The 2011 Tour de Queens is Sunday July 10th - Tour de Queens Trailer

The 2011 Tour de Queens is Sunday July 10th
For more info: www.tourdequeens.org




Footage courtesy of Streetfilms.org from the 2009 Tour de Queens.

Bike Lanes - Citizen Strikes Back at NYPD for Ticketing Him - It's a Hilarious PSA! by Caseyneistat

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h/t: Harris Walker

Bloomberg Does Not Support Local Businesses - Local Bike Maker Says Small Business Initiative Slighted Him by Angela Chen - NY1

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The Bloomberg administration does NOT support local businesses...

Worksman Cycles, an Ozone Park bicycle manufacturer whose business has been in New York City for over 100 years says the mayor's office snubbed him.

The Hands That Steer Are Building the Bikes by Sean Patrick Farrell - NYTimes.com

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Like thousands of other New Yorkers, Jason Henkle throws a leg over a bicycle every day and pedals to work. Unlike most of his fellow riders, Mr. Henkle built his understated single-speed bike by hand.

Mr. Henkle is among a small group of dedicated New York cyclists who have begun building their own bicycle frames. Their hand-constructed cycles are often custom made for a tailored fit and sometimes include personal touches like the small metal pi symbol Mr. Henkle affixes to his machines.

“They’re pi-cycles,” said Mr. Henkle, making the kind of pun befitting his job as a high school math teacher. He keeps two of his bikes in his living room and often spends his evenings and weekends in a tight storage room he has converted into a frame building shop in his apartment building in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

A recent Saturday afternoon found him methodically filing steel tubes for a precise fit on a road frame that’s half-finished. “It’s a nice combination of an athletic activity, craft, science and engineering all balled up into one,” said Mr. Henkle, 30, who figures it takes him about 80 hours to complete a frame.

Some people, like Mr. Henkle, treat the craft as a hobby, building bikes for themselves and a few friends. But a growing number of shops are building made-to-measure frames for customers.

“I got to chat with some of the pros,” he said. “I was definitely able to walk away with some good info.”Many other cyclists in New York and the rest of the country have taken up files, torches and even bamboo and glue to build their own bikes. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show, which started in 2005 with 23 frame builders exhibiting their wares, has grown into a Concours d’Elegance for two-wheelers, featuring more than 160 microbike exhibitors. Mr. Henkle attended the 2011 show last week in Austin, Tex., to learn the latest techniques.

Anchoring the scene is Johnny Coast, a 35-year-old with seven years of frame building and, by his count, 200 to 300 frames under his belt. Mr. Coast’s frames, which are highly regarded for their classic lines and elegant lugs — the often-decorative joints that join tubes — start at $2,250.

Mr. Coast and many builders embrace the small imperfections that are less likely to be spotted in mass-produced machine-built bikes.

“I think people like seeing the hand of the builder,” he said. “You see a little file mark, you see a human made this.”

Like many hobby builders, Lance Mercado, 35, began by making bicycle frames for himself and friends. He has been building custom steel frames professionally since 2007, after taking a popular course in Oregon, and is the owner of SquareBuilt, a shop in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, that specializes in single-speed and track bikes.

“I basically was going to buy a bike one day and saw the ad to learn to build a bike,” he said. “So I went, and people started asking me to build them one, too.” He eventually dropped his job as a waiter to pursue the business.

Krista Ciminera learning the craft with help from Lance Mercado. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times 

Mr. Mercado’s shop has become a nexus of the frame-building community. Krista Ciminera, 27, a messenger, is building a frame for herself and learning the craft at SquareBuilt.

“I really like making stuff with my hands,” Ms. Ciminera said, “and it feels good to be at these machines with sparks flying.”

Recently, Mr. Henkle stopped into SquareBuilt for help on a problem with a lug on his current project. Mr. Mercado welcomes the growing interest.

“The more builders there are in New York, the better for everyone to learn off each other,” Mr. Mercado said.

The city has long been a bike-building center. For more than a century Worksman Cycles in Queens has been making durable utility bicycles and tricycles, and Brooklyn Machine Works has been creating BMX and downhill bikes for more than 15 years. But the community of smaller shops, especially in Brooklyn, continues to broaden. Horse Cycles is a one-man custom-steel shop in Williamsburg, and Bamboo Bike Studio in Red Hook offers a two-day frame-building course using bamboo.

“You can make a bike and make it just as good as any other bike,” said Marty Odlin, 29, who started Bamboo Bike Studio in 2009 and has since expanded to San Francisco. A basic frame-building class costs $632, and proceeds go toward projects to supply bicycles to people in the developing world.

The studio has taught more than 250 people — from 12-year-olds to riders in their 70s — to make the distinctive frames. “They’re beautiful, and they’re really beautiful to the people who build them,” Mr. Odlin said, referring to the bamboo bikes but echoing the thoughts of many hand builders. “There’s a pride thing.”

Ozone Park Bike Factory Wants to Ride with City by Anna Gustafson - Queens Chronicle

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Wayne Sosin poses with one of his bikes. photo by anna gustafson

New York City’s last remaining bicycle manufacturer, based in Ozone Park, is hoping the city it has called home for more than a century will select it for an upcoming bike sharing program.

Worksman Cycles President Wayne Sosin said his company submitted a bid last week in hopes of being selected to provide thousands of the bikes for the program the city is slated to launch in the spring of 2012.

“It’s such a wonderful idea,” Sosin said of the bike share program that would allow individuals to pay an hour fee not yet specified to rent a bicycle in Manhattan. “It creates a friendlier commuting system where people don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for gas.”

There would be spots around the city, most likely concentrated in Midtown, where riders could drop off and pick up the bicycles. DOT officials have said they would like the program to expand to other boroughs as well.

“Biking has become a serious transportation option in New York and bike share is the clear next step,” city Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said. “New York’s ideal geography, high residential and commercial density and growing bike infrastructure make it the perfect option for short trips since over 50 percent of trips in NYC are under two miles.”

Worksman Cycles, at 95th Avenue between 101st and 102nd streets, was founded in 1898 by Morris Worksman, who believed a well-designed three-wheleed cycle could replace the horse and wagon.

The original cycles were built in a small shop where the World Trade Center would come to be located. The company moved to Ozone Park in 1979, and it continues to make industrial-strength tricycles and bicycles that are used around the city — and world, from neighborhood pizza shops to the U.S. Army in the Middle East.

A number of companies use Worksman bicycles, including General Motors and Mercedes Benz, as do other bike-share programs in Tulsa, Okla. and Princeton University.

“We had been talking about ordering a crate of bikes from China, but we wanted to have fewer, better bikes,” said Tom Cooper, a member of the Tulsa Townies LLC, the group that runs the bike share program in the Oklahoma city. “We discovered one of the local bike shops here in Tulsa had provided Worksman bikes to a large industrial facility where bikes sat outside, and they had held up to the rigors of being outside. Our bikes were going to sit outside for most of the year, so that was important to us.”

Cooper said the approximate 75 Worksman bikes they use have worked well and noted he expects they will be ordering more in the near future.

Because the bicycles have “substantial” frames and rims, they even deter vandals and thieves, Cooper said.

Theft has been a problem in other bike share programs, perhaps most notably in the Parisian one, according to 2009 reports from “Le Monde,” a French daily, and “The New York Times.” However, while there were reports in Paris of thousands of bicycles being stolen, or even tossed into the Seine River, cities in the U.S., including Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis, have seen very little theft and vandalism.

Five bicycles have been reported stolen since D.C. launched its share program with 1,100 cycles in September 2010, and Minneapolis has lost two bikes since the city began its share program with 700 bicycles in June.

Should Worksman become the city’s bike supplier, it would also be in charge of repairing any damaged cycles.

For Sosin, the opportunity to land the job with the city would obviously be a financial boon — but it would be something more than that, he says.

It is a step toward a greener, more bicycle-friendly city where people would not think twice about hopping on their bike to go to work.

“I went to Amsterdam to learn more about the bike culture and saw it was part of the daily transportation for most people,” said Sosin, who grew up in Fresh Meadows and now lives on Long Island. “There were people in nice work clothes on bicycles and moms bringing kids to school on bikes. Blue collar workers to heads of companies think nothing of jumping on their bikes. It was really very motivating for me to see that. They know how to respect bicyclists. That can happen here, but it won’t happen overnight. It’ll happen over 10, 20 years.”

Sosin stressed it would be good for the local economy because he would likely have to hire another 30 to 40 people if Worksman landed the contract. About 50 people now work at the business, which is solar-powered.

“Plus you’d be getting something actually made in the United States,” Sosin said.

The Ozone Park factory is a relic of the country as it was decades ago, when blue collar workers had little trouble finding jobs using their hands and goods often had the Made in the U.S.A. stamp.

One of the ways the company has been able to remain in the states, instead of going abroad as so many others have, is because it has found this niche market making industrial strength bikes and tricycles.

And a deal with the city really could cement a future in Queens, Sosin said.

“The American bike industry has really left, but we’re still here,” Sosin said. “We want to be here.”

CB 6 Wants to Be Briefed by City Before DOT Proposes Bike Lanes by Joe Anuta - YourNabe.com

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A man rides down 108th Street in Rego Park, where bike lanes are scarce. Photo by Joe Anuta

Community leaders in Forest Hills and Rego Park are already preparing for a contentious addition to the neighborhood — bike lanes — though a single line has yet to be planned or painted.

On Feb. 10, the Community Board 6 sent a letter to city Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan requesting that “all proposals to establish new bicycle lanes on NYC streets shall be submitted to the affected Community Board(s) prior to their implementation.”

After the proposal, the boards would have 60 days to review the plan and submit an advisory recommendation, according to the resolution. In addition, the DOT would need to respond to any of the board’s concerns.

The measure was proposed by John Dereszewski, chairman of the board’s Transportation Committee.

“I am a bike lane supporter,” Dereszewski said. But despite his affinity for the roadside additions, which have sparked heated debate in other boroughs, he still wanted to be kept in the loop when and if the lanes ever come to the neighborhood.

Currently, the area is nearly devoid of bike lanes.

The DOT did not respond to questions about the bikes lanes.

The resolution, in addition to providing the board with information, was also designed to assist the DOT.

Several board members listed streets that might seem like good bike routes but pose specific problems for additional lanes. For example, Yellowstone Boulevard would be good for a bike lane, one member said, except for the area underneath the Long Island Rail Road tracks, where the road narrows considerably.

Other members wanted advance notice, claiming the lanes were painted without consulting anyone.


“The DOT is out there painting bike lanes without coming to any community,” said CB 6 Chairman Joseph Hennessy. “In fairness to the community, [the DOT] should have to bring it before the board.”

But Frank Gulluscio, district manager for the board, said the proposal is about the city and the community staying in touch.

“It’s all about communication from one agency to another,” he said. “As long as the lines are open, then you can’t say the good, the bad and the ugly.”

The proposal is not designed to be for or against the lanes.

Ozone Park Company Looking to Join City's Bike Share Program by Lisa A. Fraser -Leader-Observer

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Worksman Cycles in Ozone Park has been making industrial-grade bicycles and tricycles for 112 years. And now, the company, located at 94-15 100th Street, is hoping that the city picks up their bid to be part of the Department of Transportation's new bike share program.

“All of our 112 years has been spent in New York City, our factories, our offices, so it's only the right choice for the city to work with us on this,” said Wayne Sosin, president of Worksman Cycles.

The cycle manufacturer has a history of providing bikes to various bike-share programs around the country, including Princeton's bike share program, University of Colorado's bike share program, and the University of Central Oklahoma's bike share program.

“We're the perfect resource, given our history, employment and logistics,” Sosin said.

The company has also provided bikes to the Queens Zoo, which uses their tricycles, and the Queens Botanical Garden is set to start rolling with a new batch of bikes provided by the company come spring.

The company hires locally and Sossin noted that all of his 50 employees of the factory are all New York City residents. “We're all local, they all work within a bike ride,” he said.

This local employment is another reason why Worksman Cycles hopes to be picked up by the city and it's a reason local elected officials Senator Joe Addabbo, Assemblyman Mike Miller and Councilman Eric Ulrich are promoting the company.

“I don't see why the city shouldn't choose them, it's a positive,” said Addabbo. “They're credible, they're long-withstanding, and they are a business that could do the job given their history.”

Addabbo and Sosin both stressed that it would be a benefit to the city to not only have a great program, but to say they are also using a local manufacturer. “It's an opportunity of unity, it's a good program and a good manufacturer,” Addabbo said.

If the city picks Worksman Cycles to provide the bikes for the program, it will mean a new employment opportunity for the area, something Addabbo said the neighborhood needs.

The program, which will begin in 2012, is set to require between 10,000 and 50,000 bikes and Worksman would be looking at hiring anywhere between 35 and 50 people.

Worksman Cycles is one of the oldest bike manufacturers in the country. First started in Manhattan, the company moved around Brooklyn before calling Ozone Park their new home in 1979.

Cycle Maker Working to Share his Bikes with City by Lisa L. Colangelo. - NY Daily News

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A CENTURY-old bicycle manufacturer in Ozone Park is hoping city officials think locally when they seal the deal on a new bike-sharing program.

Worksman Cycles, which has built bikes for similar programs around the country, is the perfect choice for the program, said company President Wayne Sosin.

"Our bikes are reliable and durable," he said yesterday. "They are made of heavier gauge steel. We're not about light and fancy."

The Department of Transportation is soliciting proposals from companies interested in starting a bike-sharing program for a five-year period starting in 2012.

It's designed to boost alternate, environmentally friendly transportation to ease congestion and pollution around the city.

The agency did not specify how many bikes would be available but said the program should "provide secure and convenient bicycles on a 24-hour basis at a publicly accessible price."

There are no set geographic boundaries, but the city's research shows it could be successful in Manhattan, south of 60th St. And DOT officials said they would like the program to include more than one borough.

Sosin said Worksman is not equipped to run the program but would be interested in supplying bikes for the operator.

"One of the main reasons for any bike-sharing program is sustainability," said Sosin. "It's also sustainable if the bicycles come locally."

State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) and other elected officials said they hope the city can include Worksman in the program.

"The city would be able to say it's the only one in the country to do this kind of program and keep it in-house," Addabbo said. The deadline for proposals is Feb. 16.

Worksman builds specialty cycles and heavy-duty tricycles used in factories. In recent years, keepers at the Queens Zoo ditched their powered carts for Worksman cycles, and the Queens Botanical Garden is set to start using them in the spring.

City Councilman Eric Ulrich Earns a Knucklehead Award with His Silly Call for Bicycle Licenses - NY Daily News Editorial

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Precedent having been set in 2004, when then-City Councilwoman Madeline Provenzano earned this enshrinement for proposing that bicyclists be required to get licenses, the judges now dispense equal justice to Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich.

New to the Council, Ulrich may have believed his proposal was a stroke of original genius.

We're sorry to report that forcing bicyclists, as we said in 2004, "to get licenses for a legal activity, and, of course, pay a nice fee for the privilege, and, of course, build a bureaucracy to keep track of the paperwork" is just dumb.

It is also part and parcel with a feeling, epidemic among lawmakers, that the Council can legislate away every inconvenience.

Ulrich says drivers "are the only ones who receive tickets for speeding, blowing red lights and not yielding to pedestrian traffic." True enough. But forcing millions of people to carry government-issued cards won't change that.

New Yorkers Could Soon Have to Register Their Bicycles - Darla Miles Reports - | Video | 7online.com

Bike License Councilman: Cyclists Brought This On Themselves - The Gothamist

Unlike the backtracking New Jersey Assemblywoman who withdrew her proposal for mandatory bicycle licenses, City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) is serious about his bill, and he says there's support for it in the City Council. Reached by phone, Ulrich elaborated on his proposal, which he cautions hasn't been officially drafted or introduced yet. "This is so premature," Ulrich tells us. "I have no specifics about what it will look like. But I imagine that when it is finalized I'll gain a number of co-sponsors. Many of my colleagues feel similarly and will be supportive." But it's not that premature—Ulrich hopes to introduce the legislation on February 2nd.

We asked Ulrich how such a law might affect tourists visiting NYC with their bikes, and he said, "I can't legislate for people that are outside of my jurisdiction. I'm sure it will be addressed in the final copy of the bill. It would be tough to tell people outside the city what to do." Ulrich also stressed that the proposal would only apply to adults:

I'm not looking to harass kiddies on tricycles. And I'm not trying to say that if you're in the park you need a permit. But if you're 18 and use city streets, you should be accountable, just like if you own a car you need to get registered and get a license and insurance. I'm not going that far; we just need to get a handle on a situation that is out of control. I think it will improve safety for everybody if bicyclists get a registration sticker that they pay $3 for or whatever is for five or ten years. This is not a revenue generator. We have a law on the books in the city that says that the cost of the application can not exceed to cost of printing and processing it.

I have never, never seen a cop car pull over a bicyclist for running through a red light. I wish they would, because those are the ones who are creating problems every day in the city. If these people are not obeying traffic laws, they should be held accountable

We also asked Ulrich if his proposal contradicts the traditionally Republican goal of smaller government and less bureaucracy. "Absolutely not," says Ulrich. "This is the reality of the situation we're in, given the large number of people on bikes. And frankly, it's amazing this hasn't been passed already. The people on bicycles brought this on themselves by behaving this way. Nobody has the right to get in their car and drive however they want.

"I don't think this is big government trying to figure out who owns a mountain bike, that's silly. We're not trying to make money off the deal. I'm not against cycling. I think it's environmentally friendly. But they share the roads with drivers and pedestrians and they have a responsibility to follow the same laws."

Do People Really Pay These Rates for Bicycle Parking at North Shore - Forest Hills Hospital..?

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I was at North Shore University Hospital in Forest Hills recently and noticed this sign in the parking lot...The bicycle parking rate of $15 a day totally floored me...I'd really like to know...do people really pay these rates to leave their bicycles..?

Life In The Bike Lane: Getting Around The City By Bike - WNYC

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Bicycling is the fastest-growing way to get around in New York City. The number of people commuting by bike grew by 35 percent between 2007 and 2008 and many of them travel on the city's 420 miles of bike lanes. Still, the city is a crowded, smoggy, busy place and only 1 percent of New Yorkers bike to work.

WNYC talked to a small slice of the 1 percent to get a glimpse of what life is like in the bike lane.

A Tour de Queens on Two Wheels by Holly Tsang - Queens Examiner

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When you live in a busy city like New York, it's not easy to be an urban cyclist. Even though bikers technically have the right of way, cyclists are often at the mercy of aggressive drivers.

This past Sunday, however, 1,500 bike riders took the roads back as, escorted by police officers, they stopped vehicular traffic and breezed through red lights.

Sponsored by Transportation Alternatives, the third annual Tour de Queens commenced at the Queens Museum of Art. It attracted riders from all over the city and took them through 18 miles of residential and commercial neighborhoods including Flushing, Bayside, Oakland Gardens, Little Neck, Queens Village and Fresh Meadows. The midway point was marked by a rest stop at the Queens County Farm Museum.

"The Tour de Queens is all about celebrating the strides we're making towards a more bike-friendly borough," says David Dubovsky, chair of Transportation Alternatives' Queens Committee. "Where else in New York City can you bike from a two-time World's Fair ground to a working urban farm - all in one morning?"

Richard Lau, a small business owner from Flushing, signed up for the tour to spend some quality time with his cousins. He enjoyed going down roads that the police had blocked off for riders, but the ride was an eye-opener as well.

“You really get to experience your neighborhood,” he said. “I didn't realize until I started biking how many hills there are, or how many ways there are to get to your house.”

Chris Kay, a nurse from the Bronx, recently joined a bicycling group that rides from the Bronx to Battery Park. He enjoys participating in bike tours because they allow him to see all the aspects of a neighborhood or borough he would otherwise miss.

“I often drive through Queens, but you don't get to stop and see the neighborhoods when you're driving on a highway,” he said. “Now you get to see it up close. I've never been this close to the Unisphere.”

Jim Henderson, a retired telephone switchman from Manhattan, grew up on Long Island, but as an avid cyclist who rides everywhere, he probably knows the city better than most born-and-bred city dwellers.

“I'm just amazed that people don't know their area and geography,” he said. “You get a wonderful opportunity to see what people are doing, how the city's laid out, the economy...there are rich people places, poor people places, commercial places. You can learn all these things simply by biking.”

Though he could easily ride on his own, Henderson enjoys the bike tours because they allow him to fly down the street without worry of being killed by drivers. It also means that he has to be careful around the less experienced riders, who are much slower; a handful of children completed the ride from start to finish. However, he encourages everyone to take up bike riding, which is an efficient form of travel as well as a fun hobby.

“The best way to start is to go down your street and keep going,” he said. “Keep going and don't stop.”

Seized Bikes Are Waiting For You at 7th Precinct by John Del Signore- Gothamist

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An NYPD truck delicately carts away an explosive arsenal of bombs sinisterly disguised as bicycles; photograph by Martha Cooper

With the NYPD press office continuing to stonewall us on the matter of the bikes confiscated along Obama's motorcade route yesterday, we made some calls to the local precincts. A cop at the 9th Precinct told us that all the seized bikes were taken to the 7th Precinct. When we called over there, an unidentified officer told us to call the 9th Precinct, ha ha. But after putting us on hold, we were able to confirm that all the seized bikes were in fact taken to the 7th Precinct.

If your bike was one of those confiscated, you can go retrieve it on Monday before 12 p.m. at the 7th Precinct. We were told that bike owners can appear as early as 4 a.m., and that there is "a special way" of determining that each bike is returned to its lawful owner. Cyclists will be asked to describe their bikes, but the cop who spoke with us said you should also bring a photo of you with the bike.

When asked if any signs were put up in advance to notify bike owners, the officer said, "No, they just did this because the president was coming and they didn't want anything on the sidewalks. You're not supposed to lock you bike to signposts anyway, they have those new bike racks you're supposed to use." Of course, in many parts of NYC, the number of bike racks can't meet demand, and cyclists have no choice but to lock to signposts.

On a related note, next month is Bike Month in NYC, and Transportation Alternatives will be kicking things off with a party at Brooklyn Bridge Park on Saturday, May 1st from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. During the festivities, the NYPD will be on hand to etch ID codes on your bike, making it easier to reclaim it next time they steal it from you.

Related articles and information:

http://gothamist.com/2010/04/23/seized_bikes_are_waiting_for_you_at.php

http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/archives/2010/04/happy_earth_day_1.html

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/bike-stolen-check-the-police-station/

Hipsters, Hasidic Jews Fight Over Bike Lanes In Williamsburg - The Huffington Post

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The war over Williamsburg has taken yet another turn.

In response to last week's removal of bike lanes in the traditionally Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn, a group of local bike riders took it upon themselves to repaint the lane lines running down Bedford Avenue.

The Hasids had asked the city to remove the bike lanes from the neighborhood, claiming the influx of bikers posed a "safety and religious hazard."

In an interesting twist, the group of guerrilla line painters reportedly included members of the Hasidic community who are not opposed to the lanes.

Last year the religious group complained to the community board that many of the young, female cyclists who rode through the neighborhood were "hotties," who "ride in shorts and skirts," both of which are against their dress code.

According to the New York Post, "a source close to Mayor Bloomberg said removing the lanes was an effort to appease the Hasidic community just before last month's election."

SEE HOW THEY DID IT:

Tour Galore for 1,000-Plus Bicyclists by John Lauinger - NY Daily News

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WHEN ONLINE registration opened for 1,000 free slots in this year's Tour de Queens bike ride, cyclists gobbled them all up in less than 12 hours.

The registration rush for the second annual event, to be held Sunday, blew away the numbers for last year's inaugural spin, in which 600 cyclists rode and 500 people booked slots online.

"It's the hottest ticket in town," said Wiley Norvell of the tour's promoter, Transportation Alternatives. The nonprofit group encourages cycling, walking and mass transit as a more healthy and environmentally friendly way to get around the city.

An additional 500 spots will be available for walk-ins on the morning of the tour, which will start and end at the Queens Museum of Art in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

The event is intended to help accelerate the growth of the borough's biking community, so the jump in demand was welcome news for organizers.

"That's a great sign," said Eddie Hernandez, 35, a graduate student from Astoria, who chairs the Queens committee for Transportation Alternatives.

He noted the increase validates other stats that show bicycling is on the rise in Queens.

Between 2000 and 2007, the number of bicyclists crossing the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan each day more than doubled, from 546 to 1,292, city figures show.

The tour will begin at 9:30 a.m., with same-day registration starting at 8 a.m.

The inaugural ride focused on western Queens. This year's 19-mile course will explore eastern Queens.

The ride will pass through Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Jamaica, St. Albans, Hollis and Fresh Meadows before turning back for the park. A pit stop will be provided at York College in Jamaica.

Riders on the tour - who will be given green T-shirts - will also cruise down Queens Blvd., the eastbound service lanes of which will be temporarily closed to traffic between 108th St. and Hillside Ave.

Cycling advocates have argued that installing a protected bike lane on Queens Blvd. - a treacherous but convenient east-west thoroughfare - is key to increasing bicycling in Queens.

Having a green wave of cyclists pedaling down Queens Blvd. - the so-called Boulevard of Death - is intended to make a symbolic statement, organizers said.

"It highlights a change that we think needs to take place on Queens' most iconic street - greening it, making it safer to bike and walk on - and bringing it into the 21st century," Norvell said.

City Guide Highlights Bike Routes Thru Nabes by Lisa L. Colangelo - NY Daily News

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IT JUST got a little easier to bike, sightsee and eat your way through Queens.

The city published a biking map last week dubbed "Queens Around the World," with several routes that allow cyclists to soak in notable sites and local cuisine.

City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden called it an ultimate insider's guide.

"The rich diversity of our neighborhoods make the city different from other cities in the world," Burden said. "This gives people destinations and shows them how to get there."

Funded by federal grant dollars, the map is part of a larger campaign to get more New Yorkers to use bicycles as a means of transportation. Burden said plans for a Bronx map are in the works and hopes to create similar ones for the other boroughs.

The Queens map includes four routes with highlights from nine different neighborhoods in the borough.

"Our staff went out on bikes and documented everything they thought was interesting and pared it down," she said. "So when you bike through Astoria you can also stop and get some of the best grilled fish and baklava."

One 6-mile route takes bikers though Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and some of the surrounding neighborhoods.

A shorter 2-mile jaunt weaves through Long Island City and Hunter's Point.

Another 7-mile route includes Corona, Jackson Heights, Woodside and Sunnyside.

Along the way are stops at the Public School 1 MoMA Contemporary Art Center, Astoria Park and even the Lemon Ice King of Corona.

The map lists more than 50 destinations with photos and a list of nearby bicycle shops.

The map can also be used as a walking guide, Burden said. And in certain areas, such as the bustling "Little India" section of Jackson Heights under the 7 train, cyclists should probably take a break and walk their bike for a few blocks.

Advocates, who are lobbying the city to increase the number of bike lanes, said they were happy to see the city create a borough-specific map.

"Whether it's free bike parking provided at movies in Socrates Sculpture Park, or the Queens Museum of Art's penchant for all things bike, I think bicycling is becoming a big part of the borough's landscape," said Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives.

"What better way to show that transformation than linking places best seen by bike and the streets that are increasingly safe to ride on?" he added.

lcolangelo@nydailynews.com

Bicycle Still Beats Subway & Taxi in Queens-to-Midtown Rush-Hour Race by Chloe Rosenberg and Sarah Armaghan - NY Daily News

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And they're off! Competitors take off for the Transportation Alternatives' annual commuter race. DelMundo for News

When it comes to getting around the city, two wheels are still better than four.

For the fifth year in a row, cycling ruled the road in Transportation Alternatives' annual commuter race Thursday, with a biker beating a straphanger and a cabbie.

It took librarian Rachel Myers 20 minutes and 15 seconds to pedal 4.2 miles from Sunnyside, Queens, to Columbus Circle during the morning rush.

"Woo hoo!" the 29-year-old Brooklynite shouted, pumping her fist in the air. "Just goes to show that bikes rule this city!"

Subway rider Dan Hendrick - who hopped the No. 7 in Sunnyside and transferred to the No. 1 at Times Square - arrived 15 minutes later.

Hendrick, 38, usually rides the rails to work at the New York League of Conservation Voters, but he may be switching to pedal power.

"Twenty minutes saved is a lot in the morning," he said. "I could really use that time to get a latte or something."

A yellow cab rolled up to the finish line 27 minutes after Myers, costing passenger Willie Thompson $30 and precious commuting time.

"I always thought [cabs] were the fastest," said Thompson, 30, a nonprofit e-marketer from Flatbush, Brooklyn.

"But it was so slow, it was brutal. I'm exhausted from sitting so long!"

The bike, of course, is also the most environmentally friendly option with no carbon emissions, compared with 2pounds for the subway and 6pounds for the cab.

Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives reminded commuters that with more than 600 miles of bike paths in the city, cycling is more efficient than ever.

"I think there's no commodity more important to New Yorkers than their time," said Norvell. "And clearly, if you've got somewhere to be in a hurry, riding a bike is the way to go."

Police Officer Seen on Tape Shoving a Bicyclist Is Indicted by John Eligon and Colin Moynihan - NYTimes.com

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A police officer who was videotaped knocking a man off his bicycle in July during a monthly cycling event in New York City has been indicted, the officer’s lawyer said on Monday.

The officer, Patrick Pogan, has been instructed to report to State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday for the unsealing of the indictment, said the lawyer, Stuart London. Mr. London said he did not know what the charges would be.

But people with direct knowledge of the case said they believed that prosecutors were seeking felony charges of filing false records in connection with the police report that Officer Pogan filed after arresting the bicyclist, Christopher Long. Officer Pogan also could be charged with a misdemeanor count of assault.

“My client denies any wrongdoing in this matter,” Mr. London said in an interview on Monday. “I would have people withhold judgment until all the evidence comes out about the bicyclist’s actions prior to my client taking action.”

Alicia Maxey Greene, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, declined to comment on the case.

David Rankin, a lawyer for Mr. Long, said the indictment was “some good vindication for his client.”

“I’m very pleased with the district attorney’s office taking this matter as seriously as it has,” he added. “What this really shows is that once you’ve committed some type of bad act, going ahead and lying on a charging document to cover it up is not something that’s going to be tolerated by the district attorney’s office.”

The bike incident, which gained widespread attention after someone captured it on videotape and put it on YouTube, occurred on July 25 during a monthly event known as Critical Mass, in which hundreds of cyclists ride their bikes through the city to advocate nonpolluting forms of transportation.

While Mr. Long, 29, was riding through Times Square, Officer Pogan lowered his shoulder and shoved him off his bike as Mr. Long tried to steer out of the way, the video shows.

Officer Pogan arrested Mr. Long and charged him with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. In his police report, Officer Pogan wrote that Mr. Long was obstructing vehicular traffic as he rode southbound on Seventh Avenue. After instructing Mr. Long to stop, Officer Pogan wrote, Mr. Long rammed him with his bicycle, causing the officer to fall to the ground and receive cuts on his forearms. Mr. Long then resisted arrest, Officer Pogan wrote.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office dropped the charges against Mr. Long in September, citing a lack of evidence.

Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, said that if Officer Pogan were arrested, he would be suspended without pay. Mr. Browne declined further comment on the matter.

Tensions between Critical Mass riders and the police have long existed.

Shortly before the Republican National Convention in 2004, a large number of officers arrested more than 250 riders on charges that included parading without a permit. In 2006, a state judge turned down a request by the city to forbid Time’s Up, an environmental group that promotes the monthly rides, to take part in them, to gather at Union Square Park beforehand and to mention the rides on its Web site.

In a statement, Time’s Up applauded the indictment.

“We hope that higher-ups at the N.Y.P.D. will now discontinue their pattern of using excessive force and dangerous tactics against cyclists, and instead work with cyclists to make the ride safe and encourage nonpolluting transportation,” the statement said.

Weiner, City Reps Tell C.B. 10 of Plans to Help Improve the Economy by Stephen Geffon - Queens Chronicle

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There is consensus among many fiscal experts that the best and quickest way to stimulate the economy is to put people to work, Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Howard Beach) told the members of Community Board 10 at their meeting last week in Ozone Park.

Photo caption: Congressman Anthony Weiner told members of C.B. 10 that job creation is the quickest way to stimulate the economy. (photo by David Quintana)

Noting that he is in favor of tax cuts for the middle class, Weiner said federal funding for infrastructure improvements, such as roads and bridges, in the Queens community is also necessary.

The congressman said a columnist for The New York Times had posed the question: “Aren’t we just financing our bailout today by moving our debts to our grandkids?” Weiner implied the answer is yes. “The least we can do is leave them something better with the money we are spending — put roofs on schools, improve our mass transit, get ferry service, etcetera,” he said.

To further his point that jobs are the key to economic stimulation, Weiner cited past examples in American history where the federal government funded projects in order to foster job creation.

He noted President Dwight Eisenhower’s push to build the country’s highway system and President Franklin Roosevelt’s creation of the New Deal, a series of economic programs intended to provide relief and take the country out of the Great Depression.

While conceding that too many people now have serious problems paying their mortgages, Weiner said that many of them brought it on themselves. He questioned why a family with a yearly household income of $40,000 to $50,000, for example, would take on an $800,000 mortgage.

He placed a share of responsibility on lenders by faulting the banks for giving such a loan, but said homeowners should be held accountable.

A home in foreclosure can bring down the value of surrounding homes by 40 to 45 percent, Weiner told C.B. 10.

Members of the board also heard from a Department of City Planning representative who told them the agency is proposing to amend a zoning resolution requiring secure indoor long-term bicycle parking in new multi-family residential, community facility and commercial buildings.

Providing bicycle parking and storage, both at home and in the workplace, will not only meet cyclists’ standards, but also provide flexibility that will accommodate the needs of development, the official said.

According to DCP, the proposal seeks to support ridership throughout the city and encourages new cyclists to start riding. The increase of cycling in the city will yield fitness and health benefits for riders, and potentially alleviate congestion, improving air quality.

Bicycling is already on the rise, according to the Department of Transportation. The agency’s annual bicycle counts in Manhattan indicate that cycling has grown by 116 percent between 2000 and 2008, including a 35 percent increase from 2007 to 2008.

The proposed amendment would support New Yorkers who require a secure place to store their bikes at home, seek to commute to work by bike or want to use their bikes for short trips or recreation.