Buildings Get Bike Friendly
By JANE MARGOLIESMAY 6, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/realestate/catering-to-new-yorkers-with-b…
One recent morning Erik Harrison, a vice president of the Patrinely Group
<http://www.patrinelygroup.com/home.html>, stopped by 535W43
<http://535w43.com/>, a rental complex nearing completion that his company
is developing with the USAA Real Estate Company between 10th and 11th
Avenues in Manhattan
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/classifieds/realestate/locations/newyork/newy…>.
But it wasn’t the 280 units in the two 14-story brick towers designed by
CetraRuddy <http://www.cetraruddy.com/> that were on his mind.
It was the bike rooms, one in each of the towers, located not in a shadowy
basement but right on the ground level, with big windows letting in
abundant light.
“We’re going to have a table where people can fix their bikes, and maybe
we’ll hold workshops,” Mr. Harrison said, surveying the south tower’s
850-square-foot bike space as cyclists seen through the windows zipped by
toward the Hudson River Greenway. “We’ll fit as many bike racks as we can.”
Driven by demand as well as a city mandate, developers and building owners
are carving out bike rooms for residents to store what for some has become
their transportation mode of choice.
The state-of-the-art spaces often have their own entrances, saving
wear-and-tear on the lobby and passenger elevators. They also offer their
own gear by way of pumps and repair stands, and, sometimes, homey touches
like hooks for hanging helmets. In the fancier buildings, porters and door
attendants act as bike valets.
“People come to an open house and ask, ‘Do you have a gym, a roof deck, a
doorman?,’ ” said David Maundrell III, the executive vice president for
Brooklyn
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/classifieds/realestate/locations/newyork/newy…>
and Queens
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/classifieds/realestate/locations/newyork/newy…>
new
development of Citi Habitats. “Now they also ask, ‘Do you have a bike
room?’ ”
Ridership has been growing steadily, according to the New York City
Department of Transportation. A 2014 survey by the New York City Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene indicated that in vast swaths of Manhattan,
Brooklyn and Queens, up to 20 percent of the population cycled several
times a month. While the Citi Bike <https://www.citibikenyc.com/> program
can lay claim to some of the increase in cycling, people who own their own
wheels still make up the majority of riders, according to Paul Steely
White, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives
<https://www.transalt.org/>, an advocacy group.
Of course, riders can store their bikes in their apartments, if there’s
room. But “now when you’re spending a million dollars for a one-bedroom,”
said Roberta Axelrod, the director of residential sales and marketing at
Time Equities, “no one wants a bike in there” propped against the wall.
Residents of older buildings have been clamoring for the conversion of
formerly empty or underutilized “back-of-house” space into storage for
bikes.
“If you have a building with two- and three-bedroom apartments, 100 units
doesn’t mean 100 bikes,” said Matthew Baron, the president of Simon Baron
Development <http://www.simonbaron.com/>. “It could be 300 or 400.”
Consequently, there are waiting lists for many of the city’s bike rooms.
As for new buildings, a zoning amendment passed in 2009 requires the
provision of one bike space for every two units in structures of 10
apartments or more. The law also applies to substantially enlarged
buildings and to those being converted to residential use.
“It used to be you’d build a building and then say, where should we put the
bikes?” Ms. Axelrod said. “Now it’s included in the program from the
beginning.”
In Downtown Brooklyn, 388 Bridge <http://388bridge.com/>, a new 378-unit
rental/condo building, created 190 bike spaces in three separate rooms in
the basement, one space above its mandated quota.
Many buildings near parks or bike lanes, or ones geared to a demographic
group that favors cycling, exceed the minimum number of spots. Forty2East,
a new 53-unit condo building in East Williamsburg, has 36 bike spots, nine
more than its quota.
In some cases, bike rooms are muscling out other types of storage. TheRichard
Meier <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/realestate/06SqFt.html>-designed
condominium One Grand Army Plaza, in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights
neighborhood, originally was going to have 75 bike slots, but even before
the building opened in 2008, that number was deemed inadequate — especially
considering the location, opposite Prospect Park
<https://www.prospectpark.org/>, and the number of family-size apartments
it contained. After space from the garage was folded into the bike room, it
accommodated 90 bikes, and, more recently, with the addition of
double-decker racks and wall hooks, it now has 117 spots.
These days, however, it seems the mere provision of space isn’t enough.
Bike rooms in buildings coming to market now are being tricked out with
compression air pumps, of the sort found in bike shops and gas stations,
and work stands to which one can clamp a bike while oiling a chain or
fixing a flat. Tools are often on hand, and sometimes there’s a hose for
washing bikes down after a muddy ride.
At 252 East 57th Street, a condominium under construction near Second
Avenue, one of the door attendants stationed at the porte-cochere will be
able to whisk away a bike after a ride and have it readied for the next
outing.
At the Residences at Prince <http://princeatmott.com/>, a condominium
project in an 1826 landmark-designated building in NoLIta that previously
housed a Catholic school, the bike room will have hooks where residents can
hang their helmets between rides.
Many buildings are providing the bicycles themselves, acquiring their own
fleets — emblazoned with the buildings’ names — for residents’ use.
Circa Central Park <http://circacentralpark.com/>, a condominium taking
shape at West 110th Street and Central Park West, will have four branded
single-speed recreational bikes by Priority Bicycles
<http://www.prioritybicycles.com/>, according to Shlomi Reuveni, a managing
director of Town New Development, which is handling sales and marketing.
At 50 West <http://www.50westnyc.com/>, a condominium under development in
Lower Manhattan, residents will be able to take the building’s four Porsche
bikes, which cost $3,700 each, out for a spin.
At least one building is even giving bicycles away. Nine52
<http://www.nine52.com/>, a luxury condo soon to open on West 52nd Street
in Hell’s Kitchen, will have 20 black single-speed Joulvert bikes,
according to Maria Theresa Ienna of Park River Properties, the director of
sales. It is also offering a bike, valued at around $450, as a closing gift
to the first 25 buyers.
“Customers come in and listen to the sales presentation and say, ‘That’s a
beautiful bike,’” Ms. Ienna said. “We say, ‘If you buy an apartment, the
bike is yours.’ ” The least expensive unit in the building (already in
contract) is a studio for $597,000.
There is usually a price for parking in a bike room, according to owners
and developers. The charges, which can come in the form of a monthly or
annual fee, vary widely, from a token $10 per year to $10 to $100 per month.
“It’s a decent revenue stream,” said Marc Kotler, a senior vice president
for the new development group of FirstService Residential. “It can be
$10,000 or $20,000 a year in income” for a building.
For some New Yorkers, even a bike room won’t do. The finicky can stow their
top-of-the-line bikes in the private storage lockers that some buildings
have, safe from jostling and scratching.
Or come up with other solutions. Susi Wunsch, the founder of Velojoy
<http://velojoy.com/>, a cycling lifestyle website, keeps her everyday
bike, an all-black aluminum Kona Dew with disc brakes, in the bike room of
her Greenwich Village building, though she isn’t a fan of wrestling it on
and off overhead hooks.
She balances her Serotta Ottrott road bike — which she called her “pride
and joy” — atop a bookcase in her home office. With a frame that’s clear
carbon and titanium, it weighs only 16 pounds.
Meanwhile, her midnight blue Pashley Britannia, with its big wicker basket
strapped to the handlebars, is parked in the dining room, where “its beauty
merits ‘sculpture’ status,” she said.
It helps, she added, that she has “a very understanding husband.”
--
*Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre
<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/>
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>
3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>
Green Action Centre is your green living hub
Support our work by becoming a member
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/become-a-member/>. Donate at
CanadaHelps.org <http://canadahelps.org/>
Pedestrian and bike paths worth $6M approved
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/pedestrian-and-bike-paths-worth-6-m-…
Winnipeg will be getting $6-million worth of new cycling and pedestrian
paths, and corridors and sidewalks this year.
Members of the public works committee Tuesday approved a modified
pedestrian and cycling action plan, the first year of a 20-year,
$330-million strategy to construct an active transportation netwwork across
the city.
"This is the first time we've ever had a strategy so there will be hiccups
and we're learning, but I think the councillors' concerns were addressed,"
said Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of the public works committee.
The plan, which still must be approved by council, includes:
$1.3 million for recreational walkways and bicycle paths;
$1 million for new regional sidewalks;
$300,000 for new non-regional sidewalks;
$1.5 million for bicycle corridors.
$1.7 million for studies and related work
The 20-year strategy faced stiff opposition from some councillors before it
was approved in July 2015. Critics said many of the maps were wrong, and
corridors and pathways were proposed without resident feedback.
But Lukes, who shepherded the strategy through council, said at the time
the strategy was a guideline which would be implemented on an annual basis
with input from area councillors and with council's approval.
Lukes (South Winnipeg-St. Norbert) kept her word at committee Tuesday,
where the committee addressed councillors' concerns with this year's plans
and modified the administration report before passing it on for council
consideration.
Coun. Brian Mayes said he was opposed to a multi-modal corridor study along
St. Anne's Road, from St. Mary's Road to the Perimeter, citing local
business opposition to building a cycling corridor. The committee agreed to
Mayes' compromise to use the $250,000 allocated to the St. Anne's study for
a study of a possible cycling corridor along Des Meurons and another
linking River Road to Rivergate Drive.
One of the strongest critics of the 20-year strategy was Coun. Jeff
Browaty, who appeared at the committee Tuesday to oppose a $450,000 study
to identify the location of a new cycling and pedestrian bridge over the
Red River somewhere between Kildonan Settlers Bridge and Harry Lazarenko
bridge. Browaty said that study would be a waste of funds and preferred the
administration explore how to modify the sidewalks on Kildonan Settlers
bridge to accommodate cyclists and to improve the corridor along Kildonan
Drive.
Lukes said the administration had consulted councillors before bringing the
report to the committee but said Tuesday's changes were made to address the
councillors' concerns.
Lukes said the 2017 plan will be reviewed as part of the budget process.
aldo.santin(a)freepress.mb.ca
*Highlights of the 2016 pedestrian and cycling action plan*
*SIDEWALKS*
$564,770 -- New sidewalk along the west side of Smith Street between Graham
Avenue and St. Mary Avenue.
$225,000 -- New sidewalk on the west side of Lagimodiere Boulevard between
East Mint Place and Burmac Road.
$205,000 -- Sherbrook Street enhancements for pedestrian crossing and
transit stops, from Ellice Avenue to Cumberland Avenue.
*CYCLING CORRIDORS*
$475,000 -- Forks to Assiniboine Avenue
$350,000 -- North East Pioneers Greenway to Archibald Street
$74,120 -- Production of a print and digital Winnipeg cycling map
$200,000 -- A study to determine the best location for pedestrian/cycling
bridge over the Seine River
*RECREATIONAL WALKWAYS AND BIKE PATHS*
$892,000 -- Construction of Phase 1 of the Northwest Hydro
Corridor/McPhillips Greenway corridor
$767,000 -- Construction of a pathway linking St. John's Park to south of
Redwood Avenue, includes purchase of private property.
--
*Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action Centre
<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/>
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>
3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us here
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>
Green Action Centre is your green living hub
Support our work by becoming a member
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/become-a-member/>. Donate at
CanadaHelps.org <http://canadahelps.org/>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Miriam Gonzalez <Miriam.Gonzalez(a)umanitoba.ca>
Date: Mon, May 2, 2016 at 2:51 PM
Subject: Physical activity workshop (May18/2016)- Please share
*Please share with others who may be interested.
*Miriam Gonzalez* B.A. (Hns Psyc), M.Sc., PhD.
Family Medicine Research, College of Medicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
[image: cid:image001.png@01CF4749.72883EB0]
George and Fay Yee Centre for Health Care Innovation
Third Floor, Chown Building
753 McDermot Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3E0T6
Email: Miriam.Gonzalez(a)umanitoba.ca