NYC commuters?

Me and my drz have survived a year and a half of city commuting, at first with a weak horn, and as it died, no horn.

For god knows what reasons, I continued to put off buying a replacement, and got pretty good at anticipating shitty driving and expressing my disaproval through more creative outlets. But at last I caved, and bought the Stebel Nautilus. It's hugely disproportionate in size and sound to my bike, but I've fallen in love.

Today I had the experience of waiting at the light on houston and bowery, and as per usual, my light turns green and one car continues to trickle out from the right making a left across the street. Now I start to roll, and a second suv comes out of the intersection, blatently running the red to turn left. A flick of my thumb wakes up the driver and the entire local community. Right as he finishes his turn, I hear a siren go off and see Mr. NYPD pulling him off to the side. I'm looking forward to many more blasts of the Stebel.

http://www.change.org/petitions/ny-...utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition


I'm sad, but not surprised, this got nowhere.

So freakin rad! Way to go!

Even before I had moved to the city I had signed this. But I didn't really expect it to move forward, either.

I'm just not seeing why a big city like San Francisco is so moto-friendly but NYC is not. Granted, NYC is waaaaaay bigger than even San Fran, but still.

I spend a good deal of time in SF, and have thought about this too. My take is that SF has a much (much smaller population spread out over a wider swath/region. Seems like many people live around the city itself but it gets "sleepy" after work hours. And it doesn't get snow, so people who live there see bikes all year round and get comfortable with them.

Here, the highways/roads are older, tighter, far more congested with a larger population. And a good 4 to 6 months out of the year bikes mostly disappear due to the harsh winters.

So every spring bikes "descend" ( in the eyes of local non riding NYers) onto the streets, loud, fast and the general public dislikes us. We also have this mentality here where "everyone should always take public transportation". California is a car culture, even in SF, so having your own vehicle is more acceptable.

This right here.

CA is really like a fly-over state which has been relocated to a coast. SF may look a bit like NYC, but it's a car/driving culture at its roots. SF is more like some city on Long Island (but better-looking, of course ) -- it's got a small city center, and a lot of suburbs.

If you want a city which is comparable to NYC in terms of traffic & transportation, I'd consider London.

Nice! That must've been so satisfying.

After a while, you may notice your horn start to fade, or only blow through one trumpet. To get it back to prime condition just take the trumpets off, squirt some WD-40 or air compressor cleaner into the compressor and blow the horn a few times. You won't believe all the black gunk that'll come out. And you won't have to buy a new horn.

Hello NYC'ers

I am going to New York City with a friend in a car in late April (26-27-28-29). I been to NYC few times but always by bike, parking was fairly easy and I would sleep in Long Island to save some money.

This time I am going in a car and taking a friend who has never been with me. So I need some reccomendations to know of a neighborhood that has easy parking but is also a good location to do the usual touristy stuff.

Any areas you reccommend? A friend mentioned that if you stay on the tip of Long Island you can leave your car at the hotel, take the ferry in and out in the AM and makes for a good experience.

Or is it better to abandon the car outside the city, commute in and grab the car back 3 days later? If so, what area do you reccommend? Upper west/east side? other? Im in my early 30's and shes in her 40's. We want to take a walks in central park on at least two occasions days and grab some beers and dinner in places with a good vibe (I'm thinking Chelsea's market)

Astoria, in Queens. You may have to circle the block a few times to find a spot, and they do street sweeping twice a week on each side (so you may need to move it once), but it's pretty safe. Lots of hotels nearby (if you're staying at one, maybe they have parking?) Easy access to the N/Q train to the city (10-20 minutes to Midtown). I lived there for 3 years and had plenty of people come visit with a car… only problem was when my dad parked in a doctor's only spot and almost got towed [don't do that!].

I know a few safe neighborhoods in queens with no need to move the car (no street cleaning). In Manhattan I recommend alphabet city around avenue b and 11-13th st, you would have to move it every other day (minus the weekend), don't park on Ave C, stay west of it.

But Tokyo is, too, and that city is practically MADE for motorcycles.

I think you're right in saying that it just comes down to the mentality of the population. Since NYC bureaucrats come from the NYC pop, they tend toward moto-unfriendly policies. In a place like Tokyo, where they had motorcycle culture long before car culture, the policy makers automatically look for ways to ease motorcycle congestion and parking.

Hey, man, there's a very good reason one of New York City's nicknames is The Capital Of The World. It's the most literally awesome city on the planet, but can often be the most aggravating city on earth, too (except, perhaps, for Mumbai!)

Where else do the two most public institutions for public safety have such a public grudge that they resort to a full team brawl at a charity hockey game?

IMO, if you really want to do NYC right, bite the financial bullet and pay for parking IN MANHATTAN. And bite the financial bullet and get yourselves a hotel IN MANHATTAN.

Taking the subway is part of the New York experience, so I don't really think staying Upper West or East or Midtown will really make too much difference in your day. The sub can get you anywhere on the island pretty quickly and efficiently, and it's really not that expensive if you get a short stay metro card, plus you can do the Hop On Hop Off bus thing, too: http://www.newyorkpass.com/En/new-y...tion/?aid=16&gclid=CMPv1Krcz70CFcyhOgodeTcALw

Just walking around the city is itself a great experience! So don't be afraid to walk if you don't want to go underground. Although in April don't forget to take a couple of umbrellas. Also, there are plenty of smartphone apps that will show you public restrooms throughout the city. Here's an official list from the city' Parks Department: http://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/bathrooms

And here's a great Mappler map: http://nyrestroom.com/


Lastly, don't try to overdo yourselves. You'll never see/taste/experience everything in the short time you have. Find JUST A FEW things you want to see/taste/experience and devote your time right there. This is THE key to enjoying NYC tourism!


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So how come nobody was arrested for disorderly conduct, assault, etc? They've got a video, and easily identifiable numbers.

Seriously, how is sports violence acceptable, with no consequences?

I don't actually know that people haven't been arrested and charged. However, this is New York City, and as far as I can tell the only place where officials are even more easily bribed is Chicago. Um, I suppose I can assume the peeps in Chi-town say the same thing about The Apple.

As far as the violence thing goes: people LOVE violence, it's bred into and celebrated in every medium of our culture. And when the peacekeepers are simply products of the culture, too...

Hockey is like boxing. Its an agreed upon combatative action

a motorcycle thought i hadn't had in a few months:

i think it is time to take the lining out of my jacket!

yippee...



ymmv

be well.

rob

Chicagoans are of the opinion that their officials are more easily and more often bought and sold than anywhere else, including NYC, and Moscow. The cops are more laid back... but we keep sending governors to prison. The ones stupid enough to get caught anyway. 'The Chicago Machine' is a bitch. The politicians buy politicians here.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

So Chi-town police are known as laid back? Interesting; I guess they'd have to be in order not to go insane every day, considering the government they work for. I believe you're probs right about all the Chi-town politicos.


Top four "big, dense" cities in America, as per my opinion, and in order:

1) New York City
2) Chicago
3) San Francisco
4) Denver


1) Is known for corrupt politicians and police brutality.
2) Is known for the most corrupt politicians. Even worse than Detroit!
3) Is known as terrifically motorcycle friendly.
4) Has a terrible, terrible reputation for police brutality.


If I could somehow transplant all the administrative officials from No. 3 into No. 1 this place would be paradise, and Manhattan would be Xanadu.

The joke is as old as the game itself...

"I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out!"

I would take issue that Chicago police are more laid back. I guess you weren't around in '68. From what I've seen of Chicago, the political and police attitude is still the same. The cops were beating protesters, bystanders, reporters, and politicians with equal glee.

From Wiki:

The Chicago police riot

August 28, 1968 came to be known as the day a "police riot" took place. The title of "police riot" came out of the Walker Report, which amassed a great deal of information and eyewitness accounts to determine what happened in Chicago.<sup id="cite_ref-Gitlin_1987:_319_20-1" class="reference">[20]</sup> At approximately 3:30 pm, a young boy lowered the American flag at a legal rally taking place at Grant Park. The demonstration was made up of 10,000 protesters.<sup id="cite_ref-Gitlin_1987:_331_11-2" class="reference">[11]</sup> The police broke through the crowd and began beating the boy, while the crowd pelted the police with food, rocks, and chunks of concrete.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference">[23]</sup> Police fought with the protesters and vice versa. The chants of the protesters shifted from "Hell no, we won't go" to "Pigs are whores."<sup id="cite_ref-Gitlin_1987:_332_24-0" class="reference">[24]</sup> Tom Hayden, one of the leaders of Students for a Democratic Society, encouraged protesters to move out of the park to ensure that if they were to be tear gassed, the whole city would be tear gassed, and made sure that if blood were spilled in Chicago it would happen throughout the city.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference">[25]</sup> The amount of tear gas used to suppress the protesters was so great that it eventually made its way to the Hilton Hotel, where it disturbed Hubert Humphrey while in his shower.<sup id="cite_ref-Gitlin_1987:_332_24-1" class="reference">[24]</sup> The police were taunted by the protesters with chants of "Kill, kill, kill." They sprayed demonstrators and bystanders indiscriminately with Mace.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference">[26]</sup> The police assault in front of the Hilton Hotel the evening of August 28 became the most famous image of the Chicago demonstrations of 1968. The entire event took place live under the T.V. lights for seventeen minutes with the crowd shouting, "The whole world is watching."<sup id="cite_ref-Gitlin_1987:_332_24-2" class="reference">[24]</sup>
Meanwhile, in the convention hall, Connecticut Senator Abraham Ribicoff used his nominating speech for George McGovern to tell of the violence going on outside the convention hall, saying that "with George McGovern we wouldn't have Gestapo tactics on the streets of Chicago."<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference">[27]</sup> Mayor Daley responded to his remark with something that the T.V. sound was not able to pick up, but it was later revealed by lip-readers that Daley had cursed "Fuck you, you Jew son of a bitch! You lousy motherfucker! Go home!"<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference">[28]</sup> That night, NBC News had been switching back and forth between the demonstrators being beaten by the police to the festivities over Humphrey's victory in the convention hall.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference">[29]</sup> It was under the cameras of the convention center, for all of America to see. It was clear that the Democratic party was sorely divided.