Seeing multiple bikes chained to one pole is a pretty common site in New York City. Lower Manhattan Councilmember Christopher Marte says he has a solution. He recently introduced two bills he says will increase bike storage and increase accessibility.

“There’s a crisis that’s happening here in New York City. After the pandemic, we’ve seen bike ownership increase to record amounts. But the biggest complaint we’ve received from pedestrians, cyclists, people who want to become cyclists – is where do I park my bike?” Marte said at a recent press conference.

The “Park Your Bike” bill would require parks that are at least 2.5 acres to have sheltered bike stations. The second bill would require city buildings that are at least 10,000 square feet to provide bike storage space for employees or visitors. But Andrew Fine from the NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance thinks the plan is flawed.

“Why are we talking about bike storage in parks? I mean parks are meant to go in and out of for recreation and for leisure. It’s not meant as a storage facility for bikes that include e-bikes in this specific legislation,” Fine told News 12 New York.

According to Transportation Alternatives, there are 1.5 parking spots for every registered car in the city, but only one bicycle parking space for every 116 bikes. They say these bills are an essential step towards fixing that.