other than motor vehicles. But, it is not quite as bad as a few years ago.

In Central park, there are plenty of cyclists making the best of this relative car free paradise.

Until I return home, I will be going round and round in circles on Kissena Velodrome (an outdoor velodrome) It’s amazing how much you can enjoy going around in 400 metre circles when it means being secured against New York drivers.

p.s. I have entered a race around the 2nd May (A nine mile hill climb, though even if fit, I will be lacking race shape.

Related

Cycling in US (august 2011)

Cycling in New York

Cycling in Manhatten



3 Responses to A City Made For Cars

  1. Jonomc June 18, 2011 at 1:47 am #

    I was in Manhattan for a week in March – although the ride round Central Park is nice (I hired a bike) it would quickly get dull riding around and around. If it wasn’t for the fact I need to commute in and then have to get back on my bike I think I would quickly loose the drive to cycle every day.

  2. pj April 16, 2011 at 10:14 am #

    see you at the shap!

  3. Emily :) April 12, 2011 at 8:37 pm #

    wow that sounds just like where I live ;) Well not quite but people on the main road here seem to think all teenagers on bikes are going to be riding BMX bikes with no helmet and are about to swerve into the middle of road .
    but a person who liked cycling saw a perfectly normal thirteen year old riding there bike on the road they’d be happy that “youths” or a least one (me!)of them likes cycling.
    but to a beer bellied ,tatooed ,TV watching ,middle aged shall we say person (I’m fair on men they can’t help falling into that catagory quite a lot) if this person saw me they would think that the roads are been invaded by hooligons and somone somwhere has made a very grave mistake by letting there child go out on a bike and that person might go have a swear at them later , but perhaps not if it would mean missing topgear.
    Emily :)

Leave a Reply


7 + 5 =