Biking in NYC

Bike Lane Near the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn

In the summer, I do a lot more bicycling. I am what one might call a fair weather biker. Once winter sets in, I put the bike away. I don't like to have cold feet, or fight the wind. It usually gets to me by Christmas when the city also seems filled with tourists who stand in the street waiting for the light to change and the glare of the low-hanging December sun blinds my eyes. But now while the sun is high and the wind falls flat, I am out and enjoying this very particular New York experience.

There are lots of new bike lanes all over the city which is wonderful. There are stretches of lane that are really fun like this bit between some venerable housing projects. It is flat and curvy and there is enough room for the cars. At places, the trees are everywhere and it smells like the country, grass and hay kind of country. But just painting a white line along the road does not really ensure a useful bike lane. Even in my blissful project paradise there are potholes. People use the bike lanes to park in.

The fun ends quickly anyway as the bike lane leads into a heavy construction area. It starts with the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway overpass. There is roadwork going on up there that seems to require a constant shower of water.

One of the sidewalks is closed causing the rare pedestrian to puddle through the water while cars and bikers surge past. Then there is the intersection with giant holes.

The holes are on both sides of the intersection and a third one is in the middle covered by slippery metal plates. Sometimes there is a traffic cop guiding the cars and trucks through the disarray. But often they are on their own. I usually turn onto a bumpy uphill side road where the earth movers prowl. The cars are a little destabilized by all the rubble and large vehicles, a biker has a slight advantage.

The bike lane leading up to the Manhattan Bridge is the craziest part of my trip. The lane goes two ways, up a steep hill, under another BQE overpass and around a blind curve or two. The other side of the road are entrance ramps to the BQE. Some bikers choose that side, it is closer to the bridge. Others ride right down the middle of the road. I have tried those ways, but I had too many near death experiences. Not that this bike lane is without its hazards. Cars at the bottom of the hill speed upwards in the bike lane to pass the cars that make illegal turns onto one of the ramps. The sidewalk is closed at the underpass and sometimes pedestrians walk in the bike lane. The road is hideously potholed. And some cars park right before the overpass, or they come in and out of a hidden driveway near the top of the hill.

And here is a reckless person who walked on the bike lane, in the darkened underpass, down the potholed hill oblivious to the dangers of the traffic.



After another blind curve and an overpass, I make it onto the Manhattan bridge bikeway which is worth all the effort.

It curves around a grassy field and up onto the bridge. The rooftops of dumbo give way to the East River and the Manhattan skyline. It is a small oasis from the stress of the traffic. Nothing to do but climb the hill and admire the graffiti.



This odd green triangle in dumbo is new. I cannot figure out what it is all about. From the bridge it looks as if someone painted a snot green triangle on the street and put some tables down with some shrubs and parasols. It just feels so uninviting, so concrete. I think the problem is that particular shade of green, it seems to mock the plant life.

Once I get to Manhattan, the ride becomes even more agressive. I did take photos because I need to concentrate hard just to stay safe. I wish it were a little safer to ride in the city. If the cars would slow down and their drivers would pay more attention, if my fellow bikers were more considerate towards one another and the pedestrians, if the pedestrians were more aware of their mortality, it would be a much better ride. But it is still pretty fun.

The Art of Others

Summer has me in its grip, an indolent haze has descended. I have not been very productive. But I have come across two outdoor sculptures that were so beautiful, I thought I could share them.

Social Dress New Orleans - 730 days after

Takashi Horisaki covered a house in New Orleans with latex mixed with paint and has hung the resulting imprint up in Socrates park. The house was about to be demolished. There was a good deal of suspense while he was working with the Army Corps of Engineers revving the bulldozers as he waited for the latex to set. The whole story is on his blog

http://socialdress-neworleans.blogspot.com/


Here are some pictures

Defunct, Cojoined - Madison Square Park

Roxy Paine is such an incredible artist. I have seen his work at the James Cohan gallery (which is one of my favorite galleries in the city, such fine art, so inviting). I had seen the trees from a distance, glinting among the living ones. When I finally had time to see them up close, they took my breath away. The day I came back to photograph them, there was a concert for children. The lawn was gated off and there was an army of designer strollers all over the park.


The children were really enjoying the cojoined trees so I didn't mind that I couldn't get up close to the trunks.

Here is a link to Roxy Paine at James Cohan

http://www.jamescohan.com/artists/roxy-paine/

Some pictures of Cojoined


And some pictures of Defunct

I didn't see Erratic, a shiny boulder. It was probably obscured by strollers.

Weeds

I can't believe August is here and the weeds are huge.



This mass of weeds seemed to spring suddenly from an empty tree pit. I am rather fond of weeds, I admire their determination to grow almost anywhere.

There is an empty lot that has been on my mind recently.



It's the tree that draws me. That beautiful dancing tree, spreading its branches over the fence, I hope it doesn't grow into the spikes. I love the square of green in the middle of the block.

I am so afraid it will become this,


like so many weedy lots before it.

Almost Aligned

Twice a year the sun sets aligned with east-west streets of Manhattan. It is called Manhattanhenge, which I guess describes it well, but I wish there were a less druidic, more New York kind of term. I missed the May alignment and planned to capture it last Friday. I watched all day as the clouds slowly gathered, pretty much obscuring the sun by sunset. So I went out on Saturday.



Things looked promising as I started out at Houston Street, with the sun falling on both sides of the street. But on the numbered streets, it was just an ordinary summer sunset. Even 14th Street had golden sun on one side and shadow on the other. I was surprised that the sun had shifted so much in one day. The light was really pretty so I decided to continue taking pictures.



This was from Union Square Park.

The just before sunset, it all came together, just a little off center.



I scrambled to get the picture when three young women pranced into my frame, their arms linked in joyous friendship. They are just visible past the odd trailer thing on the sidewalk. There did seem to be a sort of camaraderie in the air. When I was standing in the street to take a picture, a cab driver waited to turn and did not try to run me down. Things were a little rowdier on 23rd Street.



The shadowy blur on the left was a biker about to careen into me and my tripod. I have to be a little more careful in where I choose to stand next time. In November the alignment occurs at sunrise. Maybe at dawn the traffic will be calmer.