A bike ride in New York City

[Ep. 1030] On a rainy day in April 2024 I rode almost 30km through Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn in New York City. Some excerpts of that ride.

[@jessta314]

The difference in traffic noise levels compared to your other videos is amazing.

[@theurbanspokesman]

I just left Amsterdam and the noise level difference is amazing. All I could think is “people arent loud, cars are loud”.

[@TheWalkingDutchman4K]

Totally agree!

[@Lolwutfordawin]

This already looks much better than I remember from my last visit to NYC a few years ago. Great to see some progress!

[@aMMa1726]

F for NY, the governor cancelled congestion pricing.

[@Pinachina]

F indeed..

[@Jgrvo]

Thats great!!

[@aMMa1726]

@@Jgrvo If you like sitting in traffic, bad quality of air & inhuman noise levels of course it's great. It's not great for the avarge worker tho, which now will find themselves without funding for their transit, since an overwhelming majority of people (not just workers) use transit in NYC.

[@cooltwittertag]

​@@Jgrvois this the traffic lobby speaking? This isnt good for anyone lmao

[@kailahmann1823]

So many cars - and almost as many potholes…

[@_Madfly]

One thing that really comes accross vs. the typical European city is the almost exclusive use of traffic lights at junctions. This leads to a much less fluid traffic flow than could be possible with roundabouts and priority junctions. It's particularly noticable on the street from 5:28. Almost all of the motor traffic has been removed and yet the traffic lights remain. It seems like the road designers are really stubborn and stuck in their ways.

[@WecksyRex]

roundabouts at most intersections in manhattan will require either narrowing the roads or cutting into existing properties, the former is being done in a few places but the latter is impossible

[@EvilTurtle97]

Honestly not too bad for someone that cycles a lot, but I can understand why the average joe wouldn't want to cycle there. However, even the cycle friendly parts seem uncomfortable/ kind of hostile, but maybe thats just the fact that the US generally looks a lot grittier than the NL.

[@KoruGo]

I think it might be the narrowness of the cycle lanes?

[@StreetfilmsCommunity]

I wish it didn't rain on and off all day. But it was still fun!

[@paolagrando5079]

I love the laugh at the sign "shared planet" 😸

[@przemys4466]

I love how the bicycle rider signs have helmets

[@aMMa1726]

I think that's a standard in the US. If you look in the Carmel, Indiana video they have it too.

[@przemys4466]

@@aMMa1726 I think I saw helmetless stick figures in some video from Portland OR on the new Blumauwer shared pedestrian bicycle bridge and the paths leading to it

[@RudeMyDude]

Gonna go against the dramatics, it looks fine! Manhattan looks great on a sunny day, and i'd love to bike there one day.

[@dmtrus]

В отношении велодорожек старый Амстердам будет получше нового. :)

[@maha77]

I used to bike riding New York in the '90s, it was quite a different experience before there were any bike lanes!

[@chow-chihuang4903]

It’s a lot better than I remember it, but New Amsterdam has a long way to go to be even close to the original. Well, at least it’s moving in the right direction. Shame the NY guv shafted NYC on that lower Manhattan congestion charge. Lots of projects already committed to are in trouble, and others now in limbo.

[@Josukegaming]

Every time I see people riding in the US I get war flashbacks to riding there before I moved to the Netherlands. Now a bike ride and my city are both highlights of my day rather than hellish torture

[@AbimaelLopez-hz3qq]

There’s an island in Michigan and the island doesn’t allow cars

[@AbimaelLopez-hz3qq]

NYC has less cars than other countries

[@user-uh8ic5vu1y]

Based on recent visit, NY has a lot more bike infrastructure (and riders) than would think. Still a long way to go. Harsh to compare NY outright with European cities - which are tiny in comparison

[@CakeboyRiP]

I was thinking "why" and "great efford but poorly designed" at just about every clip and section of this video 😅 Do love that progress is being made!

[@ZoraDelaney]

Everything looks so grim, beyond it having been a rainy day......

[@Paul_C]

Well, guess the Dutch felt right at home when the saw Manhattan. There is a reason why that hospital series is called New Amsterdam.

[@Turnil321]

@@Paul_C The thing is Dutch city's have more green. Wich makes them less grim.

[@RudeMyDude]

This was filmed in April, and it's cloudy. You can see that the tree leaves have barely even started to bloom, which explains the lack of green.

[@ZoraDelaney]

@@RudeMyDude The lack of greenery wasn't even my main concern......

[@RudeMyDude]

@@ZoraDelaney was mostly responding to the person above

[@j.vanderson6239]

Overall impression: No maintenance and no care.

[@JacobBax]

You were riding with the maker from Streetfilms?

[@BicycleDutch]

Yes.

[@TheWalkingDutchman4K]

Super!!!

[@mozismobile]

Makes Sydney's "on road MTB experience" seem pretty mild at times, NYC has bigger (better?) pot holes, manhole covers and trenches. Albeit NYC seems to be missing the bus stop chicanes that we get. But mostly it just seemed really loud to me (might be sound level choice)

[@Arjay404]

1:18 dang, those bollards are massive, are they there to stop tanks?

[@DavMovis_]

Yeah that's basically how big American cars are now.

[@Lolwutfordawin]

Considering american SUVs are now larger than many ww2 tanks, yeah. I suppose they are.

[@kilastrika]

So how much did you enjoy doing this ride? Lool

[@pineapplepizza27]

4:52 speed bump needlessly extends into the bike lane whyyyyy

[@_yonas]

Probably because it was already there when they reallocated the space. I would also not be surprised if drivers would otherwise just drive fast in the bike lane to avoid it.

[@chunkemonke398]

On the Queens Blvd bike lane you can find 3 stripes of thick white paint that act as cycling speed bumps while the cars get no speed bumps.

[@Paul_C]

That green paint, doesn't that make it slippery? It looks iffy.

[@RJLupin-zu9xv]

9:40 - Amazing. xD

[@wimahlers]

Criticized the first 12 minutes this morning. This is the rest ... 14:20 Nice pedestrian/bicycle lane crossing this river. 16:28 Confusing exit though. 18:01 Potentially dangerous exchange of bicycle/car lane. Could this be improved? 18:33 [general remark] Cycle lane close to parked cars. Potential "dooring" hazard. 19:07 [general remark] Nice to see the various bike share places directly besides the road. Personally I hate them. Reason: You find these type of rental bicycles dumped left and right in Dutch cities. Very ugly to look at and sometimes blocking roads and pavements. So, good as an American solution (maybe). But not so much as a Dutch solution. 20:07 Huge bollards. Why 2? Why so thick? 20:07 to 26:33 Nice protected bike path on the Williamsburg bridge but ... It looks a bit narrow for a 2-way cycle path. And at some spots it looks like an obstacle course. Though that might be temporary (maintenance?). And why should cyclists climb higher than all other traffic? It looks like this bicycle path was build as an afterthought. And what is it with the wall at the end? Is this to purposely slow down the descending cyclists? 26:33 to 28:04 A bicycle path. Good! But in the middle? Difficult to exit on intersections. As shown and demonstrated at 28:04. It conflicts with, and it is less clear for, pedestrians. 28:30 Good separation between cyclists and motorized traffic. Though the flimsy plastic poles could be replaced by something permanent.

[@arandomplace]

Ok. In Queens things get bad.

[@Etothe2iPi]

The fun in that is extremely limited.

[@xijaomao]

You were blocking a crosswalk at one point, unless your camera is super zoomed in. Stop lines exist for a reason and are legally mandated.

[@KiloWattPlays]

Was starting with a honk intentional?😁

[@xaviwarrior1]

Please, can you film a video of Miami's bike lanes? These city has a lot of accident crash between cyclist and cars

[@HendrikdeSmidt]

Need more infrastucture energy in this direction in smaller NY cities; the legal/institutional framework clearly already exists at the State level so what's the hold up?

[@Sullyville]

Looks like there's more infrastructure there than most US cities--and that's not saying much! Of course, this is mostly bike infrastructure for the "8%" aka "Strong and Fearless" and "Enthused and Confident" rather than the 60% of people who are "Interested but Concerned." We will never see bike mode share like the Netherlands unless we commit to building infrastructure that the last category finds enjoyable and safe.

[@b.griffin317]

What camera are you using?

[@wimahlers]

3:33 Bicycle lane blocked. 4:33 Pedestrians seem to be third rank citizens waiting to cross the road. 6:05 Nice quiet street. But why the stupid and useless sharows? 6:27 ... and, again, a car blocking the bicycle lane. Just using paint is not "the" solution. 8:38 What are those cars parked on the left side standing on? 9:34 Delivery van blocking traffic. But this time for all traffic. What do other drivers think about that? Since blocking bicycle lanes seems to be accepted / the norm. 10:00 Narrow and unsafe shared passage for cyclists and pedestrians. But I do understand you got to work with what you have. But could this be improved? 11:56 90 degrees angle for motorized traffic. They have to slow down anyway. But it is the cyclists and pedestrians that have to stop. Might be an opportunity to prioritize cyclists over motorists traffic. However, it could be dangerous here. Especially because motorists feel and are privileged. And expect priority. Got to go now. So far criticizing the first 12 minutes ...

[@reese924]

overall it looks pretty sucky

[@minhuang8848]

a lot better than what I expected

[@AbimaelLopez-hz3qq]

It’s too cloudy

[@ephphatha230]

What a dump

[@AbimaelLopez-hz3qq]

I thinks it’s too cloudy

[@andrebartels1690]

I'm thirteen minutes into the video and I can't stand it anymore. What a dreary and desolate city. I'm so happy to live in a small town in Germany, where infrastructure isn't trying to kill me. And I'm going on holiday to the Netherlands, soon.

[@iribuya]

For me it was the first minute where he was stuck for 30 seconds to a traffic light and nobody passed besides some pedestrians. Apparently they love traffic lights instead of 'right of way' and roundabouts. I'm sorry as a Dutch, I would probably get a ticket riding through red first day there.

[@AbimaelLopez-hz3qq]

NYC has less cars than other countries

[@chunkemonke398]

@@iribuya haha what’s even worse is that the fine for running a red on a bike is 4x higher than driving through a red.

[@MunichUWH]

​@@chunkemonke398What? Why???

[@hondaryder3779]

On a Shitybike?(Citybike)😂 Source: ZeroEnigma.

[@MarijnRoorda]

For a country that gave us men walking on the moon, you would at the very least expect that they would understand how to provide cycling paths for their citizens... I for sure wouldn't want to be living there.

[@bmcd9490]

Yuk

[@AbimaelLopez-hz3qq]

Nyc has better bike lanes in other parts of the

[@AbimaelLopez-hz3qq]

It’s too cloudy