![]() We’ve commuted to and from work on them, used them to run errands, put their passenger-hauling capability to work, ridden them in annoying traffic, loaded them up with groceries and beer, tested how easily the folding bikes fold (and ride), and run the e-bikes’ batteries down to officially see how long they last on one charge. Our experienced testers spent many hours and miles using these bikes for their intended purpose. One of these bikes should meet your needs and your budget. By now, you should have a pretty good idea of where you stand. And while a $500 city bike is easier on the wallet, it might not offer the best features for longer commutes or those with mixed terrain. So while a $6,000 custom commuter bike might make you starry-eyed, there are plenty of sub-$1,000 possibilities that fit your needs. It is amazing, rather, that they keep trying.As with most things we buy, our final decision is based not only on what we want but also on what we can afford-and somewhere in the middle is the best option for the money and the riding you do. Jane Jacobs once said: “Citizens of big cities are forever being berated for not taking sufficiently active interest in government. Those could include direct government grants or contracts for services channeling support through intermediary nonprofits and looking at value capture and community wealth building tools, including tax increment financing, community land trusts, or mechanisms which retain some portion of incremental fees and taxes within targeted communities. That means looking both within and beyond New York for relevant precedents. Third, explore new funding options to ensure that smaller BIDs and less resourced neighborhoods can sustain and take advantage of the value created through their public realm and commercial corridor activations and improvements. ![]() Consider creating an independent but affiliated nonprofit which can help SBS and the Department of Transportation support their public space partners. Second, develop capacity to support place-based partnerships by creating a Public Realm Task Force to explore short- and long-term ways to empower, support and better coordinate the agencies and allies within government that support community partners like BIDs. We propose a Trusted Partner Program which frees BIDs with a track record of success from the myriad of duplicative and adversarial requirements which effectively knock small BIDs out of the box. “They say we are partners but their actions show they don’t really trust us,” says one small BID director. To enable and empower small BIDs and others like them, the city must first reduce “pain points” and trust community partners who often feel stymied. ![]() That is the key to bringing the vibrancy and economic activity associated with great public spaces to all neighborhoods. Indeed, 10 of the 40 goals in that report relate to public space.īut the sustainability and expansion of these new public spaces - especially in less resourced areas - is at great risk unless that city better supports its key partners in improving, managing and programming those spaces, most especially small Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) around the city. These paradigm-changing uses of streets have made such a difference that Mayor Adams - to his enormous credit - created the role of chief public realm officer last winter to advance the many public space goals in his December 2022 “New” New York action plan. New plazas, Open Streets and Open Dining - the latter hanging by a thread due a stalled bill to make it permanent - helped New York City get through the pandemic and remind us how much street use has changed in recent years, beginning with Times Square’s plazas in 2009.
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