Culture
New York Street Vendors Displaced by Bike-Share Want Their Voices Heard
Turns out it's not that easy for a sidewalk food cart to just pick up and move.
As the racks for the Citibike bike-share program have been installed around New York in recent weeks, New Yorkers have become aware of their public spaces in a whole new way. Suddenly, people are feeling proprietary about the sidewalks they usually walk over without thinking.
Many of the complaints about the new racks do look like classic NIMBYism. In Fort Greene, some people are disgruntled about the aesthetic impact on landmarked blocks (although they're apparently unconcerned about the way all the big fat cars look on those same blocks). In Manhattan, some co-op residents say they simply don’t want racks so close to their building entrance.