City Island Chamber of Commerce: Bike racks will impact businesses that rely on outdoor dining, arts and crafts fair

City Island Chamber of Commerce says many business owners are unhappy after the City Department of Transportation installed dozens of bike racks throughout the island.

News 12 Staff

Apr 17, 2021, 10:50 PM

Updated 1,331 days ago

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City Island Chamber of Commerce says many business owners are unhappy after the City Department of Transportation installed dozens of bike racks throughout the island.
The chamber of commerce says while they are in favor of reducing emissions and getting more cars off the road, they say the issue is that they didn't have any input as to where they should be placed.
Some restaurants say they were placed in areas where they would put a table for outdoor dining. And with the arts and crafts fair happening twice a year, which takes place on the sidewalk, vendors say they will get in the way.
There are at least 34 bike racks stretching from the bridge to the end of the island and the chamber of commerce says they should have been near fire hydrants, bus stops or other areas.
"Have a dozen of them at the beginning of the island and then a dozen of them at the end of the island, and then have people lock their bikes up and walk. I mean, the entire island's only a mile long," says Paul Klein, of the City Island Chamber of Commerce.
On the other hand, Dan Treiber, co-owner of the vintage toy store 239 Play, says he's been petitioning for the city to get a bike rack installed, which they did.
"If they put 10,000 bike racks in New York City and City Island is the place that complains about said bike racks, we're going to be left out of the future of New York City," Treiber says.
He adds that it's not about his store, but rather infrastructure and making City Island a destination without using a car.
News 12 reached out to the City Department of Transportation for comment but did not hear back.