Many people commuting to work by bicycle, or simply running errands, find that there's a serious lack of decent places to lock up their bikes.
New York City is grappling with the problem of too few and inadequate bike parking devices by promoting a design competition for the city's new bike racks.
The city's transportation commissioner compares some designs to “handcuffs chained to the street.” No problem. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is all in favor of the program.
Contest
The 10 contest finalists can be seen at the CityRacks Design Competition blog. If these look over-the-top to you, consider that one of the judges is David Byrne. He was the impetus of Talking Heads and is considered one of New York's chief bicycling connoisseurs.
One of the design finalists is shown in the upper left. It's larger than existing racks and accommodates any size bicycle.
Byrne
The one at upper right is a doodle conceived by Byrne at his David Byrne Journal. Sketching out some examples to announce the contest, Byrne tried to reflect different neighborhoods.
The one above, reminiscent of the unmistakeable female form on truck mudflaps, reflects old Times Square. Other designs include a dollar sign for Wall Street, a coffee cup outside a pastry shop, and a dog in Greenwich Village.
Byrne's designs were so popular, that the city installed them in some locations last week, reports the New York Times. They'll remain in place for a year, after which they'll be sold as works of art.
Here's a 3-minute Wall Street Journal video that I stumbled across at Idolator.
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