Investing in City Cyclists: New Yorkers’ Bike Beefs
THE ISSUE: Steve Cuozzo’s column arguing that the city shouldn’t spend more money on protected bike lanes.
I’m a white, moderately affluent male cyclist, but I think Steve Cuozzo is absolutely right (“Road Hogs,” PostScript, Sept. 1).
The city shouldn’t be spending money on me and my Lycra-clad chums to make our niche activity marginally more comfortable.
The expense and disruption of more “protected” lanes reduces traffic speeds and takes resources away from more deserving transportation causes (MTA, anybody?).
It’s absurd to think cycling could make a dent in traffic congestion in a city like New York, where the weather alone will stop all but the most ardent of cyclists for several months a year.
I’ll take my chances on the street. Spend the money on the subway. Jonathan King Manhattan
Cuozzo’s column misses a vital point: More sane people of both sexes would ride bikes if there were better bike lanes.
Cyclists are, by and large, atrocious jerks (at least when they’re riding), but it takes an atrocious jerk to brave city traffic.
As a woman in my early 30s, I value life and limb and have nothing to prove, so I don’t even try to ride a bicycle in this city. However, I spent most of my life cycling to school, college, parks, the grocery store in places other than this city, and I would love to do so again if I thought it would be relatively safe. Kate Thomas Queens
I take great offense at Cuozzo’s claims that the vast majority of cyclists in New York City are “coddled white bros.”
His claims suffer from severe sampling bias. The intersection he men- tions — 74th Street and 2nd Avenue — is in the heart of the Upper East Side, a neighborhood that is 89 percent white, according to Wikipedia.
It’s true that women cyclists account for less than 25 percent of Citi Bike riders. However, any real New Yorker will attest that 10 years ago, reports of sightings of women bikers were mere urban legends. Calvin Hwang Manhattan
Were it not for Steve Cuozzo and The Post, the bicycle mafia would have a total media monopoly.
Reading any other paper, you’d think every New Yorker stands on curbs handing refreshing beverages to these humble, law-abiding heroes as they pass by at a reasonable speed on their way to save the planet.
New Yorkers know better. We know that as dangerous as cars are, they’re made even more dangerous by the presence of unpredictable, scofflaw cyclists. We know that narrowing streets for bike lanes has made traffic far worse. And we know there are not enough cyclists in this city to justify the ex- pense, danger and inconvenience of accommodating their hobby. Gary Taustine Manhattan
As two women in their late 50s who bike to work, to play and to advocate for more bike lanes, we were reluctant to dignify this article with a response.
We’ll just take on one absurdity: Women tend to prefer safe, protected bike lanes, but we should not build more because only men bike. What?
Many other countries have demonstrated with data that when you have a comprehensive network of dedicated, protected and interconnected bike lanes, more people of all ages, genders and races bike, and pedestrian deaths go down. Rachel Miller Manhattan Aviva Goldstein Brooklyn
I beg to differ with Cuozzo. I don’t know where he’s seeing all those white male cyclists.
The ones I do see on the Upper West Side are all respectful. Some have child seats with kids in them. Erika Roberts Manhattan