By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Forget the cab or Town Car.
Broadway theatre-goers will be able to valet park their bikes for free beginning Thursday, thanks to a new initiative by Transportation Alternatives aimed at making the Great White Way a little bit greener.
The bike valet will work like a coat check and will be free to all theatre ticket holders. Bikes will be stored in barricaded areas and attendants will even wear white gloves, said Caroline Samponaro, the director of bicycle advocacy at Transportation Alternatives.
"Why shouldn’t theatre-goers who arrive by bike get the white glove treatment?" she asked.
The valets will operate Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings throughout September as well as this Sunday for the annual free Broadway on Broadway concert, which is being hosted by Kelsey Grammer.
Samponaro said Times Square has seen a host of changes this year that make it more inviting for cyclists, but that parking is always a problem.
"This is a quick and easy solution," she said.
The valet stand will be located at the New York Marriott Marquis hotel on W. 46th Street between Eighth Avenue and Broadway between 6 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
The valet will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for Sunday's concert in the Broadway Pedestrian Plaza between 42nd and 43rd streets.
Similar bike valets have been operated at events across the city, including Summer Stage in East River Park and Celebrate Brooklyn in Prospect Park.
If the valets prove popular, the initiative could be continued past September, Samponaro said.
