Program To Arrive In Queens Later
Thousands of New Yorkers pre-registered for the city’s bike share program on Monday, Apr. 15-the first day of pre-registration for a program that has hit a number of speedbumps over the last year.
The program, called “Citi Bike,” allows users to rent bicycles from various locations and return them to any station in the city.
While stations will be coming to Manhattan south of Central Park and areas around Downtown Brooklyn, parts of Queens, which were initially included in the first phase, will have to wait until later in the year.
Areas in Long Island City and Sunnyside were slated to be part of the intial roll-out, but the sites got sidelined after Hurricane Sandy-related setbacks reduced the number of stations the DOT could implement, according to a Dec. 7, 2012 press release.
A spokesperson from the DOT said bike share locations were chosen for the most dense parts of the city.
The department gave the Times Newsweekly no indication when the locations in Long Island City and Sunnyside might be open, though a press release from December 2012 stated the Queens locations will be open by the end of 2013.
The department would not confirm when or how extensively the program might expand into other neighborhoods in Queens.
DOT Commissioner Sadik-Kahn announced at a Monday, Apr. 15 press conference that the program will roll out on an unspecified date in May, it has been reported.
The program, which was initially scheduled to open last July was delayed due to technical difficulties, it has been reported. The opening was shifted to March 2013, but was delayed again due to Hurricane Sandy.
Citi Bike is a program implemented by the DOT. Citi contributed $41 million to underwrite the program, according to the DOT.
