Stewart: This is All Of It. I'm Alison Stewart, live from the WNYC studios in Soho. Thank you for sharing part of your day with us. I'm really grateful you are here. On today's show, Karen Russell will be here to talk about her new novel, The Antidote. We'll hear a live performance from student musicians from the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, and we'll learn about the Peabody Award-winning documentary Daughters. That's our plan, so let's get this started by exploring the city on two wheels.

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Alison Stewart: May is National Bike Month. The Five Boro Bike Tour kicks off this Sunday and tomorrow at the Cathedral Church at St. John the Divine, there will be a blessing of the bikes to get the season off on the right foot or pedal. According to New York City's Department of Transportation, the commissioner says that New York is experiencing "a bike boom". According to the DOT, there are 87.5 miles of protected bike lanes. In addition, over the past three years, an upgraded additional 20 miles with more to come. We are talking locations like Central Park, the East River, the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, Prospect Park, and the Jersey waterfront.

To help you explore new places and to plan out your route for this weekend, we have a few representatives from the Transportation Alternatives, a non-profit organization encouraging city-friendly travel options that decrease automobile uses. Joining us today, the Manhattan organizer for the Transportation Alternatives, Emily Jacobi. Hi, Emily.

Emily Jacobi: Hi, thanks for having me.

Alison Stewart: Also joining us is the Queens organizer, I'm going to get this right, Mae Francke.

Mae Francke: Hi. Hello.

Alison Stewart: Hi, Mae. Last but not least, Transportation Alternatives Uptown organizer, let me see if I can get this, Anna Berlanga.

Anna Berlanga: Yes, Uptown and the Bronx. Let's not forget the [inaudible 00:02:06].

Alison Stewart: Love that. Thank you so much for telling me. Listeners. We want to hear your suggestions for biking routes. Where do you usually go? Do you go around your neighborhood, maybe through the park? Do you map out your route ahead of time or just hop on your bike and see where the road takes you? What do you like about riding your bike around the city? Our Phone lines are open. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC.

Dear listeners, come a little closer to the radio. This is not the time to call to say that you don't like bikers, okay? There are good bikers and there are bad bikers. We're talking to the good bikers here and how they can help others maintain good biking skills. You can back away from the radio now. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. Anna, how has participation in National Bike Month evolved or changed over the years?

Anna Berlanga: I think it's just grown and grown and grown, and it's grown across all demographics. We see with the implementation of protected bike lanes, ridership among women has grown. Ridership among people of color have grown. In New York City, about 60% of bikers are people of color. I don't know, it's just a big boom.

Alison Stewart: How do you expect that Transportation Alternatives will be celebrating Bike Month this year?

Anna Berlanga: We have activations across all five boroughs. The one I'm doing, which I'm super excited about, is on May 15th, we have Bike Anywhere Day, and I was asked to partner with PS18 and Equity Design. They're doing a community duathlon in the South Bronx. The kids are walking and biking on closed streets around 149th Street-ish.

Alison Stewart: Mae, the New York City Department of-- commissioner said that he reported a spike in people riding bikes in the city. What are the factors that are contributing to this trend of people just getting on their bikes and riding?

Mae Francke: I think people are realizing more and more that it is an actual option. As we implement more infrastructural changes around the city that make that much easier and more accessible, just not infrastructure-wise, but also money-wise and accessibility-wise, that makes people say, "Oh, I can actually do this," and it's not just for the hardcore bikers.

Alison Stewart: Emily, why do you think there's been such a boom in biking?

Emily Jacobi: I think we're seeing that when people have the infrastructure they need, but also the options through Citi Bike, through trying something out with their friends, through exploring the city in new ways, biking brings people together. It brings community. It's something you can do to get to work, which we advocate for during Bike Month, but it's also something that just gives you freedom to explore the city on your own.

Alison Stewart: As you can imagine, our phone lines are getting full. Let's talk to Cooper. Hey, Cooper, thanks for calling, All Of It.

Cooper: Hi there. I've never been on WNYC before. This is wild.

Alison Stewart: That's great.

Cooper: I just wanted to share some of my bike riding path suggestions. For example, for myself, it gets a little hectic out there when you're in the middle of Brooklyn, and delivery guys and all kinds of bike traffic that you want to stay away from. What I like to do is focus on different rides that go maybe along the rivers or near the harbor. There's one specifically great ride I love to do, that once you get to Sunset Park, there's a beautiful pier called Owl's Head Park. You can follow that all along New York Harbor, all the way basically out to Coney Island if you want to.

From there, there are pretty intuitive bike trails where you can go out to the Rockaways, for example, or right all the way down Bedford Avenue, which is Brooklyn's longest street.

Alison Stewart: Cooper, thanks for the tips. Let's talk to Matt, who's calling in from Bergen County. Hi, Matt, thanks for calling, All Of It. You're on the air.

Matt: Oh, hey, thank you so much for taking my call. I appreciate it. A big shout out to all the biking I see going on in Manhattan in the city. I love it. I'm in New Jersey, but I take the train in, and I'm on the Citi Bikes, and cautiously. A great ride that I love to do, that I'd love to tell you guys about, is the century up the Hudson River. Just take it all the way up, all the way up, put it into the GPS to go to the Bear Mountain Bridge, which I'm sure everybody knows about, but then cross over the bridge to the western side of the Hudson, cross over the Bear Mountain Bridge to Bear Mountain Park.

You could follow that to-- I believe it's a parkway, about a half a mile of it. Then through Harriman Park, about 20 miles downhill, all the way through Harriman Park into New Jersey. You follow that back over the GW Bridge or over the new Cuomo Bridge. Beautiful bike lane, which I'm sure your listeners know about. It's just a great century. Just put it into the Google Maps for the biking route. It's beautiful. I love it and love what you guys are doing at Trans Alt. Thank you so much.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Rita from Jackson Heights. Hi, Rita, thanks for calling, All Of It.

Rita: Oh, yes, thanks. I just wanted to say I'm a 60-year-old woman who did not ride a bike in New York City before the pandemic. I started to do it during the pandemic. Now, Jackson Heights, 34th Avenue, Open Streets is a great bike path. It goes from 69th to basically 95th Street here in Jackson Heights, but it also links up with Sunnyside and the bike boulevard there, and then into Long Island City. If you like to go to the Mets game, you can now go by bike from Jackson Heights and Sunnyside right into Flushing Meadows Park to watch the Mets and enjoy the park. It's been great. I really appreciate all the work that's been done for bikes.

Alison Stewart: Rita, thanks for calling in. I'm going to start with Biking 101. For someone who hasn't been on a bike recently in New York City, let's start with you, Anna. For someone who hasn't biked in years, what's the best way to start?

Anna Berlanga: I would probably say if they don't have a bike-

Alison Stewart: Get one.

Anna Berlanga: -get a blue Citi Bike and go on the Hudson River Greenway. There's a lot of people there, but it's completely separated and protected. You've got the water on one side. You've got people parks. You can stop whenever you want and just enjoy a summer day.

Alison Stewart: This may sound really obvious, Emily, but what are the basic rules of the road for bikers?

Emily Jacobi: The basic rules of the road for bikers are, first, which we say, just have an ethics of care. Look around you. Make sure you're being conscientious of more vulnerable riders around you than you might be, conscientious of pedestrians. We encourage helmet wearing, especially for those newcomers onto bikes. It makes you feel more secure. If anything happens, you'll be safe and basically follow the rules of the road. You are, as a cyclist, legally allowed to go with the pedestrian signal. If you see that pedestrian walk sign on a signal time, you are free to go with that, but we encourage being cognizant and careful in intersections and making sure you and others around you are safe.

Alison Stewart: All right, Mae, you've done this a couple of times, like, "I'm going to get a bike. I'm going to go get myself a bike. What should you look for when you choose your first bike?

Mae Francke: I would say the right seat. I know it sounds a little obvious, but really, it's one of those things that if you're riding for a long time, it can really be a little hard on the body, so make sure that the bike is the right height for your height, especially if you're a little taller or a little shorter. The seat should be at the height of your hips, and you should try to make that seat as comfortable as possible because you're going to be sitting there for a couple of hours. You want to be really comfortable.

Anna Berlanga: Can I add a little to that?

Alison Stewart: Please.

Anna Berlanga: Especially for the women out there, like everything, bikes are generally designed for men's proportions. Something I recently discovered is that women tend to have longer legs and shorter torsos, and men is the reverse. Bikes are generally measured for men's sizes. If you go just by height, you might be getting a bike that is too big for you. Just consult your local bike shop. Most of them have what they call bike fitters, and look at how far your reach is.

Alison Stewart: Emily, what kind of gear do you recommend that someone starting out should have?

Emily Jacobi: I'd say the most important gear for a beginner are things to keep you visible and things to keep your hands clear. That would be having a little fanny pack to keep your stuff in. Make sure you have really great lights. There are lots of light options that you can take on and off very easily. Bring your water bottle. Get your water cup linked onto your bike. Then the last thing I'll say is, with that helmet, I love when a helmet comes with the light attachments. It just makes me feel extra safe and visible.

Alison Stewart: Mae, the streets can get really busy. How should bikers communicate with pedestrians in crowded intersections?

Mae Francke: We really encourage hand signaling, and the way that we used to do it with cars, the old-fashioned way, you lift your hand or your arm up when you're going to do a turn. Doing a lot of hand signaling is good, but also, the basic rule of thumb is slow down. You don't have to be going as fast as you might feel you want to go. That just generally keeps everyone safer. Slow down. We're not in any rush.

Alison Stewart: Anybody else have any ways of communicating with people in cars or who are pedestrians?

Emily Jacobi: The best thing, you're not in a car, so people can hear your voice.

Alison Stewart: Yes, of course.

Emily Jacobi: You can say, "Excuse me. Coming through," ring, ring with your little bell. You always have to have a bell. That's actually part of New York City law.

Alison Stewart: What else is part of New York City law?

Emily Jacobi: The lights, the bell, and pedals, I think.

Alison Stewart: Pedals? All right.

Emily Jacobi: Weird.

Alison Stewart: We are talking about National Bike Month. We've got folks from the Transportation Alternatives here. Emily Jacobi, Mae Francke, and Anna, I'm going to mess this up, Berlanga.

Anna Berlanga: Yes.

Alison Stewart: Oh, I did it again. Please, we want to hear your suggestions for bike routes. What do you like about biking around the city? 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. Folks, if you're driving and calling us, don't do that. You have to pull over, and then you can call us. No driving and calling, please. Let's talk to Charlie from the Lower East Side. Hi, Charlie, thanks for calling, All Of It. You're on the air.

Charlie: Hey, guys, my name's Charlie from the Lower East Side. I started the Transportation Alternative Tour Club in the early '90s when the rides were published in the City Cyclists. Rides would start at Columbus Circle, go up to the George Washington Bridge, and usually to Piermont, sometimes all the way up to Bear Mountain. There's places you can ride along the river on the Jersey side. It's really beautiful.

Alison Stewart: Thank you so much for calling in. Let's talk to Karen from Brooklyn. I know her. This is Karen. Is this Karen from New Sounds?

Karen: It is.

Alison Stewart: Love it.

Karen: Hi, Alison.

Alison Stewart: Hi.

Karen: Thanks for talking with me. I'm a biker, and I, during the pandemic, found a number of really beautiful rides that came to me for no good reason other than, "Hey, I've got time. Let's go explore the waterfront," like the other caller was saying. I found one that takes you through Brooklyn, all the way through Greenpoint and then over the Pulaski Bridge. Then, if you just hug the waterfront, you'll eventually get to Socrates Sculpture Park. Hey, it's free. Hey, it's outdoors, and you can amble around and admire different pieces of art once you're done with your ride.

I actually took that with a colleague from here with Alethea during the pandemic. It was really fun. There's another one of my favorite ones. It's a Triborough bike tour that I made up, but similar route, except instead of going all the way up to Socrates Sculpture Park, you would go over the Queensborough Bridge and then into Manhattan and finally maybe make a loop around Central Park, or not, and then call it good and go back the way you came or go down through the Lower East Side and back over the Manhattan Bridge. You get all of your bridges? Well, almost all. Not the Brooklyn Bridge, although I do have to say the Brooklyn Bridge cycle lane is great now, the way they've changed it.

Alison Stewart: Karen, thank you for calling in. I don't have to talk to you 50 feet away. You're right there. Let's talk to Daniel from Midtown. Hi, Daniel. Daniel, are you there?

Daniel: Hello, can you hear me?

Alison Stewart: Oh, I hear you. You're on the air.

Daniel: Oh, man, it's the first time for me calling in radio. I didn't know people still did this. Hi, Anna, this is Dan.

Anna Berlanga: Hi, Dan.

Daniel: Hi, my name is Dan.

Anna Berlanga: Dan plays the best music on bike rides.

Alison Stewart: Okay, good. Let's hear about you, Dan.

Daniel: Yes, my name is Daniel. I love the social and community aspect of cycling. I used to ride alone until I found out about a little group who rides in Columbus Circle on Thursday nights called Social Cycling NYC. They ride every Thursday night, meet at Columbus Circle at 7:00, roll out at 7:30, riding all around the city. I started out biking up and down the Hudson just like Anna mentioned, as a way to just get the views in. It was great, and eventually wanted to venture a little bit more in terms of biking to work since it was the same time as taking the train, and I love it.

Definitely got to be careful. Definitely wear your helmets, make sure you have your bell. I love playing music on my bike because just love sharing the tunes. Don't wear headphones, you can't hear any cars beeping at you. Definitely encourage playing your music out loud so others can see you and you can just enjoy the vibes and share them with everyone else. Definitely the community vibes like groups like Social Cycling NYC on Instagram. Thursday night social ride from Columbus Circle, meeting at 7:00, rollout at 7:30. They ride all over the place all year, which is amazing. Even in the winter, for those who are crazy enough to do so, they do ride in the winter.

Be careful to watch out for rain and snow. Sometimes we do have cancellations. I've known about Social Cycling for now almost six years. They've been around since 2012. I believe there is a ride leader by the name of Enrique who may be in close connection with Anna in some way, shape or form. Maybe she can talk about that, but again, I really very much love the community aspect of Social Cycling. It's a great way to keep bodies moving, for folks to meet people, for you to also see different parts of the city. It's not just the green waves.

Definitely love what Trans Alt is doing. Encouraging some more bike lanes. The trains are getting really packed. I know people hate the Justin pricing, but it really does help to make sure there are less cars on the road. There are a lot of [crosstalk]

Alison Stewart: Daniel, I'm going to dive in here because you-- We got it. You like biking. Thanks so much for calling in. I'm going to find out what that's about during the break, Anna. When we come back, our folks from Transportation Alternatives will tell you a few of their favorite routes to ride, and we'll get to more of your calls. This is All Of It.

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Alison Stewart: You're listening to All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. It is National Bike Month, so we're talking about where to go biking this weekend and weekends after with a few Members from Transportation Alternatives, and we're taking your calls on your favorite biking routes. All right, I told each of you to get your routes ready. We'll start with you, Mae. You're representing Queens. What route are you going to suggest that people take?

Mae Francke: This one takes you through the heart of Queens. You start at Flushing Meadows Park. You can start the Unisphere and see the World's Fair, the glow, which is awesome. You can ride around the park, which is fantastic. Then you connect to 34th Ave on the north side of the park. Then you ride 34th Ave through Corona, you reach Jackson Heights and you ride it all the way through the open street, which is amazing. It is the best open street in the city. I'm sorry, you have kids playing, you have people playing chess, you have sumo ladies. It's amazing.

Once you bike through, you'll never be the same. Then you bike all the way through, and you connect to Woodside on the other end. You bike through, you stop for some legendary Queen's food, then you bike it all the way through into Astoria. You explore the amazing network of bike lanes that you have in Astoria. Then you can take Crescent Street all the way down to Queensborough Bridge and ride over the East River, or for my overachievers, you can take 36th Avenue instead and bike across to Roosevelt Island and then bike Roosevelt Island too. That's for the hardcore super riders.

Alison Stewart: We got you. Let's hear your trip that you're going to plan, Anna, for someone who wants to go riding.

Anna Berlanga: Similar to Mae, I would start in a park. Randalls Island, one of the gems of New York City. Randalls Island has several Citi Bike stations, so you can grab a Citi Bike, go on the protected separated bike lanes around Randalls and Wards Island, cross the Wards Island Bridge, and then go through the Bronx Connector, which was opened, I think, 10-ish years ago, into the Bronx. There's one gap in the bike lane right there for two blocks where you're legally allowed to ride on the sidewalk. Then that will take you to the brand new Bruckner Boulevard bike lane, which runs under the Bruckner Expressway. Again, totally separated and protected.

You are under a highway, but it is the Bronx, where there are unfortunately a lot of highways. Then it will connect to the Bronx River Greenway, which is a separated and protected park greenway along the Bronx River, the only freshwater river in New York City. You can take the Bronx River Greenway as far as you want to go. It goes 23 miles up to the Kensico Dam in Valhalla. You can take the Metro-North back, or you can just stop whenever you want to stop.

Alison Stewart: All right, your turn, Emily.

Emily Jacobi: I'm going to take our attention to the east side of Manhattan. We know Lord did her foray near the waterfront last week, but I just want to highlight how much cycling in Manhattan has changed over the years. I don't think people 15 years ago would have thought you could calmly bike up some of the avenues that used to be just car-clogged, that are now lovely beginner-friendly, amenity-rich bike paths. I would get started also at a park. At St. Barton Park, 34th Street and First Avenue, they have some great programming through the summer. They're fighting for an open street on 36th Street, so give them a checkout.

Heading up First Avenue, and First Avenue is a lovely bike lane. It's safe for all ages and abilities, and the real gem is last year, DOT completed a tunnel near the UN so you have a moment of going underground in this super wide bike lane and you can scream at the top of your lungs or sing or blast your music, and it's absolutely awesome. You have to see the tunnel, and then you can head up first and veer over on East 53rd Street to get to the East Midtown Greenway. That is a gorgeous new portion of greenway on the East River Waterfront that is spacious. You can get some good views in. You can hang out for a picnic.

When you're done with that, you can head up on 61st Street where it ends and hit 3rd Avenue. 3rd Avenue is a very special stretch of 40 blocks of new protected bike lane installed in 2023 with double-wide bike lanes and DOT's first green wave in Manhattan, which actually times cyclists to hit every green light as they go. If you want a leisurely and calm bike path where you don't have to think about running any lights, you're just going to be swept up in the green wave, and it's absolutely beautiful. From there, you can head on to Central Park at 93rd Street, which is relatively calm. It's not a protected bike lane, but it's pretty decent up there. Then finish your ride in Central Park.

Alison Stewart: Three great rides. Thank you so much for that. Let's talk to our listeners. We've got Peter calling from Crown Heights. Hey, Peter, thank you so much for making the time to call All Of It.

Peter: Hey, sure thing. I like to mostly bike alone, and one good thing to do is to go to cemeteries. I like going out in Queens. There's a few. There's Calvary, and around Forest Hills, there's Evergreen. You can usually get in and bike around. I know Greenwood does not allow biking, but those are active. Then I also like to go down along the Brooklyn Waterfront, where they've done all that great work putting in protected and raised bike lanes on Kent and Flushing.

There's the somewhat hidden Naval cemetery in the Navy Yard, and it's probably most accessible by bike. It changes with the seasons. It's got bike racks in front, and it's also got a hidden public diary in the park you can find. The Naval cemetery and then some of the more active ones in Queens are always nice to ride around.

Alison Stewart: Thanks so much for calling in. Let's talk to Noah. Hey, Noah, thanks for calling, All Of It. You're on the air.

Noah: Hello. Thank you for taking the call and for having such a forum.

Alison Stewart: What do you want to tell us?

Noah: Oh, okay. My interest is longtime cyclist since the '70s, a former parks employee, and Citi Bike employee. It's been delightful to see biking explode like it has. I'm proud to say that I was part of a project once, very small in the big picture, that later became a part of the bike pass in Riverside Park. By the way, my five favorite bike rides are utilitarian bike rides, like a jog, part of Central Park, some city streets, and then the Riverside bike paths. The ones you guys described sound fantastic as well.

The reason that I think biking has become so prevalent so quickly and there's lots of them, but there was the emergence of the bike paths, especially up by Columbus and Amsterdam, where I am. Also, Citi Bike made bikes instantly prevalent. I actually think that local bike stores and people owning bikes is good as well, but that really put bikes everywhere. The pandemic gave us a prevalence of e-bikes and bike riders just-- Now, that can cause problems with bike congestion, but that's all part of a greater biking ethos, and it's just been great to see. Thank you again for having this conversation.

Alison Stewart: Appreciate it, Noah. Let's talk to Madeline from Bushwick. Hey, Madeline, thanks for calling, All Of It. You're on the air.

Madeline: Hey there. Thanks so much for this conversation and big respect to all the other cyclists out there. I'm an avid cyclist myself, and I just wanted to bring attention to something that I notice happens just about every spring, and that's the NYPD cycling traffic stings. These are stings that are set up all over the city to catch cyclists running red lights. It can be pretty devastating to folks who are new at cycling. Pretty discouraging. A lot of times, folks actually even get tickets for going when the pedestrian crossing sign turns to go before the red light.

I myself have gotten a ticket for that where the light is green or the light is red, actually, but the crosswalk is go. I just want to bring that to the attention of other cyclists. It feels like unfair targeting, to be honest, when there's so many cars causing more dangerous infractions out there, but it's just something to be aware of if you're a cyclist, that there are cops giving tickets for things like this and just want everybody out there to be aware and to enjoy their ride without getting a ticket.

Alison Stewart: Thank you for calling. Emily, you were nodding. Can you tell people what their rights are?

Emily Jacobi: You're right. You have the right to go with the pedestrian signal. A police officer ticketing you for entering the intersection when the LPI is on, when that leading pedestrian interval is on, is in the wrong. You should be contesting that ticket, and I'm so sorry to anyone that has happened to. It's not allowed.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Katie from Brooklyn. Hey Katie, thanks for calling, All Of It.

Katie: Thanks so much for having me. I just wanted to mention I ride with Social Cycling a lot as well, but I also just wanted to shout out some other groups that maybe if you're a woman or non-binary person and you want to ride in a group that's maybe a little bit more focused on those groups, maybe not as masculine, I just really wanted to shout out a couple of other rides in the city that are awesome to try out.

Cute Queer Joyride, NB Bike Club, both of those are open to people of any gender. Just be chill. Ridgewood Rides, which is on Thursday, Bergen Bike Bus on Wednesday, especially if you are someone with a kid who goes to school along the route. There's a couple of other bike buses in the city. I don't want to imply that women can only ride with other women, or women are always intimidated, but if you are in that position and you want a group to try out, I can strongly recommend those.

The other one that I would shout out for people who are maybe new but want to try cycling is going to see races at the track at Cassandra Velodrome. There are some WTFNB, as we would call women, trans, femme, non binary groups, that have WTFNB-only races there. There are also quite a few WTFNB alley cats around the city for anybody who wants to try that out. Thanks, everybody, for organizing the call, and welcome everybody who wants to ride in the city.

Alison Stewart: Thanks, Katie. We are just getting so many texts with so many different variations on this theme, and it is, "Where can I learn to ride a bike? Where can I go in the city?" What advice would you give them?

Emily Jacobi: My recommendation for an amazing place to learn is another island, and it's Governors Island. You can get there via ferry for $5 if you're an adult. It's free for kids and students, and seniors. You get to Governors Island, you've got Citi Bike docks there. You can bring your bike on the ferry with you, but you have three miles of car-free oasis. It is totally calm. It doesn't get too congested with pedestrians and cyclists, and you have space to learn and practice and ride around and build your skills, and you have the best views in the city.

Anna Berlanga: If you want something more formal-- I know Mae was about to say 34th Avenue, but if you want something more formal, Bike New York does Learn to Ride classes for children and adults. They've got their shtick down pat. They know how to do that.

Mae Francke: Can I also jump in to say that 34th also has classes? Open streets are a great place to learn because you don't have to interact with cars, too, and the folks at 34th Ave. Open Street in Jackson Heights also have Learn to Ride classes in Spanish and in English. They can provide bikes too. It's a great way to also do it with a trainer and a licensed marshal.

Alison Stewart: Transportation Alternatives. Emily Jacobi, Mae Francke, and Anna Berlanga. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your bike rides and all of your information for people who weren't riding fast enough. The transcripts for this conversation will be up on our website when we post the audio, so you can get all the information on our transcripts. Thank you so much for joining us. Hope to see you guys out there.

Mae Francke: Thanks.

Emily Jacobi: Thank you. Have fun biking.