Nosy Neighbor: When will the Citi Bike stations be re-installed? – Tribeca Citizen

J. wrote: With more people likely using Citi Bikes to get around and return to some days in schools and offices, its going to be helpful to have even more bikes available downtown. Now that the epic Warren Street Reconstruction Project is finally completed, do you know when (or if) Citi Bike will be re-installing the old station on Warren & West Broadway as well as the station that used to be in front of the Tribeca Whole Foods?

So I will take a circuitous route on this question, since I had already been needling DOT for an answer when I got J.s note, and start with the station on Greenwich and Duane that is causing much consternation.

Some neighbors there (and the restaurants themselves) are still pushing for the station to be moved so The Hideaway and Tokyo Bay can take advantage of the curbside dining part of the citys Open Restaurants program. That program goes till Oct. 31 and the mayor said recently that it will be extended for next summer as well, so making a move now could have lasting repercussions for both businesses.

But DOT told me that they are not going to move it, and while there is a planned expansion, they will hold off until Open Restaurants ends.

A DOT spokesperson said the regulations of the Open Restaurants program outlined in the FAQ section state that the city will not relocate street furniture to accommodate a restaurant. (Street furniture usually means bus stops, benches, light posts, garbage cans, etc, but I am not sure why it should therefore include Citi Bike stations, which are designed to be modular and moveable.)

DOT is working to balance multiple aspects of the Citys recovery, which includes adding facilities for multimodal travel and programming public open space to promote social distancing. As part of Citi Bike infill, we are planning to increase dock capacity at the station on Duane Street. While we are moving forward with our infill plans in other locations, we will be holding off on the Duane Street station expansion until the Open Restaurants program concludes.

As for the original Nosy Neighbor question, DOT said that Greenwich has a pending capital project (maybe that is what is going on in front of Whole Foods now?) and the station will be returned after its completion. They said that the relocation site for that one is the one in front of Target on Greenwich and Murray. (Its been so long that I thought that one had always been there)

But as for West Broadway and Warren, they say we made that one up and now that I really rack my brain, was it in fact at Church and Warren in front of what is now 30 Warren? Who can confirm?? UPDATE: Two readers sent Google street view images of the station that was once on Warren between West Broadway and Church in front of the Mysterious Bookshop. See the screenshot below, taken in 2014.

Heres the DOT response: There are no records of a station at W. Broadway and Warren Street. We are surveying West Broadway & Church Street, but no timeline for return right now.

So to sum up, DOT is in an odd predicament to be both the overlord on bike transportation and restaurant expansion (see how important our streets have become?) but it seems to me the best approach here would be to move Duane around the corner to Greenwich and NOT expand it (maybe expand instead at Hudson and Reade) AND return the ghost station at West Broadway and Warren to add more capacity, especially since the Whole Foods one is delayed for more construction.

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Nosy Neighbor: When will the Citi Bike stations be re-installed? - Tribeca Citizen