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DOT Proposes 53 Bike-Share Locations on East Side

By Mary Johnson | May 8, 2012 4:21pm
As part of the presentation to the Community Board 6 transportation committee, the Department of Transportation showed a map of the nearly final collection of 53 bike-share sites for the East Side neighborhoods from 60th to 13th streets.
As part of the presentation to the Community Board 6 transportation committee, the Department of Transportation showed a map of the nearly final collection of 53 bike-share sites for the East Side neighborhoods from 60th to 13th streets.
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DNAinfo/Mary Johnson

GRAMERCY — The East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan that run between East 60th and 13th streets will be getting roughly 53 bike-share stations when the program is launched in July, representatives of the city’s Department of Transportation said.

The precise placement of those stations is not yet solidified, but DOT representatives presented what they called a "draft final" map of bike-share sites at a Community Board 6 transportation committee meeting Monday.

The bike-share program, which will be funded through multimillion-dollar sponsorships from Citibank and Mastercard, has been through an extensive public-review process in the months since it was announced last September. Maps of all of the bike-share locations are expected to be made available on the DOT’s website by the end of the week, officials said.

The program will begin its long-anticipated roll-out in July, bringing some 10,000 bikes to roughly 600 stations in Manhattan and Brooklyn by spring 2013. The first round will see hundreds of stations installed south of 60th Street and near Brooklyn's East River bridges this summer.

DOT officials offered a glimpse Monday at what could be available for those on the East Side come July.

The largest station among those proposed would place 118 bike docks on Park Avenue between East 42nd and 41st streets, across the street from Grand Central Terminal.

One bike-share docking station has been proposed for the Sutton Place neighborhood, between East 57th and 58th streets. Two could be set up along Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on East 47th Street between First and Second avenues.

Along the medical corridor on First Avenue, both Bellevue Hospital Center at East 26th Street and NYU Langone Medical Center at East 33rd Street could have bike-share stations nearby, according to the plans. And there is a site proposed for East 25th Street and First Avenue, near where Asser Levy Park is scheduled to be built.

A bike-share station is also proposed for the service road at East 31st Street and Second Avenue, which has been turned into a pedestrian plaza as part of a three-month pilot project set to run through July.

A station is planned for the area around Baruch College, on Lexington between East 25th and 24th streets, and four stations are scheduled to ring the borders of Stuyvesant Town.

Jon Orcutt, policy director of the DOT, explained that some bike-share stations will be placed on sidewalks or public plazas, while others will be on the street. About 22 of the proposed stations in the area between East 60th and East 13th streets will involve some loss of parking.

When asked to quantify the loss of public or commercial spaces, Orcutt said he did not have a precise number.

Orcutt also explained that the bike-share docking stations will not be bolted into the ground when they are installed. They are mobile and adjustable, and the DOT can change the size of the stations and their placement as it gauges the individual needs of each site.

Demonstrations on the use of the bikes have been set up in neighborhoods across Manhattan and Brooklyn, and meetings have been held with community members and residents to debate site locations.

Several people who attended Monday's meeting raised concerns about safety issues and encouraged the DOT to do more to promote good behavior among cyclists. But no one objected to any of the proposed bike-share sites.

"We did give a positive resolution for this program some months ago," said Fred Arcaro, chairman of the community board’s transportation committee, "with the proviso that these folks will reach out to every organization and neighborhood to get their input. That they have been doing."