In 2017 there were more than 450,000 daily bike trips in New York City, up from 170,000 in 2005. While the increased number of cyclists on the streets of Manhattan provide good PR for the Mayor, the increased bike culture angers pedestrians, citing cyclists who speed, run red lights, shout four letter words, text while cycling, go against traffic, and knockdown the elderly with walkers and canes. In addition, bike lanes and Citi Bike docking stations, combined with on-sidewalk bike parking taking away space from pedestrians, walking the sidewalks of New York has become both a nightmare and a challenge.
Biking is not a new phenomenon in New York. The first bike path in America opened in Brooklyn (1894). More than 500,000 adult New Yorkers use their bicycles more than twice a month, for exercise and transportation.