Candy Cranks

While walking to the subway this rainy night, I noticed a few bike racks I hadn’t seen before on West Broadway in Tribeca. I didn’t have my camera, so I’m posting a photo from Curbed. The bike racks appear to reclaim sidewalk used as for ventilation for the subway, which is clever. And, in addition to looking modern and interesting, they incorporate a seating element.  Go NYC! We still have a long way to go to make drivers drive less like maniacs, but it makes me glad to see these kind of small, bike-friendly developments across the city. According to the Curbed article, they were installed in 2008. What do you think? (Photo from Curbed)

Want to help plan the Brooklyn waterfront greenway and bike access? See the following announcement:

Community planning workshops for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, led by NYC Department of Transportation, will begin on Thursday, March 25th. The community workshops will inform DOT’s master plan for constructing the greenway, so please mark your calendars and tell your neighbors. Four workshops will be held, one in each broad geographic area along the planned 14-mile route. Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and Regional Plan Association are co-sponsoring the workshops.

Greenpoint/Williamsburg (CB1)
Thursday, April 22nd
6:30-8:30pm
Brooklyn Brewery
79 N. 11th Street

These are pretty nice full-size folding bikes by Montague, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Montague says that they engineer the bikes to be foldable without sacrificing functionality or comfort.  They have pavement and mountain versions, both of which look pretty snazzy. What do you think?

Candy Cranks recently did a Q&A with Michelle Ernst of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which promotes alternative transportation and sustainable land use development in the Tri-State region (NY/NJ/CT). Michelle gave us a review of recent bike developments around NYC.

CC : What bike-related projects have you worked on with your organization ?

ME : A project we’ve worked on recently is the Bikes in Buildings law. A major deterrent to bicycling to work is just not having a place to park your bicycle when you get there. Prior to the law’s enactment in December 2009, many buildings prohibited bicycles from being brought into the office. And cyclists know that it can be a bad idea to leave your bike locked up outside, even for a short period of time. It’s still too early to see what effect this law will have on cycling, but we’re optimistic. The main challenge has been getting access to freight elevators to bring bikes in and out of buildings. Access is currently from 9am to 5pm, but many people work different hours, so if a freight elevator closes at 5pm, it can be hard to get a bike out.

CC : What are some of the recent bike developments you’ve seen in NYC?

ME : The many bike lanes that have been built recently are a big development for NYC. The NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner, Jeanette Sadik-Khan, is a cyclist herself, and she has been very progressive with projects such as closing off traffic from Broadway in Times Square and creating pedestrian plazas throughout the city. In the past three years, the city has built something like 200 miles of bike lanes. And the city is trying to track bike commuting, which is done by sending people out in the streets to do bike counts at bridges and other places. It’s not a perfect system of measurement, but it’s a start. Bicycle fatalities have dropped dramatically in the city, down from 26 in 2008 to 12 in 2009. It’s hard to discern a trend from just one year of data, but it sounds like good news to me. And I’m out on my bike very day, and I’ve noticed a lot more people cycling, even in the winter. And I’ve particularly noticed a lot more women who are riding. Just the other day, I was thinking, « Gosh, there are a lot of women on bicycles in NYC. » It’s great. So I think the trends are positive for cycling in the city.

CC: What’s next for your organization?

ME : We’re continuing our current work on pedestrian fatalities. We’re looking specifically at senior pedestrian fatalities, because seniors represent a disproportionate number of those. We’ll be examining that data to show that we need to better accommodate seniors though infrastructure, enforcement, education, and so on. Some avenues are quite dangerous to cross.

CC: Are there sources that identify the most dangerous intersections in NYC ?

ME : Transportation Alternatives releases a study called CrashStat, which shows the locations of fatalities and injuries in NYC. Many fatalities occur on arterial routes in the suburbs, because cars get up to higher speeds there. So if an auto strikes a cyclist or pedestrian at a higher speed on one of these arterial roads, that person is more likely to be killed than in places like Manhattan, where traffic tends to travel at a slightly slower speed.

CC : We’ve heard rumors about a potential bike-sharing program for NYC. Have you heard any recent news on that ?

ME : I’ve heard rumors that NYC is developing a plan for bike-sharing. The city just tested a bike share program in Summer 2009 on Governor’s Island, and I think it went well. So I think the city is looking at this option, which would be great for NYC. Of course, the problems would be theft and safety. But the data shows that the more cyclists are out there, the safer the streets.

CC : What resources do you recommend to stay current on NYC biking news?

ME : Transportation Alternatives, Streetsblog NYC, and the NYC Department of Transportation, which has a whole page devoted to bike resources.

CC : How can NYC bikers support bike-friendly initiatives ?

ME : Attend your local community board meetings. Be vocal and supportive of bike projects. Some bike lanes have encountered opposition from small portions of the community. So if cyclists don’t show up and speak in favor of projects, their voices don’t get heard. And support the NYC Department of Transporation and all the great work they do, as well as Transportation Alternatives, and our group, The Tri-State Transporation Campaign!

CC : What is your bike commute like ?

ME : I take my daughter to school every day on my bike. We ride up to her school on the Hudson Avenue bike lane. Then I take the 8th Avenue lane, which is separated from car traffic, to my office. To get home, I go south on another bike lane on 9th Avenue. My commute is not very difficult, so I’m lucky!

CC : What are your favorite bike routes in the city ?

ME : The Hudson River bike lane on the riverfront is a favorite. And crossing Brooklyn Bridge is fun. And Governor’s Island in the summertime is great, because no cars are allowed on the island.

CC : How can NYC riders ride more safely?

ME : NYC riding is pretty aggressive. And I’m less aggressive than some of the bikers out there, particularly when I ride with a child. I use bike lanes, especially the separated bike lanes. And stopping at lights is a good idea. Improving traffic enforcement is something the city need to improve. Lack of traffic enforcement is slowing down other great initiatives that the city is making. The NYPD could think more about pedestrian and cyclist safety. So there are some frustrations, but we’re working on them.

CC : What do you recommend for riding with a small child ?

ME : There is a great bike seat made by a company called Wee Ride. We tried other bike seats that fit on the back of the bike, but the weight and center of gravity was awkward for me. So now with this bike seat, my daughter sits out front and instead of looking at my back, she can see.

CC : Any last comments for Candy Cranks readers?

ME : I think the aim of the blog is terrific. I think it’s great for other women cyclists to see other women cyclists out there. So the work you’re doing is really important.

Just a heads up on this upcoming NYC Transportation Alternatives event this Thursday, February 11th:

Celebrate Valentine’s Day, bicycling, Transportation Alternatives and all of our sexy members at this year’s first mixer. Join us at NYC Velo on Thursday, February 11th. $10 will get you in the door, where free snacks, Brooklyn Brewery beer and who knows what else await!

Join or renew your membership at the door and we’ll wave the admission fee. If that isn’t reason enough, NYC Velo will extend its longstanding 10% discount for T.A. members to all products, as well as an extra 10% off any winter jacket and other special seasonal sales. Plus, in tribute to our evening’s theme, we’ll have a special contest to see who loves bicycling the most…

Biking is for Lovers

Thursday, February 11th

7-9 pm

NYC Velo

64 2nd Avenue

Manhattan, NY

$10 at the door

To RSVP, click here.

The New York Times reports that electric bicycles are catching on around the globe. Has anyone ever ridden one? I rode one in London, and it seemed it would be quite neat for commuting. (Kind of felt like cheating, though)

Despite the cold weather and slow biking season in NYC, Transportation Alternatives, a NYC-based bike/pedestrian safety group has been busy. The group has announced its top goals for 2010.

You can check out the TA blog here, which includes lots of juicy local discussion, including news on the recent Williamsburg bike lane conflict.

The TA’s Brooklyn chapter is having a meeting this Thurs, for anyone who is interested in attending. It will be held:

Thursday, January 28th, 7:00pm
@ Long Island College Hospital (LICH) conference room@ 7pm.

Photo from NYC.gov

Good news for NYC bike commuters! The Bicycle Access to Office Buildings Law just went into effect on December 11th, 2009, whereby allowing cyclists the opportunity to park their bikes in or close to the workplace.

This is great news to make life easier for current commuters and to encourage would-be commuters. (After you’ve survived the harrowing NYC morning commute, the last thing you want to worry about is a secure space to park your bike.)

For the law to apply, your employer needs to be located in a commercial office building with at least one freight elevator.

Of course, if there is no freight elevator accessible, you can still ask your employer if you can carry your bike up the stairs. (I once worked for a company that allowed us to park our bikes in the basement. When the basement was no longer available, we carried them up the stairs to an unused part of the office. People may complain about damage/wall smudges, so be careful with your tires on the landings.)

If you use this new program, or if you have an employer who has offered a helpful solution to accommodate your bike, let us know!

This has been a hot issue in recent months, when the Hasidim in Williamsburg, Brooklyn began to complain in September about the overly sexy female bikers who use the Bedford Avenue bike lane. At first, I thought this was some kind of joke or bad reporting in the form of someone’s comments being taken out of context.

The Bedford Avenue bike lane is a major artery through Brooklyn and to the Williamsburg Bridge, with part of it traversing a neighborhood that is densely Hasid-populated. But the complaints weren’t a joke, and the Hasidic community — or, shall I more accurately say, the men of the Hasidic community — has pressured the city to remove the offending corridor, to protect them from the possibility of seeing women ride by in (GASP!) tank tops and shorts and skirts and other shocking states of undress.

In response to the city removal of the bike lane markings, a few days ago a couple of bike activists took it upon themselves to perform a late-night repainting of the lane. The guerilla artists were stopped by local residents, got hit with a few charges, and the makeshift markings will be removed.

Some questions this raises: What city am I living in? What country are we living in? What century is this? A neighborhood pressuring the city to change a bike route because of reasons such as unsafe conditions and so on, I can live with. But this makes me so angry that I want to organize a naked ride through the neighborhood. (Who’s in??)

Links:

http://gothamist.com

http://www.nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Good report from NPR on a terrible road rage case. In Los Angeles in 2008, a former emergency room doctor got into an argument with cyclists and deliberately pulled his car over in front of them, causing the cyclists to crash into his car.

Cyclists Christian Stoehr and Ron Peterson were riding side by side when a doctor who lived in the neighborhood came up from behind in a sedan.

“There was an exchange of words,” Stoehr recalls. “He then accelerated within five feet in front of us, pulled over and slammed on the brakes.”

Stoehr says there was no time for them to stop. He was thrown over the car and landed across the road. But Peterson didn’t have time to swerve.

“And he went right in through the back window of the car,” says Stoehr, adding that Peterson crashed headfirst. “I think they found his teeth in the back seat.”

You can listen to the story and read the text here.

If there is a bright side to this story, it may be that it will bring more attention to the necessity of road-sharing.

“The road rage was so egregious,” says Bicycling editor Loren Mooney. She says this may be a landmark case in protecting cyclists and pedestrians. “It’s the intent, the actual road rage, that’s part of the conviction in this case.”

Ride safely!

And now we take a pause from the bike-centric for a fashion highlight on:

Cufflinks!

I don’t think that cufflinks get enough attention. And I think that they may appeal to Candy Cranks readers, so allow me to elaborate.

A few years ago I acquired a very bold and very pink button-down shirt. The only sartorial problem was what to do at the wrists, because the shirt sleeves ended in the button-less mystery of French cuffs. My quest for cufflinks was born.

Cufflinks are a largely under-appreciated ornament, typically only spotted on bankers, European CEOs and the stray dandy. And forget about seeing cufflinks on a woman. But why are cufflinks so ignored? Why do we submit to the tyranny of shirtmakers who impose their choice of cuff buttons on us?

Cufflinks are bits of color and texture, fragments of delight at the end of the sleeve. They add a flourish without the weight or bother of something hanging from your ears or around your neck (something that bikers wearing helmets and bike bags and trying to avoid getting strangled by rear view mirrors can appreciate).

And something a little punk rock happens when a woman wears cufflinks — perhaps like when women started wearing pants — it co-opts a bit of boardroom from the boys. For my pink shirt, I started with a simple pair of silk knots (the “training wheels” of the cufflink world). In branching out, I came across the Minnesota-based designer William Dean, more commonly known as “WMDEAN, the King of Handmade Cufflinks.”

WMDEAN makes handmade cufflinks (pictured above) from various materials such as gemstones, found objects like old coins and glass beads and metals like platinum, silver and recycled aluminum. They are edgy and playful — my favorites are the pink cameos, which are not your grandmama’s cameos, because the delicate motif in relief happens to be a skull-and-crossbones.

WMDEAN recently participated in a Q&A for Candy Cranks, excerpts of which follow.

CC: How would you describe your cufflinks?

WD: I like to believe that my cufflinks embody the spirit of Salvador Dali’s surrealism and Marcel Duchamp’s love of found objects. I also have a deep fascination for symbols and the meanings behind them. Put those three artistic elements together and you get WMDEAN.

CC: Which are your favorites?

WD: It really changes from day to day. I feel that wearing cufflinks can be a discreet way in which a person, can express themselves. Like many cufflink lovers, I own hundreds of pairs of cufflinks. When I wear cufflinks, it’s a reflection of my mood. Right now, I am really into a pair I made that remind me of Duchamp’s Anemic Cinema (pictured above). They are mostly orange, which I love! They have a brown metallic swirl that runs through them. They are set in a WMDEAN exclusive bezel cup with a button back in Sterling Silver. Best of all, they look FANTASTIC on men or women.

CC: What do you think of cufflinks on women?

WD: I find that many women are looking for cufflinks for that one french cuff shirt that they have in the closet. They love that shirt, but can’t find the right cufflinks to dress it up. The truth is that most cufflink manufacturers are not interested in making cufflinks for women. I disagree! I believe that women need cool cufflinks too! Besides that, if the cufflinks ROCK, then the woman will buy them for special people in her life too!

CC: Where is best to find your cufflinks?

WD: The best place to see my work, and participate in the madness, is on my Facebook fan page. The best places to purchase WMDEAN cufflinks are currently my website, eBay, Etsy.

CC: What’s next?

WD: WORLD DOMINATION! Totus genus flectus dementis Regis salutant qui sibi artifex dixit! (Everyone bow down to the MAD King… who calls himself an ARTIST!)

In closing, WMDEAN has a special offer for Candy Cranks readers. He says that if you become a fan on his Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Oaks-MN/WMDEAN/111600214935?ref=ts, and post a message on his wall saying, “WMDEAN is the KING,” his company will contact you privately to send you a FREE pair of cufflinks.

Can’t beat that. Thanks WMDEAN!

What to wear while Velibing? Here is one example I found while going through my summer archive (already from so long ago! Sniff!). If you have any photos of your perfect Velib outfit, send them in!

I almost fell off my chair when I heard about the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Route. When completed, this will be a 14-mile path that hugs much of the waterfront, connecting several neighborhoods, from Greenpoint to Sunset Park. After several years of planning, the project got some critical funding in 2008 and work has begun. You can look at a pretty fabulous interactive map of the slated route here. Many stretches of bike lane already exist in parts of the route, but this will be an over-arching plan to connect them. This is a mighty development for Brooklyn, which is dangerous and awkward to traverse from North to South, and another piece in the puzzle of NYC’s long-term plan to make the city more bike-friendly. Oh, and touché, Manhattan Greenway!

Love this cute oldie-but-goodie French ad, which makes a helpful suggestion about what kind of sporty underwear you might want to wear on your next ride around town.

Interesting minimalist bike from the Michigan-based designer J. Ruiter. According to J’s web site:

Our project, simplicity in inner city bicycling, was at first glance a fun aesthetic opportunity in new trends, color, and materials. Our target lived / worked in an inner city environment with minimal space. Bicycling at this level can be more about fashion and culture than speed and performance.

After the first few brainstorm sessions we knew there where bigger opportunities. The project ended up rethinking what a “frame” meant, getting ride of basic key components, and creating a new type of compact bicycling. Inspired by the first the “hobby horse” from it’s simplicity and secondly the cafe race scene. Each is an exercise in stripping something down to its core.

More photos here at the J. Ruiter site and here.

Not sure how comfortable the seat is on the derriere, but I’m loving the design. What do all of you think?

Hi everybody, been offline with work and etc.! Catching up, so I’ll be posting some bits I’ve picked up along the way these past months. Starting with Tour de France 2009! I was lucky to be in Paris on the last day of the race. We were staying in St. Germain, only a few minutes away from the Quai Malaquais, where the race was to pass before crossing the Seine to the Champs-Elysees. We waited until the live reporting showed the race entering Paris, then left the apartment. At first, we were walking calmly, but then I got nervous that we miscalculated (like that dream where you dream that you missed Christmas) and started rushing like an idiot. At the quai, the crowd was not as big as I had expected — the real mob goes over to the Champs-Elysees to watch the very end — so we easily got a spot where we could see. It was a fun, spooky kind of quiet. There was no traffic, since the streets were blocked (joy!), and people were just waiting and watching quietly. The only sound was the live news helicopter droning overhead. I was told that they pass so quickly that if you blink you might miss it, so I readied my camera with my finger on the button, afraid of missing snaps for Candy Cranks readers. Finally, a few police cars passed, marking the arrival of the race. Deep breath! Then a few promotional cars zipped by, followed by cars full of reporters, motorbikes, etc. Then suddenly, the riders popped out from around the bend, in a silent, serpentine line. The crowd erupted in cheers. I snapped away, not knowing if I was getting anything. After a few seconds, they were gone! No matter what you think of the conduct of the Tour de France, it was a thrill to see the race in person and see the riders so close to their goal, after such a grueling feat. After chatting with a few other spectators, we had a lovely walk in the surrounding streets, which were closed for most of the day, making for a rare and wonderful car-free zone.

There they are! Winner Alberto Contador leading in yellow. I think Lance Armstrong is fourth or fifth here.

The Summer Streets program closes several blocks to street traffic so residents can reclaim the asphalt. This program just started in my neighborhood in Prospect Heights — on Sunday afternoons in July, our main corridor on Vanderbilt Ave. is closed to traffic and open to socialize, stroll, shop, and bike! It isn’t a street fair (sorry, no sausage and pepper sandwiches or $2 tube socks), but is designed for people to use the resources already on the avenue. Bravo to the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council and other folks for pulling it off! If you want to organize a street fair/block party in your NYC nabe, see the city’s instructions here. Here’s a photo of them setting up.

I thought this was a joke, but apparently this is an international activist ride, and it seems that the first New York Ride just took place this weekend. The thought of biking naked around Manhattan’s West Side isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind as something to do on a Saturday night. But the more I think about this ride, the more I kind of like it, so bravo to anybody who did it! I could see the ride working in SanFran and other places, but NYC cops have been pretty low-tolerance for Critical Mass and other spontaneous mayhem involving bikes in recent years, so I’m wondering if these riders got further than around the block. Has anybody ridden in/seen this ride?

On a recent beautiful afternoon I visited the Brooklyn Flea Market booth of Deborah Stein and her company Bonbon Oiseau. Deborah makes beautiful key fobs, which are a perfect for holding bike keys. The antique brass key fobs are decorated with vintage charms. They’re practical, solid, cute and are not too bulky or heavy. My favorite is the square one with the little bee. Deborah is based in Brooklyn and exhibits at finer events in NYC and Paris. She also has a great collection of jewelry and other adornments. You can check out her collection online, and see some photos below (including a free photo of my feet). For NYC readers, she’s having a trunk show on June 18th 6:30-9:30 in Greenpoint. Email Deb at bonbonoiseau dot com. Tell her you saw the posting on CandyCranks!

For anyone in NYC this Sunday, there will be a Brooklyn bike-based scavenger hunt from 12pm until 3pm, beginning at Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn. It’s free, and prizes include bike goodies, Coney Island goodies, and Transportation Alternatives goodies. Team of up to 4 people! You need a bike, a digital camera, and a pen. To sign up, email bikebrooklynjune at gmail.com. Meet at Habana Outpost at 3pm for score tallying and mayhem, 757 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Grand Army Plaza photo from Brownstoner.com.