Cyclists Respond to New Dismount Rule on North Cove Marina Plaza

On the Brookfield Place plaza outside the North Cove Marina, a Brookfield security guard instructs a cyclist to dismount. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

A new bicycle dismount rule around the North Cove Marina in Battery Park City is getting mixed reviews—and compliance—from bike riders. But from interviews and observations conducted on Sunday, July 3, it appeared that most cyclists who obeyed the signs, placed last week at each end of the plaza, support the policy.

And based on a count by the Trib during a two-hour period, a little more than twice as many riders got off their bikes than those who did not when they saw the signs—or neared the Brookfield Properties security guards.

This past weekend, the security personnel, who do not have enforcement powers, were stationed at two locations on the plaza, motioning to errant riders who had ignored or not seen the signs to walk their bikes. Most did as they were told.

The Battery Park City Authority on Thursday, June 30, instituted the “dismount zone” where there have long been complaints of cyclists whizzing by pedestrians, sometimes perilously close. For many cyclists, as well as pedestrians, that area provides a connection between the north and south esplanades of Battery Park City.  

The new rules are part of an initiative by the Authority “to review bicycle usage on the Esplanade, and developing recommendations for the most balanced, effective use of this incredible public space,” the authority’s president, Shari Hyman, said in a statement. A yet-to-be-formed task force to include Community Board 1 members will work on the recommendations.

In the meantime, most cyclists walking their bikes said they did not mind the new rule. Cornelia Schnall, a rider from Chelsea, called it “great.” As a pedestrian, she said, she has been hit twice by bikes making the turn at the south end of the plaza. The problem, she said, are “either people who are very inexperienced bikers or the ones who think this is a racetrack.”

“This is such a tourist area,” she added. “People comes down here because it’s quiet and beautiful, so you want to have one moment of peace. I’m all for it.”

Jim White, a visitor from Kentucky who had come to the marina to look at the boats, said he didn’t see the sign as he rode past it. “Bikers should do what they’re supposed to do,” he said. “That way everyone’s happy about bikers.”

Dorron Brousard, who had ridden from his home in Englewood, NJ, on a portable bike with smaller, 20-inch wheels, said he did not think the rule should apply to cyclists like him. “These bikes have super-low gears so we can actually go at the speed of walking,” he said. “The big bikes I can see. The big bikes, they speed.”

At the June meeting of CB1’s Battery Park City Committee, the Authority’s communication director, Nick Sbordone announced the authority’s intention to have “some type of limitation or elimination of bicycle riding on the esplanade” now that the bike path along West Street has reopened.

In a statement, a Brookfield Properties spokesman said that the company is working “in support of the BPCA’s decision.” Cyclists, Brookfield said, “are encouraged to utilize the newly constructed bike lanes along West Street where they are able to travel past Brookfield Place uninterrupted.”

On the plaza, Valerie Figueredo and Adam Brenneman from Tribeca had been pushing a double stroller with their two 11-week-olds when a fast-pedaling cyclist weaved closely around them. They said there needed to be tighter enforcement of the rule.

“I understood it when the [West Street] bike path was under construction,” Figueredo said. “But now it’s open and it’s actually better for them. They can go as fast as they want.” Told that some cyclist complain that meandering tourists make the bike path impassable, she replied: “This is no better.”

Battery Park City resident Jenny Li, who had dismounted her bike, said she did not know the West Street bike path was open.

“If they can make the sign obvious that there’s an alternative route it would be a good idea,” she said.

“I say they have no right to do it,” complained Jerry Marcus, a Battery Park City resident who had been walking on the plaza and was outraged to see a Brookfield security guard tell a woman, whom he did not know, to dismount. “It’s a Brookfield rule,” Marcus said. “Who’s Brookfield to tell me I can ride my bike? This is public property.”

The woman, who declined to give her name, first called the rule “terrible.” Then she thought about it some more. “I’m torn,” she conceded. “I think it’s unfair, but if I were a pedestrian I would think it’s fair.”