Um, correct me if I'm wrong but the bike lane is (ideally) a convenience, not a law.
It would be great to use them if A. cars didn't blatantly double-park in them, and B. they weren't used as 'turn lanes' by vehicles.
THe irony is the city has spent a considerable amount of money in advertising and cameras to keep BUS LANES clear of cars. Would it be so tough to do the same for bike lanes?
Personally I now find riding my bike in bus lanes to be much more efficient.

Well the city has gone through efforts to make dedicated bicycle lanes, where they are between the sidewalk and the parked cars. See 8th and 9th ave and the strip of 1st ave south of 34th st.

The issue is that because of this many riders are now complaining that it's even less safe than before - http://thecityfix.com/more-on-bike-culture-criticism-of-nycs-first-avenue-bike-lane/

rightfully so - when I lived between 8th and 9th Ave. it was horrendous to watch drivers unaccustomed to the new traffic patterns adapt to them.

And I guess the city is trying to shoehorn riders into their ill-conceived plan, instead of having them rely on their ability to judge traffic for themselves. Personally I stick to the bike paths along the river where vehicular traffic is not an issue.

Another good article on this - http://my.firedoglake.com/alecdhall/2011/01/18/why-the-nypd-bicycle-crackdown-is-a-sign-of-how-new-york-sucks-in-2011/

#bikenyc

The dead tree was replaced with a new one in the spring and the new one is now dead, too. Tree pit continues to be overgrown and filled with litter. Residue from bakery on Rugby (residential side) never washed from sidewalk, which should be daily, since it is a commercial business. That section of Rugby smells from garbage (commercial and residential) and sidewalk is filled filthy not only from bakery, but from pigeons that eat from open bags left in bins by bakery. Still unclean and unkempt.

Leave the working class people alone.

In what way does requesting a business keep its sidewalks clean and upkeep a tree amount to bothering working class people?

This is definitely not fixed. Where is Councilmember Margaret Chin??? This is a blight on Chinatown and it's disrepectful to the community!!

MANYcars with parking permits have parked ILLEGALLY for years, Mon-Fri, at the same metered locations on lower Mott Street using a Court Officer and NYPD and Corrections parking permits. That's not a typo - this illegal parking has gone on for YEARS!!! Aside from the blight, NYC loses more than $50-million a year in parking meter revenue from government employee commuters abusing their parking permits - That's about a 1/2-BILLION dollars lost since Bloomberg's been in office.

That car STILL parks all day all the time with impunity. It's a disgrace and people like this cost taxpayers in NYC 50 million a year. Really, where is Councilmember Margaret Chin?!

Every summer is the same problem. Only when the NYPD had those observation towers parked on the corner of Lenox and 112th St did the stunters stop riding by the area. But all that does is shift their "playground" to another part of Harlem. They run red lights, terrorize pedestrians, and violate every single law in the book. I hope they would crash and burn into a dumpster, so that sanitation can neatly take them away into some dump in New Jersey.

These people violate the laws and endanger the neighborhood.

Where is the NYPD?

If you can't catch them (which is indeed difficult for motorcycles and could lead to embarrassment), install cameras. Get lots of pictures of these guys. Then you can pick many of them up at your leisure. That's how England does it - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14462271

We have the same problem further west (St. Nicholas Ave- Lenox Ave) in the 130s-- the noise is one thing but they run red lights and go very fast down side streets. Strange thing is there is a police station 3 blocks away and very often cops posted on every corner. I don't understand how this is a recurring problem given the oversight in the area.

A little off topic.... can anyone recommend a good shop or street vendor for bicycle repair ?
thx.

The trucks are Mister Softee, not Mister Softer

although i wish they were softer on their annoyance

Pat: I'm not going to move somewhere else. I think it is appropriate for me to want people to stay within the rules. IT'S THE LAW IN NYC THAT THE TRUCK CANNOT PLAY ITS JINGLE WHEN PARKED. Go look it up.

Yes, it is illegal. If you notice this, I recommend:

1) writing down the license number of the truck (it's on the license that is presented near the service window)
2) either talking to the driver to "remind" him about the law, or filing a noise complaint, either on the phone, or online at nyc.gov (search for "Noise from Ice Cream Truck" to find the link)

Throughout the spring and summer of 2012, the main culprit was a driver named Mario, with license 5542. Though there were other drivers periodically there as well.

take them to housing court

Went all weekend, last weekend without hot water. It also happened to be a very cold spring weekend. I have no support from anyone else in my building so there is all @#$% to pay if I alone take them to court. The other tenants are absolutely complacent, cowardly, and comatose. They have never supported me in any actions to hold management accountable. The super always makes some lame excuse about why there is no heat or hot water, especially on the weekends. This is a rent-stabilization building owners insidious tactic. Break us down, get us out, flip the apartment, destabilize it. The other tenants are either incredibly naive about their rights or not the lease holders and thus are afraid to complain. It's a vicious cycle that I have endured for 15 years.

Hi Enid,

Thank you for posting - again. I met with staff members of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio during the winter to discuss ways of holding negligent landlords accountable. Please contact Thomas Gray (see his email below) to see if the Public Advocate's office can help you resolve the ongoing heating violations in your building.
You could also contact City Council: (212) 564-7757.
Thanks,
Penny

On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 9:47 AM, Thomas Gray <tgray@pubadvocate.nyc.gov> wrote:
Good Morning,

We are thinking of proposing some improvements to the current no heat and hot water program at HPD. We are looking for a building with tenants who have had ongoing issues with no heat. Do you know anyone that may want to be involved in a press conference with us?

Thanks,
Tom Gray
Office of the Public Advocate