A bike corral (a smart idea to swap one car parking space with four bike racks) in Crown Heights got an outpouring of local affection. It all started when a local business, Little Zelda Coffee, saw how many customers were biking in.
In December, with the help of the Department of Transportation and the unanimous support of Community Board 8, a parking spot outside Little Zelda Coffee was transformed into a bike corral, complete with planters and space for the bicycles of eight Franklin Avenue shoppers. Then, a small opposition started to make a lot of noise.
A petition, protesting the lost car parking spot, hit 300 signatures in January. But a counter petition, more than 500 signatures strong, showed up in support of the new bike corral. The community board agreed to revisit the issue. The result, hashed out at a meeting of the transportation committee last week, was unanimous, again, in support of a bike-friendly Franklin Avenue.
From Columbus Avenue to Prospect Park West to Grand Street to Kent Avenue, this is a story that’s been told before. The people of New York City want streets built for bicycling. Now, Franklin Avenue and its little bike corral are added to the growing list of streets double endorsed for being bike-friendly. If there’s a spot in your neighborhood that could be better for bicycling, you can change it.
The Love Your Bike campaign would love to hear from any local businesses in Greater Manchester that would like to to introduce similar on-street bike parking.
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