City Gives Out Free Bike Helmets
The DOT loves your skull! This Saturday, the Department of Transportation is giving away free bike helmets from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Columbus Avenue between West 87th and 88th Streets. While they last, the DOT will give out one helmet per person, for kids and adults. Each person must be fitted and sign a waiver (parents must be present to sign the waiver for kids under 18). The event is in partnership with Council Member Gale Brewer, the NYPD and Upper West Side Streets Renaissance. Check out nyc.gov/dot for more info.
Changing Lanes
The pedestrian-cyclist-driver saga is familiar to anyone living in Manhattan today. Pedestrians loathe bicyclists who break traffic laws. At public transportation meetings, some residents have called for bicyclists to get licenses, like drivers. Bicyclists, meanwhile, say they just want a safe place to ride, away from motorists, who in turn often see bikers as a nuisance.
But this decades-old story may be about to change, as the city is likely to install protected bicycle lanes on Amsterdam and Columbus avenues. Unlike the painted lanes drawn on asphalt throughout the city, protected lanes are strictly for bicyclists. Read more
Pricey Wheels Stolen
Two expensive bikes were stolen outside the Barnes & Noble at 1972 Broadway and West 67th Street. On Sept. 24 at 9:45 p.m., a 41-year-old New Jersey man was in the bookstore’s café when his bikes—worth $1,079 and $697—were stolen. Cops said both had been locked up with a chain.
