57°
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Bikers beware: the Empire State isn’t your friend.
New York coasted into 42nd place in the League of American Bicyclists annual rankings of biker-friendly states (BFS), low enough to be the least welcoming state for cyclists in the northeast.
“The goal of the BFS program is not to punish states that perform poorly, but rather to recognize those that support bicycling and use them as models for the rest of the country,” the League of American Bicyclists wrote in the study.
Based on questionnaires sent to each state’s bicycle coordinator, the group ranked states in five categories ranging from policies and programs to infrastructure and spending. New York City was the state’s lone bright spot, earning a silver medal in the community rankings.
Still, area cyclists have said the state’s ranking isn’t a reflection of Westchester County. David Wells, member of the Westchester Cycle Club, said he has biked all over the United States – and Westchester is on par with anywhere he’s been.
“The cycling in Westchester is some of the best in the country,” he said. “Fairfield County and Westchester have some of best roads in county.”
Westchester officials said they are working to improve county biking with several trail projects underway, including the Riverwalk Trailway, a 51-mile multi-purpose trail running parallel to the Hudson River.
“We are accommodating what people want and trying to build trail ways that link to county parks and other trail ways,” said Westchester County Chief Planner Pat Natarelli, noting a 2008 survey of county residents showed a desire for more bike and pedestrian trail ways in county parks.
In Greenburgh, Supervisor Paul Feiner, a cyclist himself, continues to push for bike racks on county buses, a goal of his since the mid-1990s. The supervisor said the racks may encourage more people to ride bicycles and make it safer for them to do so.
“Bike racks not really that expensive but I feel they would have a major impact,” he said.
Comments (2)
How about, Mr. Feiner, in your very own Greenburgh, in a location that children with bikes have been known to visit as well as adults with bikes AND despite my repeated hectoring of both YOU and the Library regarding this, there is still no bike rack at the Library replacing the one which disappeared during the expansion. Given that the buses are run by the COUNTY, what's YOUR excuse for not insisting that a bike rack be located at the Library?
Certainly something that, if all else fails in these "harsh" economic times and your loss of $1.2 million in WESTHELP rent, The Friends of Paul Feiner with $127,000 in its coffers could afford to buy one for the Library under the voucher notification: "Putting your money where your mouth is".
Or perhaps the few hundreds of dollars for this purpose should come from the bicycle group you assembled a few months ago to rally for a bike path on NYS's TZ Bridge -- this rally having been held at the bike rack-less Greenburgh Library.
"Where's the meat" in your gblist, Facebook, blog, twitter, etc. bike riding concerns?
Furthermore,
Was it not a Beeline bus and its driver which hit and killed a cyclist a year or two ago (the ghost bicycle on Tarrytown Road)? Now you want to have cyclists affix and remove their bikes from the front of an idling bus? Or have bus riders, without bikes, who might be switching to other bus routes at transfer points, miss their scheduled connections due to the bike loading-on/loading-off process.
But, if you are really so sincere about promoting bicycle riding, where in Greenburgh are the exclusive bike lanes on Greenburgh streets. You seem to forget that you are the paid Town Supervisor of Greenburgh, not the Westchester County Executive, not the NYS Governor.
You are just the little boy trying to deflect news media away from reporting your financial blunders and Greenburgh's problems occurring under YOUR brand of leadership. The guy trying to soft pedal his own failures.
Hal Samis
(bike rider)
Hal,
While you make some good points, they're often lost in your adamant hatred for Feiner. It's very frustrating as your valid questions get ignored because of your ranting against Feiner. *sigh...Can we just stick to the point?
I DID hear a good question in there though, What about bicycle racks at the library??