Lime e-scooter company is one of the many organizations hosting events this week to celebrate Earth Day and New York City’s Car Free Day. However, as previously reported, not everyone is on board when it comes to the impact transportation alternative programs like e-scooters and e-bikes are having on day-to-day living in The Bronx. Perhaps because of the additional focus on such green programs around Earth Day, the topic has heated up once again.

 

On Friday, April 22, Lime hosted a helmet giveaway at the Westchester Square Business Improvement District (BID)’s Earth Day celebration, which was focused on planting new greenery in the neighborhood. On Saturday, April 23, Lime will join the New York City Department of Transportation’s citywide Car Free Day celebrations with e-scooter and adaptive electric vehicle demos on Mosholu Parkway. Lime’s Gen4 e-scooters will be available onsite, along with adaptive electric vehicles which, through the Lime “Able” program, are available to rent for free for 24-hour periods and can be delivered to the home of anyone with a mobility limitation who may benefit from such vehicles.

 

The events coincide with Lime’s global campaign which urges hundreds of thousands of riders to “Break Up With Cars.” Throughout April, Lime has been running the worldwide campaign, centered around Earth Day, to encourage drivers to end what it calls “their toxic relationships with cars.” At both events, Lime is encouraging New Yorkers “to ride green” this spring and summer as congestion rates in New York City skyrocket along with gas prices.

 

According to Lime officials, “Break Up With Cars” is the company’s first global campaign that directly tackles driving in cities. The campaign highlights what Lime officials say is an over reliance on cars by residents which yields pollution and congestion, wastes time, and has resulted in over 1.3 million deaths annually, worldwide.

 

The campaign, timed for Earth Month, also comes as gas prices have soared, further increasing what Lime officials say is the already high cost of driving. Through “Break Up With Cars,” drivers can win rewards for pledging to break up with their cars. Prizes include up to $3,500 worth of Lime rides, “Break Up With Cars” T-shirts, Bern helmets and more.

 

Since launching the campaign this month, Lime officials said over 15,000 Lime riders have pledged to break up with cars, with most riders pledging to give them up for at least 30 days.

 

To date, as reported, there have been mixed reactions by Bronxites to the roll out by the City government of various environmentally friendly alternative transportation programs to gas-fueled cars, such as Citi Bikes, e-scooter programs, and electric vehicles, since their expansion to The Bronx. Previously, some residents said, for example, that more thought should have been given to the placement of e-bike stations, their impact on parking and also the placement and signage of electric charging stations.

 

The topic arose once again during Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7)’s executive meeting held Thursday, April 21, when more concerns about the impact of the Citi Bike program, in particular, were discussed.

Bronx CB7 Environment and Sanitation committee chair, Betty Arce, said, “I still have issues with the Cit Bike or the Citi Bike stations in places that I think do actually no good, except take a parking space, and have [only] some people using the bikes.” She added, “I don’t know, when I see bicycles, Citi Bikes, are thrown on the side of the sidewalk, it makes me wonder if, you know, how these things can make any money up here. And I don’t see anybody using those bikes at all, so…”

 

Bronx CB7 Housing, Land Use & Economic Development committee chair, Erick Ascensio, said he was a Citi Bike user and has annual membership of the program which he signed up to because they had a discount at the time it was launched. “I find it very convenient,” he said, adding that if he has to go to somewhere like Kingsbridge, he hops on the bike and it gets him there in 10 minutes versus 30 minutes on a bus. “If I go to Fordham to a job site that I have on 183rd Street and Webster, one in their workspace, I know that’s 10 minutes rather than having to wait for the BX41 or having to do two transfers,” he said.

 

Ascensio added that he actually found there was a little bit of a lack of availability [of Citi Bikes] sometimes. “For instance, yesterday, I went to Kingsbridge, I dropped off a bike, and then I thought I was going to find it again, but all the bikes on that station [had] been used.”

 

Arce did not disagree but said, personally, she never saw anyone using the bikes. Meanwhile, Education chair, Leurys Acosta said, “Specifically, in my area, it does get used a lot and [there] is definitely great potential. I do hate that it takes away parking spaces,” he continued, though he added that some urban planners he knew had been debating about whether the bikes caused more or less traffic [congestion].

Meanwhile, district manager, Ischia Bravo, highlighted that for parents with young children, it was not always safe to put kids on bikes and that cars were still needed to get kids safely around the city. “Just keep in mind that Community Board 7 has multi-family buildings, which mean families, and that means potentially people with cars,” she said. “You know, you can’t put your kids on the bike, right? You shouldn’t, at least, if you have more than one at different ages.”

 

Bravo continued, “So, let’s keep that in mind as well. While this is good for single adults that may be using it to commute, let’s not forget our families, which [are] a lot in Community Board 7. Remember that we [the board] are the voice of the few, representing the many. I understand that kids use bikes, but my toddler……I’m not putting my toddler on a bike so, we also have to make sure that, you know, we’re encouraging people to do safe practices when they get on these bikes, because that’s also, like an issue that we see.”

The district manager added, “We have to keep in mind the demographics of the community board, and that folks are not going to stop driving tomorrow. So, while we want to curb emissions, and I totally fully support that, that’s obviously encouraging electric vehicles and so forth, but we should definitely not forget that people who pay, who have cars, pay into our economic system through their registrations and all these things, so they are paying fees as well, so they have rights.”

 

Ascensio said a lot of New Yorkers did not have New York license plates and so, they were, in a way, not benefiting from certain taxes they had to pay [which only benefit car owners]. “I mean, it’s a big convoluted situation, but that’s not to say that they’re [the bikes] not being used or that they’re not beneficial, especially since we keep getting a lot of bike [lanes? inaudible].

 

Bravo agreed, saying she was not arguing that the bikes were not being used. “I think our transportation alternatives are something that the City of New York should have, but what I’m saying is, it shouldn’t take parking, [be] at the cost of parking,” she said.

Arce then said, “I don’t have a problem with many of them. It’s just, sometimes, where they’re located….and they do take up parking in places where like I said, I just don’t see the bikes ever leaving there. You know, they’re just in some areas and I’m not really sure, like I said….I have not seen anyone use a bike but then, you know, maybe I’m not getting around enough.” CB7 secretary, Yajaira Arias, suggested to follow-up on the topic at the next Traffic and Transportation meeting, chaired by Edgar Ramos.

 

Norwood News had already interviewed some residents of Bronx Community District 7, which covers the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Fordham, Jerome Park, Kingsbridge Heights, Norwood, and University Heights, about the parking situation in some of the more congested areas of the district like Kingsbridge Heights, prior to the Bronx CB7 executive meeting.

 

Eddie Rodriguez lives on Claflin Avenue, and has lived in Kingsbridge Heights for 20 years. “My sister has had problems parking,” he said. “It’s very overcrowded. We have so many cars here. The population is getting bigger and bigger. We don’t know what is going to happen because they are adding new apartments. It’s going to be a problem with trying to find space. In the wintertime, it gets overcrowded.”

 

Asked what his sister did to get around the situation, Rodriguez said, “She does the best she can to find parking……maybe around here in the [Jerome Park] Reservoir. Hopefully, when there aren’t that many cars here, she can park in this section in Claflin. We have a serious over-parking problem.”

 

Katira Rivera lives on West 197th Street and has lived in Kingsbridge Heights for nine years. “Now, it’s worse,” she said. “I had to sell my car. One time I spent from 9 in the night until 2 in the morning, and didn’t find anything. The parking is first come, first served. It’s something real bad.”

 

Asked what she felt had caused it to become so much worse lately, she said, “Maybe new people have come to the area with vehicles. Also, there is new construction. During the day, it’s a problem because of the college. It’s very hard here to find parking.”

Felix Toledo lives on Heath Avenue, and has lived in Kingsbridge Heights for four years. “It’s terrible,” he said. “I rent a room. The person that I rent a room [from], she has a car. We work in the same hotel. We work most of the time together. She comes back, and sometimes it takes her half an hour looking for parking. I heard it takes some people two hours. I heard people that sometimes sleep in their car waiting for someone to move their car so they can park. It’s really bad.”

 

Asked what, in his opinion, had changed recently that made the situation worse, he said, “It’s always been bad. It’s just gotten worse during the pandemic because a lot of people leave their cars there. They aren’t using them. Because of the gas prices, a lot of people aren’t using their cars, so they leave it parked. The ones that do, when they come back from work, they don’t have parking. That’s what is going on.”

 

Tony Barcelona lives on Summit Place, and has lived in Kingsbridge Heights for 15 years. “Personally, no different than 10 years ago,” he said. “It’s still hard.” Asked how difficult is was to find a space or how long it usually takes, he said, “If you work nights, you have a little leeway. When you come in, everyone is going to work. You have some parking. If you work from 9 to 5, by the time you get here, you won’t find parking. You will have to go around sometimes for hours just to look for parking. You have to go around and around until somebody is moving out of there.”

 

He added, “Some people sleep in cars. If you don’t sleep in the car, the police will give you a ticket. You get a ticket right away. Let’s say I live here, so I want to park the car right there for five minutes. It might just happen that in those minutes, the meter maid is coming by and you get a ticket. Yeah, so it’s hard.” Barcelona concluded, “I hope by doing this interview it improves something. I think they are building parking garages around. That’s the only thing that can help.”

 

Patricia Drummond lives on Kingsbridge Terrace and has spent her whole life [73 years] in Kingsbridge Heights. “In my experience, it’s a real challenge to find parking here,” she said. “We have a house, and many times, at the fire hydrant, there is a car parked there overnight. Part of me can understand that, because I have been in a situation late at night trying to find a space when we couldn’t use our driveway. It was very challenging and difficult. It’s against the law to park by the fire hydrant but sometimes, if it doesn’t happen too often, I understand that people get very frustrated.”

 

Asked what changes she had noticed recently that had impacted upon parking, she said, “I don’t think I have noticed any changes; it’s just difficult. We have a couple of new buildings going up. One of the things I think about is one right here on Sedgwick. Hopefully….I think they did put parking which, if you have an apartment building you are putting up or a place like that, that is really new, to include access to cars is crucial. As a homeowner, we get a lot of people coming by and ringing our doorbell to see if we rent parking spaces in our driveway. We don’t, but a lot of people do and get a little money that way.”

Stop parking on the hydrant! Pic by @skylerfire264 pic.twitter.com/qZWy9hleN7

— NYCFireWire (@NYCFireWire) April 14, 2022

 

Click here, here, here and here (and see attached flier) for details of more Earth Day events.