The Big Apple’s plan to install 500 bike lockers all over the five boroughs could cost $26 million — as locals are wheelie annoyed at the latest assault on city streets that could gobble up hundreds of parking spaces.
The Department of Transportation has been asking New Yorkers where to put the lockers, which each hold six bikes and cost an estimated $52,000 a piece, but many Manhattanites told The Post they’d had enough of reckless delivery drivers and e-bikes turning the borough into a no-holds-barred boulevard.
“Ridiculous. Maybe in Brooklyn?” Upper West Side resident Susan Lennon said when The Post asked her where the lockers should be placed.
“Over there is a problem with delivery bikes,” Lennon said, pointing to the McDonald’s at the intersection of Broadway and Tenth Avenue. “It’s a mess.”
Serge Ossorguine, 69, lives just down the street from the 72nd Street subway station and had the same suggestion as Lennon.
“Maybe in Brooklyn?” Ossorguine said. “I live here; it doesn’t make sense here.”
A contract with vendor Tranzito would also require building a city-branded app to handle access and payment. The DOT plans to sell residential bike parking as an annual membership while parking stations near transit hubs would charge hourly rates.
E-bike charging at select sites would also be available for an hourly fee.
Barry Goralnick said bikers in Union Square where he lives flout traffic rules and shouldn’t be rewarded with pricey bike amenities.
“I honestly think that we’ve given so many resources to bicyclists who don’t appreciate it,” Goralnick said.
DOT data shows only about 9% of New Yorkers regularly ride their bikes, and a little more than 60,000 biked to work in 2023, the latest year for which the agency has published statistics.
“They don’t go the right direction, they don’t pay attention to the lights, and I don’t really support giving any more space to them,” Goralnick explained.
Harlem resident Claudia Weber, 45, thought bike parking could be “good for the community” but still said DOT’s solution was expensive.
“$52,000 is a lot,” Weber said. “I would be curious to know where funds would be taken away from.”
A DOT spokesperson said no price tag has been finalized and the program is aimed at creating bike storage for New Yorkers who do not have room at home.
“Curb space is public space that serves a range of public needs and modes of transportation,” the spokesperson said. “Many New Yorkers, especially families, opt out of bike ownership because they lack storage space or the ability to carry bikes up stairs. NYC DOT’s secure bike parking program will help meet this need by creating safe places to store bikes while repurposing a small number of vehicle parking spaces.”
The city would have to repurpose around 0.02% of vehicle parking spaces for the bike lockers, which amounts to around 600 fewer parking spaces based on estimates of 3 million parking spaces in New York City.
DOT said New Yorkers can submit their bike locker location suggestions through its website.
