New York Bike-Share Rollout Delayed After Sandy Damage

Tim Haney tests out a bike in June during a demonstration of the upcoming bike-share program, Chinatown, Manhattan. Rollout of the system in New York has been delayed again until May 2013. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—The start date for the bike-share system coming to New York has been delayed again, from March to May 2013, due to damage from Hurricane Sandy.

The bike-share system was originally delayed from July 2012 to August; later, the rollout date was pushed back to March 2013.

Now damage from Hurricane Sandy has caused another delay, after storm surges flooded the building at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which holds the bikes and other system components.

Bike frames and hardware were not significantly damaged, said the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) in a release, but some electrical parts were and will need to be refurbished or replaced.

“DOT has worked around the clock to restore vital transportation links following the storm and that includes putting Citi Bike on the road to recovery,” said DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan in the statement. “Despite the damage, New York will have the nation’s largest bike-share system up and running this spring.”

Details about the system have been hard to come by at times, and some predicted early in the year that the system wouldn’t launch on time.

The system will eventually have 10,000 bikes at 600 stations, but the May launch will be only 5,500 bikes. Initial stations will be south of 59th Street in Manhattan and in Brooklyn near the Navy Yard, according to the DOT, while officials plan on extending the service to 7,000 bikes in other parts of Brooklyn and into Long Island City, Queens, by the end of 2013.

The DOT remains committed to bringing the full system, ultimately 10,000 bikes, to reality, according to the release.

The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Please send news tips to [email protected]