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Citi Bike to Roll into Red Hook, Park Slope in Next 2 Years, Officials Say

 Citi Bike is heading to Brooklyn's Community Board 6, officials said.
Citi Bike is heading to Brooklyn's Community Board 6, officials said.
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DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

BROOKLYN — Citi Bike is a step closer to rolling out in neighborhoods like Red Hook and Park Slope after officials met Tuesday to discuss its expansion into Brooklyn.

Community Board 6 will be included in the latest citywide expansion, which will double the number of stations for the bike-sharing program by the end of 2017.

The neighborhoods slated for blue bikes in the district include Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Red Hook and Gowanus, a Department of Transportation spokesman said.

DOT representatives met with members of CB6 Tuesday morning, beginning the process of pinning down locations for the stations, according to the spokesman and CB6 chair Gary Reilly.

The first stations in the district will hit neighborhoods west of Fourth Avenue, which includes Red Hook and Gowanus, Reilly said.  

Red Hook, which doesn’t have its own subway stop, is one of the most transit-starved areas of the district. Residents have long voiced the need for alternative modes of transportation in the neighborhood, including Citi Bike.

“For that reason alone, starting with the west makes sense,” Reilly said, adding that “the eastern half of the district is not going to be too far behind.”

The rollout in CB6 will also involve focusing on the district’s NYCHA developments to ensure stations will be accessible to its tenants. Citi Bike also has discounted annual memberships for public housing residents.

CB6 will host a meeting this summer so locals can weigh in on possible locations for the stations in the district. Community workshops were previously held in 2011 and 2012 to help identify sites.  

One possible location is a sliver of “underutilized” plot at Smith and Union streets, Reilly said.

The first of the new stations in the expansion are expected to roll out in parts of Queens, Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant this year, officials announced last fall.

Eleven stations have already been planned for Long Island City, and are expected to launch in the second half of 2015.

“We’re very excited about this. We think it’s going to be a boon for the district,” Reilly said.