Celery and Glacé Fantaisie: What Fancy Brooklyn Cyclists Ate in 1899
Menu via NYPL. Photo via Online Bicycle Museum
When you envision a post-bike-ride snack, you probably think along the lines of granola bars, smoothies or energy drinks. But for the Brooklynites of yesteryear, cycling was much more than a sport, and eating with fellow bikers could go well beyond replenishing electrolytes.
Citi Bike Makes It Easier to Get Around Brooklyn — Well, Some of It
With the expansion of Citi Bike and local push for bike lanes, Brooklyn is getting easier to traverse. But not for everyone.
Work on Much-Delayed Pulaski Bikeway Starts Monday, May Wrap by End of Year
Good news for North Brooklyn bicyclists: Work on the much-delayed Pulaski Bridge bikeway will start Monday, September 14. It might even be completed by the end of this year, Assemblyman Joseph Lentol told Streetsblog.
The highly anticipated bike path was originally set to open in 2014, but a series of delays relating to the contractor, design challenges, and funding held up construction. Last month, the Department of Transportation announced newly discovered drainage design issues would delay the bikeway even further, until April 2016.
The drainage design complications were fixed more quickly than expected, according to Lentol.
Bike-In Movie in Williamsburg to Show Bike-Relevant Flick E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
A bike-in movie is pedaling over to Williamsburg in honor of the neighborhood’s 15 new Citi Bike stations. Bike-relevant flick E.T. The Extra Terrestrial will be playing at 8 p.m. tonight, August 25.
The free event includes valet (bike) parking and special giveaways for the first 450 Citi Bike members to show up. As you might suspect, the whole shebang is hosted by Citi Bike.
Citi Bike Starts Installing Stations in Bed Stuy
Workers at Broadway and Whipple in Williamsburg Friday
Citi Bike Friday moved on to installing stations in Bed Stuy, having finished installing new stations in Greenpoint and Williamsurg over the last two weeks. Workers Friday started on a station at Tompkins and Willoughby in Bed Stuy.
Williamsburg also got a new station Friday at Broadway and Whipple, close to the border of Bushwick and Bed Stuy. Citi Bike installed at least five new stations in Bed Stuy over the last few days, according to its own map. New locations are:
- Myrtle Avenue and Marcy Avenue
- Myrtle Avenue and Lewis Avenue
- Park Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard
- Nostrand Avenue and Myrtle Avenue
- Willoughby Avenue and Tompkins Avenue
Greenpointers Welcome 11 New Citi Bike Stations This Week
Citi Bike has invaded Greenpoint this week. Two new stations were installed Wednesday and Thursday, and nine more stations are being installed today.
Residents were quick to tweet their excitement over the new stations in this transit-challenged area. The two new stations up and running are located at the corner of Franklin and Dupont streets and at the corner of Franklin and Milton streets.
Past and Present: The Bedford Rest, Crown Heights Hub for Brooklyn Cyclists, Conclusion
A look at Brooklyn, then and now.
The Bedford Rest was established as a destination and rest stop in the late 1890s for the hundreds of cyclists enjoying Bedford Avenue and Eastern Parkway. As the years passed, and the cycling fad waned, the Rest maintained its reputation as a fine restaurant and event space near the excitement of Ebbets Field and Automobile Row. All was well, until Prohibition.
When we think of Prohibition today, it’s remembered as a time when the nation disastrously toyed with a powerful experiment in social engineering. Banning alcoholic beverages seems ridiculous today. No doubt people thought so then, too, and were shocked when it actually happened.
Between 1920 and 1933, alcohol was illegal in the United States. The effects were devastating not only to consumers, but to businesses.
Across the country, breweries, distilleries, wine and spirits merchants, restaurants, saloons and bars went out of business by the thousands.Organized crime, based on bootlegging, grew and flourished.
The country went dry on January 17, 1920. By November of that year, the Bedford Rest was finished. Although the Rest had been running out of steam for years, Prohibition was the final nail in its coffin.
Closing Bell: Red Hook Crit
The countdown to the Red Hook Criterium has literally begun: A timer on the event’s site lets visitors know exactly how many days, hours and minutes are left before the race kicks off this Saturday. The grueling and competitive track bike crit will draw entrants who run the gamut from professional road racers to bike messengers, all of whom will test their handling skills and fitness levels on fixed gear track bicycles.
“It’s the most exciting cycling event I’ve witnessed,” four-time champion Neil Bezdek told us. “It cuts across cycling subcultures by attracting all types of athletes and transcends cycling culture by appealing to a mainstream audience.”
Closing Bell: Bicycle Flea Market Set for May
The Brooklyn Bike Jumble is back. The only flea market devoted exclusively to bikes in New York City, it’s where bike aficionados can get their summer gear fix.
New and used bikes, parts and accessories, clothing, collectibles, artwork and more will be available at bargain prices from a collection of east coast vendors. There is also a not-for-profit component: Bike organizations the Bicycle Messenger Foundation, Times Up! and WE Bike will be there to meet cyclists.
Pulaski Bridge Bike Lanes Delayed Until the End of 2015
Construction on the Pulaski Bridge bike lanes has been pushed back once again. Streetsblog reported that the protected bike lanes, originally scheduled to finish this year, likely won’t open until the end of 2015. Last week, we reported construction would wrap in the spring.
Then the DOT gave a presentation [PDF] on the project and said the contractor will start work in April and continue through October or November. Pedestrians and bikers currently share the crowded walking paths, but the DOT plans to convert one lane of Brooklyn-bound traffic to a two-way bike lane.
Officials blamed the delays on the engineering of the 60-year-old drawbridge, which can’t support an additional concrete barrier, and the fact that funding for the bike lanes is tied to work on 10 other bridge projects that needed approval first. The cost of the improvements has also increased from $3,460,000 to $4,200,000.
At least the DOT has finalized a design, which will include textured rumble strips at both entrances to the bridge reminding cyclists to slow down.
Pulaski Bridge Bike Path Now Scheduled to Open by End of 2015 [Streetsblog]
Pulaski Bridge Coverage [Brownstoner]
Rendering via DOT
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