WILLIAMSBURG — Racks for eight bicycles will soon replace one parking spot on Wythe Avenue, city officials said.
The Department of Transportation will install bike racks in front of Kinfolk Studios, a cafe, bar, and studio (which designs bikes) that has requested the change, officials said.
The spot, 22 feet long and 8 feet wide, will have racks bolted to the street and a planter pot at each end, a DOT spokesman said at a Williamsburg Community Board One meeting earlier this week. At his announcement the room broke into applause supporting the initiative.
Kinfolk's owner Maceo McNeff, who approached the DOT about the plan, said the change made complete sense for his business.
"All of our clients and employees arrive here by bicycle," he said of the design studio, and as for the cafe he estimated that 80 percent of customers showed up on two wheels.
"I see 12 bikes that are all attached to stop signs right now — every sign here has at least two bikes on it," Maceo said standing outside his business Thursday. "There's plenty of car parking here and not really any bicycle parking."
The program, part of the DOT's effort to install bike parking across the city, has already been implemented in front of the East Village's Mudd Cafe and at Gorilla Coffee in Park Slope.
The DOT spokesman said any business could approach the agency with interest in puting racks outside their cafe or store. The DOT pays for and installs the racks, while the business is responsible installing planters to section off the spot and for keeping the area swept and clean.
