Photo: Ashleigh Ide
Shown above is one of David Byrne’s new bike racks for New York City (near Wall Street). The musician and artist was first asked by the Department of Transportation to be a judge in a bicycle rack competition, but instead of judging, Byrne ended up sending in his own design which were then installed around the city.
His bike rack designs are based around the “personalities” of each neighborhood.
They were simple shapes to define different neighborhoods around the city: a dollar sign for Wall Street; an electric guitar for Williamsburg, Brooklyn; a car — “The Jersey” — for the area near the Lincoln Tunnel. “I said, ‘Well, this disqualifies me as a judge,’ ” he recalled, “but I just doodled them out and sent them in.” He figured maybe they’d be used to decorate the contest Web site, nycityracks.wordpress.com.
According to City Room, the bike racks are only temporary, but I hope they stay around as long as possible.
Here are the names and locations of the nine new bike racks.
- The Jersey: Northwest corner of Ninth Avenue and 39th Street, near the Lincoln Tunnel
- The MoMA: South side of West 54th Street, east of the Avenue of the Americas
- The Ladies’ Mile: West side of Fifth Avenue, north of 57th Street (in front of Bergdorf’s)
- The Chelsea: In front of 530 West 25th Street, east of 11th Avenue (in front of PaceWildenstein Gallery)
- The Hipster: West side of Bedford Avenue, near North Sixth Street, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
- The Olde Times Square: South side of West 44th Street, west of Seventh Avenue
- The Villager: In front of 536 La Guardia Place, between West Third and Bleecker Streets
- The Wall Street: North side of 82 Wall Street, west of Water Street
- The Coffee Cup: West side of Amsterdam Avenue, between West 110th and 111th Streets
