Oonee Perspectives

Black & Brown New Yorkers share their views on diversity and the need for better cycling infrastructure.

Since 2017, we’ve worked to demonstrate that secure bike parking can change the game for the growing number of New Yorkers who are turning to bikes for transportation. We envision a city where this kind of infrastructure is ubiquitous, seamless and accessible to everyone, regardless of income.

To us, equitable infrastructure is worth fighting for.

Along the way, we’ve encountered many voices that just don’t believe that that bike parking is a priority. At the center of this paradigm is the mistaken belief that cycling is an elective amenity that is largely confined to affluent and White New Yorkers, not an essential form of transportation that’s utilized across all five boroughs by mostly people of color.

As natives of the city who mostly grew up in Black & Brown communities, we’ve struggled at how best to respond to this distorted worldview. Fundamentally, we know that simply leaving your bike on the sidewalk overnight or during work hours is not a workable solution for most. We also know that these concerns are most acute in communities of color where those who bike cannot afford to replace a bike that’s been stolen or repair one that has been damaged from weather and vandalism.

This summer, with the generous pro-bono help of Kel Bush, we were able to give a voice to ordinary New Yorkers who bike and want to see Oonee expand across the city.

In the coming week we’ll be airing their perspectives on diversity in #bikenyc, and the massive need for better cycling infrastructure as more people in our neighborhoods turn to bikes to get around.

Given the underrepresentation of Black & Brown voices in the cycling and micro-mobility space, we specifically focused on perspectives from these communities for these interviews.

The Voices:

Kawan

Kawan is an essential worker who lives in a homeless shelter in Chinatown. Having had three bikes stolen previously he’s wary of leaving his bike or scooter on the street and isn’t allowed any storage space inside the shelter, so he commutes from Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn each morning to get his bike from Oonee at Atlantic Terminal, so he can make food deliveries for services such as DoorDash and Postmates.

He plans to use the money that he earns from this work to move out of the shelter and get his own place. Leaving his bike or scooter on the sidewalk is no longer an option; losing another to theft would cost hundreds in lost wages, not to mention buying a replacement.

Kawan would very much like to see more bike parking options in Lower Manhattan, as it would save him at least an hour everyday.

Calista

Originally from Baltimore, Cal has lived in Flatbush for more than a decade. She works in the natural health industry and is helping with the census as well.

Having begun riding in part to mitigate the effects of the rising costs of mass transit, Cal has since become outspoken about the importance of cycling infrastructure, especially in communities of color.

Cal rides a Brompton in-part because she can carry it into her apartment at night and into work. Even despite this, she lives in constant fear of having her bike stolen or damaged when she is forced to leave it on the street elsewhere. Bromptons can fold, but some places do not allow her to carry it inside — so she’s often forced to lock the bike to a pole on the street. The Brompton that she rides cost $1400 in 2012, and it took months of careful budgeting and saving to purchase it.

Like many New Yorkers she dreads the thought of having to replace it.

Kevin

Kevin’s life revolves around bikes.

As a cycling & spin instructor, Kevin holds classes at cycling studios around the city (pre-pandemic) where he’ll work with dozens of students to achieve fitness goals. One of those students, Jennifer, eventually became his wife and business partner, and now the two host cycling classes from their apartment in Park Slope.

In keeping with his professional activities, Kevin commutes nearly everywhere on a bike, rain or shine. As his main form of transportation, Kevin is eager to see additional cycling infrastructure in his community and around the city. In particular, he believes in the transformative potential of bikes in Ozone Park and Jamaica, where locals have to often rely on long bus connections to reach the subway.

Having already experienced theft once, Kevin is keenly aware of the specific need for secure bike parking options and sees this as a way key method of improving the experience for many.

Many of his students do not take to the streets for fear of having their expensive bikes stolen.

Simon

Simon is a longtime resident of Crown Heights, with family in the Bronx and a job that takes him to Sunset Park and Midtown. He relies on his bike to get to all three, with ample room for errands and friends along the way.

A member of the Oonee Atlantic Terminal community, he uses the pod whenever he is headed to a location near Downtown Brooklyn or the Mall. “If I can’t park, I won’t go there,” he says in reference to the fact that he likes to make sure the highly personalized $3,000 roadbike that takes him on these journeys is kept safe and left off the street.

Simon’s last bike was stolen in 2017 and like many New Yorkers, he is all too familiar with the specter of having to pay for a replacement.

That’s why he wants a network of bike parking facilities across New York.

Rells

Rells is a longtime member of our Atlantic Terminal community who relies on the pod to keep her bike safe during nights and evenings; she works as a food delivery worker for services like DoorDash and GrubHub during the day.

She’s is extremely outspoken about essential workers rights and the need to make the city more fair and equitable, especially for people of color. That’s why she’s so passionate about bike parking infrastructure like Oonee, which provides the public with secure bike parking and charging for free.

A future where essential workers have access to the bike infrastructure and facilities that allow them to do their jobs with dignity is part of the future that she’s fighting for.

Crystal

Crystal was born and raised in Prospect Heights and lives in the same house that her family has lived in for three generations. She is currently running to represent her community in the New York City Council.

She believes bike infrastructure like Oonee to be essential in communities like her own, where many residents and businesses rely upon bikes for transportation. She knows local small businesses owners who have had several expensive e-bikes stolen and are in desperate need of a solution like Oonee.

Crystal is fighting to make cycling a form of transportation that is safe, reliable, and affordable for everyone.

Timothy

Timothy is a recent CUNY graduate and serves as chairperson of CUNY University Student Senate. A lifelong resident of Brownsville, Timothy wants to see improved cycling infrastructure come to his community.

He sees the importance of cycling as an affordable means of transportation for low income communities, especially given the economic hardships Covid-19 has brought.

During Black Lives Matter protests, his bike which he fondly calls “Mint” was the primary way he and his friends traveled to and from the protests: “We basically protested with our bikes.”

Tim is also active bike commuter but is forced to lock up his bike on the street outside his office. He’s always worried that his bike won’t be there waiting for him at the end of the day.