Bike Rack Switcheroo: Remsen to Hicks

By on May 11, 2013 7:01 pm in Brooklyn Heights, News, Traffic, Transportation

As the photo shows, racks for the Citi Bike Share program have been placed along the west side of Hicks Street going south from Montague, in front of Heights Cafe, Dellarocco’s, and J McLaughlin. According to BHB Ten 2012 honoree Sahmi Rum, who mourns the loss of parking spaces, the racks were moved from Remsen Street because of complaints from residents of 60 Remsen, at the corner of Hicks and across the street from the racks’ previous location. As the photo below shows, that stretch of Remsen is now bike rack free.

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  • Joe A

    It’s simple Tony if people,don’t use them the program will wither and the bike stations will be reduced or eliminated. If it a success then the space taken up by the bike stations will be better utilized by the citizens of New York as more bikes than cars can be accommodated in same space.

    I am amazed at the sense of entitlement that those that have vehicles exhibit. The streets do not belong to you, they belong to all New Yorkers and the city has every right and obligation to put its resources to the best use for the most NewYorkers.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Cutting down on the film shoots would be worth the programs existence alone!

  • PB

    I don’t think a new mayor could get rid of them if he or she tried. There’s a multi-year contractor with the operator, Alta and with the sponsor, Citibank. Both have put massive resources into this. I expect it would cost the city untold millions to back out. Not to mention that it would be stupid to do so. This is a massively useful public amenity, with the cost heavily underwritten to keep public and user cost low. It’s a huge win for the city and citizens.

  • petercow

    I bought a pass.. and let me give a good example of how it can be used.. let’s say I’m on the subway and rather than change trains on a weekend, wait 30 minutes, etc.. if (for example), I can get the F train. I can then hop on a bike and take it right to where I live. (or vice versa),

    It’s not for tourists.. it’s an extension of the transit network.

  • Mike R

    What a load of crap. Who are you to judge what a luxury is and who has a right to own a car … Just sayin’.

  • PB

    I bought a pass for my wife and I to share. I suspect I won’t use it too much at first but the moment they open stations south of Atlantic Ave I’ll be using it multiple times a week for grocery shopping at the various shops if Court and Smith.

  • mac

    now I (as a vehicle owner) actually like that idea. Get the RPPs in place in the neighborhood, charge a reasonable yearly fee..problem solved :)

  • Joe A

    Why do these bike racks have to take away from our VERY VALUABLE parking spaces?

    Let me turn it around, why should you be able to take up this very valuable space with your private property (which may remain for days unmoved) when that very space can service so many more NY’s that actually pay for that valuable space with their membership fees?

  • petercow

    Mike – you have a right to own a car. Just as I have a right to own a sofa. What I don’t have the “right” to do, is keep my furniture on a public street, at no cost.

  • GHB

    @petercow… But you DO have the right to keep your car in your apartment, at no cost (provided you can get it in.) It makes as much sense as your silly argument.

  • petercow

    I agree – if you can keep your car in your apartment, keep it there. It’s called a garage. People pay for those things. Just like I pay for the room to keep my antique bowling ball collection.

  • MonroeOrange

    OUT OF 8 MILLION!

  • MonroeOrange

    Arch, you accept no other opinion but your own, yet you call other people narrow minded…look in the mirror sir.

  • Alec

    No doubt you are being inundated with complaints of all shapes and sizes regarding the Citibike Stations. I am a BIG fan and an avid cyclist. That being said I am also a Brooklyn Heights resident and car owner. Some stations are in great locations (e.g. the one at Clinton where it ends at Cadman Plaza). But last night when I came home I found a new, very large station on Hicks St between Remsen and Montague. It took away at least 10 very precious parking spots, and is also located on a busy street that doesn’t even have a bike lane.

    What is the process for having this station removed? There are countless other locations in the neighborhood where cars aren’t allowed to park anyway (e.g. in front of the playground at the end of Pierrepont St @ the Promenade – there is TONS of open sidewalk space to put the bikes).

    There is a way to make lots of stations and not take away parking spots.

    A response would be greatly appreciated.

    Best,
    Alec

  • Alec

    my letter to Councilman Levin

  • Alec

    street parking is part of the social contract between citizen and city. Car owners have come to rely on street parking and it may very well have incentivized some people to purchase a car in the first place.

    To take street parking away without provocation and, worse, without justification since there are many ways to put the bikes in and maintain the current # of parking spots, is a violation of that social contract.

  • MonroeOrange

    There are so many problems with these locations that this is getting comical..don’t forget, while the 10 clinton st looks like a good location, it now blocks the elderly bus (not sure of name) and any other truck, ambluance, fire engine that would need access to that building, they have already filed a petition to move it into the park, which is right across the street and has plenty of unused space…i hope you get a response, please let us know if you do.

  • MonroeOrange

    This was in the NY Post today: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/they_better_be_worth_the_weight_9anUe041bRMPHL177ZI1bI

    it speaks to the fact that these are clunky bikes, which take getting used to docking….which was precisely why i said the Atantic and Henry location is DANGEROUS…the article says it takes time to understand how to put the bikes in the dock..which is exactly what makes this location the most dangerous of them all. Please tell me how wrong i am again that this is a good location.

    And don’t forget, if you don’t dock the bike every 30mins, you get charged a fee….wow, that’s a great idea…now you’ll have bikers, with no helmets racing on their heavy bike to dock within 30 mins…great idea.

  • MonroeOrange

    don’t forget you only get 30 mins to ride it, without a fee…I agree Brooklyn is home to great greenways and parks and other places to discover…but you can’t really do that with a 30 min limit.

  • fake

    trying to leave!

  • Pineappler

    I’m excited for the CityBike program, but man, it really was already hard enough to park in Brooklyn Heights before this.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Dear MO, After all that has been written on this subject over the past few weeks; Your lack of understanding of how the program works and what it’s for is astonishing.

  • Joe A

    Does the bike stand run the entire length on Hicks from Montague St and Remsen? I am currently out of town so I can’t check but I did check Google Earth and it doesn’t look like there there are even 10 parking spaces on that entire stretch. Exaggerate much?

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    The article also says they are the same bikes successfully being used in Boston, DC and elsewhere. Most NYers will get the hang of docking and riding the bikes… There’s no need to get your panties in such an uproar.

  • petercow

    how is that different than people in zipcars or something from hertz, avis, etc. ‘racing’?

    And if the bikes weren’t slow and clunky, they’d be b*tching that the bikes were made for hipsters, etc.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    So far… and the program hasn’t even launched yet… let’s see what the enrollment numbers are in 6 months.

    Also, it is flawed logic to gauge the enrollment numbers against the total population of NYC, as the program does not cover the entire city, only a relatively small portion of it.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    I will accept any cogent opinion that is presented with logic, factual knowledge and empirical evidence.
    Most of the Anti Bike Share arguments presented here are nothing more than hysterical, emotionally fueled rants.

  • neighboronhicks

    As a longtime reader and infrequent commenter, I’m finding it harder and harder to stomach BHB as the comments get further along the crazy train of bike-hate. The comments sections and even the Open Threads have become something that I am finding myself repulsed by with the trolls and negative energy. I’d like to think that the lovely neighborhood I call home is better than these antics.

  • Joe A

    Hogwash.

  • PB

    If you buy an annual pass you get 45 minutes. That’s enough time to get just about anywhere you’d want to bike with plenty of time to spare.

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