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Bikers in urban areas tend to be overwhelmingly wealthy, White and male. Fact. Sure, guys who work in delivery also ride bikes...but all this "biking" and corporatized "City biking" is to attract gentrification. It is not being "negative", being negative would mean no solutions to problems. It is about stating the problem and then proposing alternatives. This program will not last in the South Bronx.
Yes. I have. And they're still VERY low. If anything such a slight uptick causing such commotion is proof of how safe NYC is. That crime was at 2016 levels. Which was still very low.
It's crazy to me that people can live in the safest big city in the US but somehow be more negative than people that live in FAR worse cities.
The point about living in the safest big city in the US as a whole means little to nothing to those people who live in neighborhoods that are still trouble cases as far as crime goes.
The point about living in the safest big city in the US as a whole means little to nothing to those people who live in neighborhoods that are still trouble cases as far as crime goes.
People who say "NYC is the safest big cities!!!" Don't actually live in the neighborhoods where these statistics still show crime is high. That's the problem. When they walk out their door they see no crime and they think Wow we are so safe!
When people like us in the Bronx fall asleep to sounds of gunfire often in the area, we don't understand how they say it is so "safe". Maybe it's safe for "Them".... but not for us. Black on Black crime? Who cares! Right?
The point about living in the safest big city in the US as a whole means little to nothing to those people who live in neighborhoods that are still trouble cases as far as crime goes.
Maybe it doesn't mean much, but even the worst neighborhoods in NYC, despite NYC being so large and having massive disparities among neighborhoods, still has homicide rates that are lower than the average for many cities. Brownsville is often taken as an example of a particularly rough neighborhood in NYC--and it absolutely is. However, its murder rate in recent years which is many times greater than the city average has been hovering in the teens per 100,000 residents. This is favorable compared to many urban US cities in terms of those cities's *city-wide* crime rates which would include their nice, bougie parts.
Of course, US cities also have homicide rates that are high to very high compared to cities of other developed countries, so it's not exactly great, but it's still true that NYC including its worst neighborhoods is relatively safe for a large US city.
As for the topic at large--yea, there will absolutely be loss in terms of bike damage and theft. That happens with the current system and there's no reason to expect it to not happen as it is installed in densely-populated neighborhoods that have higher than average crime rates. However, prior rollouts have included parts of Bushwick and Bed-Stuy that don't exactly have the best crime stats themselves and the system keeps chugging on alright and there's not a notable enough attrition to theft and damage to the point where the stations are pulled or a chronic shortage at the stations that is obviously from theft and damage.
Moreover, in response to another post, the complaint that this doesn't solve other issues in the neighborhood such as having good jobs or education is so tangential that one really has to be trying to shoehorn that commentary in. Who in their right minds thought that a bikeshare system was going to make a significant impact on employment and education? Why would having a bikeshare system impede or advance this in any particularly notable way? The only thing it may affect is direct employment from operating a larger system, though those numbers probably aren't high, or giving an alternative affordable mode of getting to jobs and schools though even though it's more like an augmentation of what existing modes in the South Bronx have. Overall, either of those are positive. Anyhow, if theft and damage to the stations and bikes were absurdly high, then yea, it would probably pull out which then just leaves the South Bronx back to where it was before in terms of having a bikeshare system. If anything, I'd think that inattentive drivers accidentally jumping the curb and screwing up bikes and stations or the general lack of great biking infrastructure in the Bronx is maybe as great or a greater threat to the ability of the bikeshare system to sustain itself in the South Bronx. I remember the drivers there when I was living nearby in Washington Heights and going into and through the South Bronx to be pretty ****ty towards bicyclists.
I'm glad to hear they're expanding. It's pretty convenient. I'm guessing the biking infrastructure and driving habits up there are a bit better than they were a decade ago.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 05-14-2020 at 03:22 PM..
Maybe it doesn't mean much, but even the worst neighborhoods in NYC, despite NYC being so large and having massive disparities among neighborhoods, still has homicide rates that are lower than the average for many cities. Brownsville is often taken as an example of a particularly rough neighborhood in NYC--and it absolutely is. However, its murder rate in recent years which is many times greater than the city average has been hovering in the teens per 100,000 residents. This is favorable compared to many urban US cities in terms of those city's *city-wide* crime rates which would include their nice, bougie parts.
Of course, US cities also have homicide rates that are high to very high compared to cities of other developed countries, so it's not exactly great, but it's still true that NYC including its worst neighborhoods is relatively safe for a large US city.
As for the topic at large--yea, there will absolutely be loss in terms of bike damage and theft. That happens with the current system and there's no reason to expect it to not happen as it is installed in densely-populated neighborhoods that have higher than average crime rates. However, prior rollouts have included parts of Bushwick and Bed-Stuy that don't exactly have the best crime stats themselves and the system keeps chugging on alright and there's not a notable enough attrition to theft and damage to the point where the stations are pulled or a chronic shortage at the stations that is obviously from theft and damage.
Moreover, the idea that this doesn't solve other issues in the neighborhood such as having good jobs or education is so tangential that one really has to be trying to shoehorn that commentary in. Who in their right minds thought that a bikeshare system was going to make a significant impact on employment and education? Why would having a bikeshare system impede or advance this in any particularly notable way? The only thing it may affect is direct employment from operating a larger system, though those numbers probably aren't high, or giving an alternative affordable mode of getting to jobs and schools though even that's not going to come anything close to what existing modes in the South Bronx have. Overall, either of those are positive, though it's likely true that if theft and damage to the stations and bikes were absurdly high, then yea, it would probably pull out which then just leaves the South Bronx back to where it was before in terms of having a bikeshare system. If anything, I'd think that inattentive drivers accidentally jumping the curb and screwing up bikes and stations or the general lack of great biking infrastructure in the Bronx is maybe as great or a greater threat to the ability of the bikeshare system to sustain itself in the South Bronx. I remember the drivers there when I was living nearby in Washington Heights and going into and through the South Bronx to be pretty ****ty towards bicyclists.
Those are fair points. However, considering that homicides generally aren’t random and most of the time in large cities seem to be drug and gang related, I won’t focus too much on that. I’m talking about other crimes of opportunity that the average joe in these neighborhoods is more likely to be a victim of vs the city as a whole.
Those are fair points. However, considering that homicides generally aren’t random and most of the time in large cities seem to be drug and gang related, I won’t focus too much on that. I’m talking about other crimes of opportunity that the average joe in these neighborhoods is more likely to be a victim of vs the city as a whole.
You're right about those crimes often being drug and gang related. I use homicide rates because those are crimes that are generally the least likely to have variance in terms of reporting and classification among different police departments and it is very obviously a violent crime. As it's usually harder, though obviously not impossible, to hide or juggle that stat compared to other crimes, it's sometimes used as an imperfect proxy.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 05-14-2020 at 03:39 PM..
People who say "NYC is the safest big cities!!!" Don't actually live in the neighborhoods where these statistics still show crime is high. That's the problem. When they walk out their door they see no crime and they think Wow we are so safe!
When people like us in the Bronx fall asleep to sounds of gunfire often in the area, we don't understand how they say it is so "safe". Maybe it's safe for "Them".... but not for us. Black on Black crime? Who cares! Right?
Lol. I'm from Soundview. I WATCHED my neighborhood get safer. YOU don't see what really goes down in those hoods. I WATCHED it and know very well what goes on.
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