There are a lot of bad arguments, as documented by the New York Times today, being made in opposition to the bike-share racks that have been popping up around the city. One person saw mice near a bike rack. Others are upset that anti-Citibank flyers have been posted on their local racks, because flyers were previously unheard of in New York City. Still others simply think it’s more important to have a few parking spots for cars than many more parking spots for bikes. But there are some objectively legitimate gripes, as well. For example, some of these bike racks will displace our precious, uh, bike racks:
Shelly Mossey, 58, from Battery Park City, has protested the planned removal of a widely used rack for private bikes near South End Avenue, calling it a pillar of the neighborhood. His son’s bike is on there, he said, and so are his peers’. Families mingle at the rack before retrieving their bikes and escorting their children to school. “Why do we have to lose that,” Mr. Mossey asked, “and give it up for the bigger picture?”
A “pillar of the neighborhood,” this specific bike rack. Once it’s gone and replaced by an altogether different bike rack, the community’s collapse is inevitable.
