Bicycling Manhattan

• Posted on 5th April 2016
• in Entertainment, entertainment books, New York City
• by Ben

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When I tell people I’m regularly

bicycling Manhattan

many of them think I’m nuts. They don’t understand. I don’t know how these data break down by borough but based on monthly NYPD figures, 168 pedestrians and 10 cyclists were killed by city motorists in 2013. The latest data I could find showed approximately 35,000 bikers in Manhattan in 2013. I didn’t find a pedestrian count but it seems reasonable that there would be at least ten times as many walkers as riders but even if it’s a multiple of twenty biking is not much more dangerous than walking. So statistically, given the ratio of pedestrians to cyclists, my guess is that bikes may be slightly more dangerous but not by much. And it’s a lot easier than walking and, in my opinion, healthier.

When I was working with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone fame back in 1969 he said to me, “There are two ways to get around Manhattan; limo or bicycle.” Guess which of us chose which method. In those days I occasionally biked to our New York Scenes office but not until twenty-two years later did it become my regular practice.

Here’s an excerpt from the third volume of my memoir trilogy Waiting For Elizabeth.

“I made another personal acquisition in June. [1991] From my house to the VCS [Video Casting Source] office was roughly a forty minute trip by foot and subway, longer if the trains were delayed. It occurred to me that this was a perfect bicycle distance, about half of which was in Riverside Park. EH and I had talked about it but the bikes in the neighborhood shop were pretty expensive so I hadn’t bought one. She was at our friend Wendy’s place in the country having a ‘girls’ weekend’ when she called from K-Mart. ‘I found a bike for ninety-nine bucks. It looks fairly sturdy.’

“ ‘Buy it.’

“Sunday night she showed up with a bright red Huffy and Monday morning I rode it to the office. I had not been on a bike since our old three-speeds were stolen ten or twelve years before and I was surprised at how bumpy the ride was, even in Riverside Park. Then I hit 72nd Street and traffic. Oy veh! It seemed as though cars, trucks, busses and – most surprisingly – pedestrians all had me in their sights. The other surprising thing was how quickly I adjusted and became comfortable riding with the traffic. And the trip only took twenty-five minutes. And I got some exercise.

“Don’t misinterpret the word ‘comfortable’. I do NOT mean that one can completely relax piloting a bike on Broadway or Ninth Avenue. Alert: yes. Tense and frightened: no. You need to heighten your 360˚ visual and auditory awareness. But after a week or so I was able to become smooth and agile without taking risks and enjoy the ride. That was (as I write) twenty-three years  and five bikes ago and I have been riding regularly, in all weather, ever since. I should qualify that last statement. When the streets are icy or there are excessive piles of slush or frozen snow I use other means of transport. I may be crazy but I’m not stupid.”

It’s now twenty-five years/six bikes later and I’m still bicycling Manhattan. This video was made when my office was on Seventh Avenue near Carnegie Hall.

Read more when you click here and get Waiting For Elizabeth.

Tags: Jann Wenner, Manhattan