Credit: CityLaw

Bike riding is enjoyable, healthy and fun. It can also be dangerous. The City is heavily invested in encouraging bike riding and bike safety. Yet, accidents happen, and when they do bike riders may opt to sue. Bike riders receive no special status as tort plaintiffs. Bike riders in court live by the same rules that govern tort claims by pedestrians and car drivers. As New York courts have repeatedly stated, a “bicyclist is required to use reasonable care for his or her own safety, to keep a reasonably vigilant lookout for vehicles, and to avoid placing himself or herself in a dangerous position.” (more…)

Image credit: Jeff Hopkins

New Yorkers enjoy many new forms of transportation such as electric scooters, electric bicycles, hoverboards, skateboards, in-line skates, electric wheelchairs, and more. The laws governing these forms of transportation are confusing and mostly unenforced, if they are even enforceable. State laws and regulations on vehicle and roadway usage typically trump conflicting local laws, except in New York City, where the New York City Council has been given much authority to promulgate laws and regulations on the use of the City’s public roadways. (more…)

Joshua Benson

Joshua Benson, the 33-year-old Acting Director of Bicycle & Pedestrian Programs for the New York City Department of Transportation, admits to being particularly fond of the basket sitting at the front of his simple single-speed bike, noting how it allows him to carry anything from groceries to his laptop and projector on the bike. Benson started riding a bike as a student at NYU and now commutes to Downtown Manhattan every weekday from his home in Prospect Heights.

“Biking to work really does help me do a better job. On a bike, I get to see the streets more often and get a feel for what works and doesn’t work out there,” he said. After receiving a master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia University, Benson began his career in City government at the Department of City Planning. After a year, Benson had the opportunity to move to DOT and implement the very same biking and greenway plans that he had already drafted on a purely conceptual level. (more…)

Public comments focus on added construction costs and impact on affordable housing. On February 4, 2009, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on the Department of City Planning’s proposed bicycle parking text amendment. The proposal would mandate the addition of secure bicycle parking for new buildings, enlargements of 50 percent or more, and conversions to residential use. The regulations would apply to multi-family residential, community facility, and commercial uses, as well as public parking garages. The required number of spaces would differ among uses, but affected buildings would be required to provide 15 sq.ft. per bicycle parking space or as little as six sq.ft. if a more efficient layout were submitted to Buildings. The space would not count against floor area limitations, and the requirements could be waived for smaller buildings such as residential buildings with 10 units or less.

At the public hearing, a representative of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer testified that Stringer supported the proposal and believed that the amendment would promote PlaNYC 2030’s initiatives for increasing bicycle ridership and reducing traffic congestion. He also stated that more bicycle lanes and signage should be implemented to protect riders. An AIA representative expressed support for the proposal, but offered recommendations to make the regulations less burdensome on developers. Among these suggestions were expanding and simplifying the waiver process, and applying a graduated scale to cap the total number of spaces for large commercial buildings. (more…)

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson at the Council Stated Meeting. Image Credit: John McCarten

The Speaker’s bill looks to change the way the entire city shares the streets. On October 30, 2019, the City Council approved Intro 1557-A, a five-year comprehensive plan for city streets, sidewalks and pedestrian spaces. The bill was approved by a vote of 35 in favor to 9 opposed with two abstentions. The bill was first introduced by Speaker Corey Johnson on May 29, 2019, heard by the Committee on Transportation on June 12, 2019, and later amended and approved by the Committee on October 29, 2019.

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