Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Rental Bike Business Granted Three More Years at Tavern on the Green

By DNAinfo Staff on October 5, 2012 2:43pm

UPPER EAST SIDE —  A popular "hop on, hop off" bike service at the Tavern on the Green outpost might become more of a mainstay in Central Park. 

Bike and Roll has proved to be such a hit that Parks and Recreation will ask the City to renew its contract for another three years said Charles Kloth, director of concessions for the Department.

Bike and Roll, which rents bikes from the Tavern on the Green parking lot and other city outposts citywide, launched a program in June 2011 that lets riders return rented bikes to any of the company's bases.  

Bike and Roll's contract with the Department includes other locations across New York, such as the Riverside Park Southand West Harlem Piers Park. Rental rates range from a $12-per-hour beach cruiser to a $69-per-day Trek racing bike.

"It's been successful for us and the operators," Kloth said at a Community Board 8 Parks Committee meeting Thursday night. "We at the Parks Deparmtent think biking is a healthy activity." 

Though the program and other bike-friendly initiatives in Central Park — spurred by former Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe — have generally prompted praise from cyclists, some Upper East Side residents feel that they threaten the neighborhood's quality of life, from the aesthetics of the Tavern on the Green's environs to simple safety concerns. 

Teri Slater, CB8 Landmarks Subcomittee Member, does not support their presence.

"There are going to be bike share stations all over the city," she told DNAinfo.com New York. "Central Park should be a quiet refuge for City dwellers."