Bicycle Sundays resume Sunday --May 5th from 10 AM to 2 PM on the Bronx River Parkway. The parkway is closed from Scarsdale Road in Yonkers to the County Center. Other bicycle Sundays will take place on May 12, 19, June 2, 9,16, 23, 30 and September 8, 15, 22, 29. Westchester County had discontinued funding for Bicycle Sundays --the Westchester County Friends of the Parks and Con Ed have absorbed the costs. Joggers, walkers, scooters and strollers can also take advantage of Bicycle Sundays-- no cars are allowed on the parkway during Bicycle Sundays.
I got my own start in politics lobbying for Bicycle Sundays and the bike paths on the Bronx River Parkway way back in the early 1970s, when I was a student. I chaired a committee - Task Force for Bikeways in Westchester. We organized a citizen lobbying campaign to persuade the County Executive/Legislature to appropriate $50,000 for the first bikeway in Westchester -along the Bronx River Parkway. We organized petition drives, phoned legislators at home and at their offices -day and night. Organized a letters campaign and obtained newspaper endorsements. I'll never forget when I was called into the offices of the Minority Leader of the Board of Legislators. The Legislator told me that the Legislature would approve the bikeway on condition -----that I promise not to show up for six months! I agreed and the rest is history.
The following year (1973), former County Executive Al Del Bello named me to his Bicycle Task Force. Our committee recommended that the Bronx River Parkway be closed for cyclists on Sundays --one of the more popular programs.
I am pleased that Bicycle Sundays continues --40 years after it was first proposed. The success of Bicycle Sundays highlights the importance of recreation in Westchester. What else could be done to enhance our recreation quality of life?
***I hope that one day Sprain Lake (off of Jackson Ave and Yonkers) will be open to non motorized boats. We can turn Sprain Lake into one of the regions greatest treasures.
***Bike racks should be placed on county buses (bike racks already exist on buses all over the United States but not in NYC and not in Westchester). Bike racks on buses would encourage people to use public transit on dangerous, busy roads and to bicycle on back roads.
*** I think the bicycle sharing program that is starting in NYC should be expanded to Westchester--bicycle sharing racks should be placed at train stations. Bicycle sharing would encourage tourists from NYC and elsewhere to take the train to Westchester towns and to bike around some of our charming communities. It would also be a big boost to local merchants and downtown areas.
PAUL FEINER
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