Want More Bike Racks? Try FixCity!

The NAG Transportation Working Group is pleased to announce that we are the first community partner on FixCity.org Bike Racks, a new website that allows community members to identify locations for new bike racks in the neighborhood!

Developed by the Open Planning Project, the Livable Streets Initiative, and the Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn Committee, the goal of the website is to identify 300 suitable spaces for much-needed bike parking in the neighborhood. Community District 1 serves as the site's pilot project -- if successful, it will go citywide next!

So please check out the site at FixCity.org and use the online mapping tool to tell us where you want a bike rack. Also check out information about how to identify a good space, including a great video made by TOPP. We'll have some fun follow-up events coming up in the next couple months, so stay tuned for more!

To volunteer to help with finding suitable spaces, email me at transportation@nag-brooklyn.org!

Biking Notes

Promoting the Brooklyn Greenway

The Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is conducting traffic monitoring to study traffic patterns on the planned greenway route. You can help by counting cars/users of the bike lane, etc. this weekend!

We need volunteers Saturday April 4th for the following shifts:
Flushing Ave: 8-9a, 12-1p, 6-7p
Kent Ave: 8-9a, 12-1p
Contact Kevin Vincent: guerilla42@yahoo.com

Installing New Bike Racks

This project seeks to identify locations for new bike racks in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. You can help with outreach to local business owners, as well as technology (online mapping, making an informational film, etc). Contact Kevin Vincent: guerilla42@yahoo.com

Make a Safer Pulaski Bridge

This project is advocating for a protected bike lane over the Pulaski Bridge. You can help with outreach to local community organizations, by writing letters of support to local elected officials and the DOT, and by attending a rally walk/ride at the bridge on May 15 from 6-8pm.
Contact Marin Tockman: marin.tockman@gmail.com

Bike Share Coming to North Brooklyn in June

The Forum for Urban Design will bring a bike share demonstration project to the neighborhood during the first two weeks of June. You can work as a paid supervisor at a station for multiple days, volunteer to staff a station, translate promotional material, or sponsor a location for the bike share.
Contact Loreal Monroe: loreal@forumforurbandesign.org

Hey! I'm Growin' Here!

We've seen a lot of bikes locked up to street trees, especially young trees, particularly on Bedford Ave and Franklin Street. While there is clearly a lack of bike parking relative to demand in the neighborhood, it's not cool to lock a bike to a tree.

The jostling and scraping from a bike lock or chain can cause scarring of the bark and can make the tree more vulnerable to diseases by offering an opening for fungus and parasites. We've lost a lot of trees to the Asian Longhorn Beetle and can't afford to lose any more. Street trees not only absorb global warming-inducing carbon dioxide, they seem to filter other pollutants from urban air that have very local impacts on respiratory health.

So if you're doing your part to reduce car traffic and pollution by biking, please respect the trees and lock your bike to a bike rack, lamppost, or street sign pole. (And while you're at it, please try to keep it from creating a choke point on the sidewalk or blocking gates or subway entrances.)

What would a good phrase for a sign asking people to not lock their bike to a tree be? Leave your answers in the comments.

Take Action
There's clearly not enough bike parking in the neighborhood. Request a bike rack from the city for your home, work, or a place you frequent online.

Handy Tips
How to safely lock your bike in New York City.