Biking to/from work

[luke77]

Hi guys,

I made a posting a few days ago about housing close to Tribeca, because I will be working in Tribeca and since my job will entail very long hours, it's important to me to have a very short commute - ideally I'd like to live within 10 minutes of the office, 15-20 max. Obviously this limits my options to just a few neighborhoods, and they are among the most expensive in NYC. I've been looking for housing mainly on craigslist, and I usually rule out apartments right away if they are more than about 1.5 miles from the office (the Citi building on Greenwich st). However, after seeing a number of nice places in the East village, Chelsea, etc. that are 2-3 miles away from work and much more affordable, I began to think about riding my bike to/from work. I've never lived in the city and have only visited twice, so I have no idea if this is doable. I know that traffic is always pretty bad and it seems like foot traffic on the sidewalks is pretty congested as well...so is riding a bike to work even feasible? Keep in mind that I'm a young, fairly fit male, but not one of those crazy delivery guys that rides in the middle of traffic. It seems like riding my bike to work would cut down on my commute and allow me to expand my apartment search radius, but figured Id ask if it's doable...

Thanks,
Luke

[Schadenfrau]

Sadly enough, biking as a commute isn't really common here.

Will your office allow you to store the bike there? Will your apartment allow for it? If that's all cleared, keep in mind that biking on sidewalks is not legal. In the end, most people find that walking that short a distance is preferable to biking. I'm sure that people do it, but I think the hassle outweighs the benefits if you're not crossing a bridge or biking a great distance.

[ZippyTheChimp]

The ease of a Manhattan bike commute will depend on where you live.

From Chelsea to Citigroup is a snap. Just get to the Hudson River Park bikeway - best in Manhattan. Ride down to N. Moore St, cross West St, and you're at work.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/guide/biking/default.htm

Check with your company about bike storage. I know there's a motorcycle rack on the Hubert St side of Citigroup. There's probably a bicycle rack as well, but I'm not sure.

[Ninjahedge]

There is also rollerblading.

I found a company called HypnoSkates thathave semi-comfy boots with rather rigid attachments for the blades (regular size blades and wheels, sturdy mounting).

You could Probably blade pretty easily at about 10 MPH (on average) or about a block (short) every 15-20 seconds. So you could commute maybe 3-5 miles, at a moderate pace, in a little over a half hour.

The blades come in handy when you get a place that may not be near an express stop, but has some nice roads that you could use to get there. Strap them on, blade a mile or two, get on the train (detach your rails) and zip in.

2¢