Some New Yorkers Gripe About Bike Share Stations — What Else is New?

By VANESSA WALKER

Riding a bike through the city is not easy with all the hustle and bustle, but because of CitiBank and the Department of Transportation, there are now nearly 300 Citi Bike stations throughout northern Brooklyn and Manhattan that soon will begin operation.

Not everyone is pleased.

Jose Fernandez, owner of American Latin Cuisine on Nostrand Avenue and Macon Street, is annoyed to have the bike station right in front of his store. He said he did not receive advance notice of  the placement of the station.

“It affects my business because now I have to park elsewhere for my shipments and then I get nearly $100 tickets,” he said.

In front of Fernandez’s store stand 27 bike docks, taking up most of the block.

“When they were putting the [station] there, I asked them to make space for my truck but they didn’t,” he said.

A stroll through quiet and breezy Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton on Tuesday did not reveal many bike stations in plain sight. A lot were placed on the sidewalk beside parks and did not seem to cause much obstruction. But then  a few that were placed in busy areas interrupted the flow of the streets and blocked businesses.

Some stations on DeKalb Avenue stand four blocks away from each other and take up at least two parking spaces in the single-lane street.

Motorist Henry Val, who stopped to go inside a nearby deli, seemed annoyed.

“People have to get places, and these things are all in the way, for what?” he said. “They are slowing down the flow of things. No one rides a bike anymore anyway. Cars are used every day and being in between these small streets, we could use that extra space.”

The bike-sharing system uses environment-friendly bikes that are stored in bike racks attached to the kiosk. It has caused some problems for people who have their own bikes. Some residents and bicyclists see the docks as attracting trash, rats and pigeons.

Of course, some New Yorkers champion the program.

Joseph Fredman, who ditched his car for a bike three years ago, loves the Citi Bike operation. “It seems so convenient because they are not too far away from each other,” he said. “I like that I can just step out my house and walk a few blocks to grab a bike and still contribute to keeping the environment clean.”

The DOT is scheduled to launch the biking system May 27, with 10,000 members already signed up. Annual memberships cost $95. In July the city was expected also to have daily and weekly payment plans.