Mayor Adams fumbles NYC bike storage program, councilmembers say

Mayor Eric Adams has slighted cyclists yet again, City Councilmembers say.

Local lawmakers have criticized the mayor in recent weeks for failing to make good on a promise to install hundreds of secure bike parking lockers across the five boroughs. Last year, the city laid out plans to hire a vendor to install 500 secure spots on streets and sidewalks for New Yorkers to store their bikes.

The idea would help bike owners — especially delivery workers on electric two-wheelers — free up space in their apartments. They could instead keep their bikes outside without worrying about having them stolen.

The city transportation department previously planned to install the bike storage locations by next month, but the agency still hasn’t selected a vendor to install the infrastructure. More than a dozen councilmembers urged the DOT to move forward with the initiative in a letter sent last month.

“We believe that this program has the potential to be as transformative and impactful as our (Citi Bike) share program, and we look forward to working with you to ensure an expedited rollout,” the letter said.

Cycling advocates said it’s yet another example of the mayor’s disdain for bike riders: Adams campaigned in 2021 on a bike-friendly platform and has since slow-walked or reversed street safety programs while increasing ticketing of cyclists.

Jon Orcutt, the head of Bike New York and a former city planner, said the lack of progress was surprising — even by New York City’s sluggish standards.

“ The Adams administration seems to be flubbing it, or failing it, or just letting it sort of slide through the cracks,” Orcutt said.  ”It's something the mayor could resolve in a 10-minute meeting.”

Adams’ spokesperson Anna Correa said the bike storage program is in, “active procurement” but offered no timeline for its rollout.

After winning the mayoral election in 2021, Adams vowed to move forward with a secure bike storage program. He held a press conference in Williamsburg next to a bike pod operated by the local company Oonee, and vowed to clear the red tape to add dozens more across the city.

“ This is an amazing small unit that's here, and this is how we're going to secure our bikes in the future,” Adams said, noting bike theft is a key reason more New Yorkers don’t cycle. “ We want to take away that barrier from those who want to utilize bike, and we don't have nearly enough bike parking spaces.”

Now, with little more than six months left in his term, those comments have proven hollow.

It’s one of several recent examples of the mayor declining to make it easier to bike around the city.

In recent months, the Adams administration has pushed to remove a protected bike lane on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, delayed the expansion of another bike lane on a dangerous stretch on Third Avenue in Brooklyn, and ordered a ticketing blitz on cyclists who break traffic rules.

“ I think it's unfortunate that it's been at least a year now since the RFP has closed, and yet we don't know who has been selected and where things are,” said City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, who chairs the Council's transportation commitee and signed the letter to the DOT, said.

An analysis from the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives found there are 4,800 secure bike parking “hangars” in parts of London that offer a combined 30,000 secure parking spaces. The group said the parking options contributed to a 25% increase in bike commuting in the last 10 years.

New York City, by contrast, has very few secure places for members of the public to store their bicycles. Oonee has pods in place at Atlantic Terminal, Hudson Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown.