In recent days, we’ve been fielding a number of emails from people concerned that a Citi Bike station at Grand and Henry is being permanently eliminated. But the station, we are told, is coming back.
In June, the popular location disappeared, prompting many people to speculate that a petition drive against the bike share docking station had been successful. A lot of local residents objected to the city’s decision to place the station a short distance away from Frank’s Bike Shop, the longtime LES institution that does a healthy rental business.
At the time, a DOT spokesperson said the station had been removed temporarily to accommodate utility construction and that it would be re-installed when that project was completed. Community Board 3 and the DOT reiterated this stance during a public hearing a couple of weeks ago. But several readers noticed that the station icon, which had been represented in grey on the Citi Bike map (indicating that it was “inactive) had disappeared altogether.
This week, we followed up with CB3. District Manager Susan Stetzer checked with the DOT and was told that the utility work is still ongoing. The city is still planning to restore the station when the construction is finished. There’s no timetable at this point, but we’ll let you if and when the Transportation Department has any more details!
Maybe the station moved slightly? I think that station at Grand & E B’way never existed before. So maybe the Grand & Henry station moved west a block? It looks like that station is actually active (at least for the past 16 hours).
This is a slap in the face To Franks Bike Shop. A community bike shop that has rented bikes and served the Lower East Side for many years.
The Grand & Henry station is sitting under the Williamsburg Bridge in a cage. The station on East Broadway at Grand was moved there from Chelsea several weeks ago and was inactive until the last day or two when it was finally turned on.
I think they’re full of crap. I’m there all the time and there’s never any construction going on. I think it’s to avoid any political fallout w/r/t Frank. The lack of a deadline and the lack of any construction equipment in that area makes their claims dubious at best.
Seems a bit fishy.
They stated that the bike dock on Grand and East Broadway was only temporary and was not working. It was activated yesterday and bikes were placed! We are lied to and treated like a third world country with no say so in the matter. Meanwhile our children are NOT SAFE! It’s stationed in front of a school that is highly active and very dangerous with cars speeding and turning off the traffic jammed Grand Street fiasco! Parking space was already limited, now even more so! Ugh, just a few feet across from Zafis Lunchenette would have been a better location, but that would make TOO MUCH SENSE! That location is just an accident waiting to happen mark my words!!!
Get a grip. We are not being treated like a third world country – figuring out where to place a bike-share dock is a first world “problem”. Have some perspective please.
Slap in the face and force fed with this crap. It happens to be a good program but most of the bike docks are situated in the most asinine locations!!! Parking spots are already at a premium on the Lower East Side! This was not really thought thru, can’t wait to see what the winter will be like with all the snow piled up,,lol,,just keeping this all in perspective! Muni meter money is all it really is, beside a little summer convenience for a few. Once the novelty wares off!