How to Request Bulk Bike Racks from the NYCDOT

You can help to get the job done.

Is your community group planning on requesting bulk bike racks from the NYCDOT?  The Park Slope Civic Council did this in the Spring of 2007 with great results.  Our approach shifted some of the legwork from the DOT to the community, and as a result our request moved through the process rather quickly.  Your neighborhood can do it too.

Here’s how:

• Before you do anything, let the DOT know you’d like to submit a bulk request for your community by emailing CityRacks Manager Jason Accime at jaccime @ dot.nyc.gov.  The DOT itself is busy siting bike racks and it is possible that they have already surveyed your neighborhood.  Your request should be for at least 10 racks but can be for as many as 100 or more, although larger quantities would likely be installed in phases.

• Assuming they have not, reach out to your community board and ask for the board’s support.  Chances are your district manager already knows that the DOT will want a letter of support before the racks are scheduled to be installed.  When the time comes, you will send the entire package to the District Manager, and want the letter support sent back to you so that it can be included with your submission. Working with another established organization such as a BID or something equivalent to NAG in the Brooklyn CB1 District is also an option.
  

• Prepare a form letter for a property owner, business owner, or business manager to sign requesting that a rack be installed in front of their building.  You will need one signed for each rack requested.  Expect a range of responses.  Some people won’t be interested, and some people may not be authorized to sign.  Be polite, and expect that you may have to make a second or third visit.  Alternatively, try your luck next door or down the block.

• Organize a committee, study the CityRacks guidelines, and hit the streets with your form letter in hand.  Your committee members have a few things to do:

1. Identify suggested locations according to CityRack guidelines (DOT staff will inspect and mark the location if it’s approved.)

2. Get a consent letter signed for each rack requested by a property owner, business owner, or business manager.

3. Photograph the site.

• Once you’ve identified your locations, consent letters signed, and photographs taken, consolidate your request in an easy to read spreadsheet that will accompany your submission to the community board and DOT.

• Submit a copy of the entire package to your Community Board, requesting a letter of support.  Should you submit the package without your Community Board’s letter of support, DOT will request it for you, however you can expect it to take considerably longer.
  

• Deliver/mail your bulk CityRack request, together with photographs, consent letters, your Community Board’s letter of support to:

CITYRACKS
40 Worth Street - Room 1035
New York, NY 10013

There is incredibly high demand for CityRacks these days around the city, so the more organized you are, the better.  Understand that there may be a delay of several months before the racks are installed, especially during the warm season, but once you see orange dots at the proposed locations, racks will follow. 

ALSO ON THE LIVABLE STREETS NETWORK

• StreetsWiki: New Bike Racks, NYC
  

• Livable Streets Community: Brooklyn TA Group's bulk order campaign!
  

REFERENCES

Pictures are cited in the order they appear above. Please keep citation style consistent.

[1] Photo: The Brooklyn Paper/Juile Rosenberg