Gerald EskenaziContributorOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
Apr 28, 2023,src2:src6pm EDT|
An Amazing New York Sight
Bike New York
Get ready, New York—get ready for 32,000 bicyclists taking to the streets of the five boroughs to celebrate the joys of pedaling with no cars or pedestrians.
It is the annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour, and in 2023 it lands on Sunday, May 7.
This is the world’s second-largest bike event (you have to go to South Africa to see a larger one) and it has become as much a part of the New York scene as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the New York City Marathon.
Biking? “It’s the best way to get from point A to point B,” says Ken Podziba, the president of Bike New York, which runs the tour.
Folks with a long memory might recall src977, the ride’s first year, when all of 250 people showed up, led by police cars to clear traffic.
Now streets are closed for the thousands of riders. The tour covers 40 miles of streets in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Tourists and locals in the Big Apple can see the start in the Tribeca area and watch them head up much of Sixth Avenue.
“The future of New York is on two wheels,” says Mayor Eric Adams, perhaps a bit prematurely. But he’s a big fan and has been a rider on the tour for some years.
The massive event has many philanthropies attached to it, most significantly by Bike New York. It has a successful program of training the formerly incarcerated in the art of bike repairing, and has impacted hundreds of lives. In addition, a huge number of cyclists have their own charities and ride to raise money. They include ex-New York Jets Boomer Esiason and Marty Lyons.
Streets, bridges—and parks
Bike New York
This year Bike New York has expanded its outreach. It has taken donated bikes and given them to asylum seekers, many of whom don’t have the few dollars it takes to use public transportation.
Ken Podziba sees a New York on wheels as more and more people take to the bikes. He speaks of a city that is “carbon-free, and you don’t have to wait for a bus.”
Until, that happens, though, there is this mind-blowing bike tour, not only going through neighborhoods and over bridges, but also giving the riders a brush with music—such as the 25 “entertainment zones,” that includes Afro-centric dancing in Harlem, and all sorts of music along the way.
The link to these zones is:
Bike New YorkTD Five Boro Bike Tour – Bike New York
Mayor Adams has spoken of spending $900 million for more bike lanes, which would lead to less congestion, say proponents. But it certainly would attract even more riders than now and would obviously have an impact on the way New Yorkers move, and think about their city.
I finished!
Bike New York
Ken Podziba’s hope is that one day New York will be a bike haven –“a city like Amsterdam.”
Well, while that could be considered a stretch, maybe it’s not so far-fetched. After all, wasn’t New York City originally called New Amsterdam?
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I have had a rollicking 44-year ride as a reporter (sports) for The New York Times—that included 8,000 bylines, second-highest in the paper’s history. Along the way, I was lucky to have my wife, Roz, and three kids often share in the experience, schlepping them to many of the 20 Super Bowls and four Olympics I wrote about. I also have written src6 books, on topics from radio to journalism. Muhammad Ali told me I’m not as dumb as I look. I’ve written about many issues beyond sports, including the women’s rise in athletics, and money and agents. My travel stories range from playing golf in the shadow of the Pyramids, to fishing for piranha in the Amazon, to traveling in a covered wagon in the French Alps. City College of New York—where I was a literature major—has honored me with its highest graduate award.
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