Well, at least Stuyvesant Town is trying, but a random check of the success of the green barricades to stop bicycle riding in the complex on the weekend showed that not one bicyclist stopped or got off his or her bicycle despite the barriers and the "Bicycle Riding Prohibited" signs in display on the outer barricades and at the window top of the security booth. Many bicyclists didn't even slow down, weaving between the barricades as if they were part of a fun obstacle course. The only slow down seemed to be coming from pedestrians in groups, who had to disengage from talking with each other and file through the open spaces between the barricades. Part of the time, a security person was inside the guard booth nearby, but he never got out to enforce the no bicycle riding rule. The other part of the time, at least for over an hour, there was no security staff in sight anywhere in the Oval area.
Once again, the failure of this plan rests on the general non-involvement of security to actually go out and stop bicyclists. Barricades and notices just won't do it. But, perhaps, this is just phase one of an overall plan, and the second phase will involve the active, not sporadic, use of security.
The no-bicycle rule needs to be amended, I think, to reflect reality. Delivery men and residents on bicycles will naturally try to ride in or out through the lengthy complex. What is important to safety is that this riding be done at slower, and not killer, speeds.
The "No Bicycle Riding" was always a fake rule, just like the "No Pets" rule.
ReplyDeleteTechnically, you could be evicted for having a cat or a hamster, but management always looked the other way, so long as your pet wasn't a dog, and your neighbors weren't filing any complaints.
Same with bikes. If you're riding at walking speed, and not posing a threat, no problem. I've been doing it for 25 years, and never even came close to hitting anyone. It's just a matter of being considerate.
But the armada of delivery guys ferrying take-out food all over the complex are another story. They don't live here, their kids and elderly friends and relatives ain't walking around the Oval. Their only concern is making money, and the way you do that is make fast and frequent trips.
Before Tishman, there was a rule in Stuytown called " no bike riding in stuytown" for the most part , a big most part people respected the rule.
ReplyDeleteAlong with dogs, walking on grass, and riding bikes, restrictions were removed, buy Tishman
Now, like many bad decisions, Mr Tish, you cannot change the rules then, change them back. this is called mixed messages....
It dosent work. And quite frankly you keep making a mess of the place. Maybe your high falutant tenents getting robbed by you, will wake up and smell the coffee, a go somewhere else!