New Campaign Celebrates Bicycling In New York City

This month, Transportation Alternatives launched a citywide campaign entitled "Bike Like a New Yorker" to celebrate bicycling as an essential element of New York City and promote safe and lawful behavior. The campaign includes billboards and advertisements created by the renowned firm Mother New York.

"Our new campaign evokes the joy and freedom of experiencing New York City by bike," said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "Bicycles are an integral part of the Big Apple: the first bike path in America opened in Brooklyn in 1894 and now over 200,000 New Yorkers are riding on any given day. We're excited to celebrate this vibrant facet of our city with Mother New York."

"This campaign represents a common perspective shared by New York's diverse biking community: these streets belong to us, too," added Richard Langhonre and Sarah Kraus, creatives at Mother New York. "To represent this perspective visually, we used aerial shots of bike riders on New York streets -- the same city streets frequented by cars and pedestrians -- as a canvas for our message."

Print ads and billboards will be posted throughout publications and city streets with headlines like "Drivers angry over bikers need a relaxing hobby, may we suggest biking," and "Try subbing the words screw and you with excuse and me." The ads will encourage people to visit BikeNYC.org, a website providing information on bike-related events, tips and deals. The website will feature regular live Q&A sessions hosted by New Yorkers knowledgeable about various aspects of biking in New York City. It will also feature regular discounts offered to bicyclists through Transportation Alternatives' Bike Friendly Business Campaign as well as local businesses who will eventually be incorporated into the program.

"Ultimately, this is about making New York work for all New Yorkers: bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike," added White. "New York at its best has always been a city of neighborhoods: a diverse city of strong communities and common spaces where neighbors come together to shop, eat, walk their dogs, and ride their bikes."

The campaign advertisements can be seen online: http://bikenyc.org/take-action

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