Summer Network Development Update
An inside look into our placement pipeline and real estate strategy
We began this project with four fundamental policy truths.
Foremost, we recognized that cycling would never become a mainstream mode of transportation in New York unless secure parking & convenience facilities were both commonplace and affordable. There is so much room for cycling to grow, London recorded 2.5 million daily trips in 2018, more than 5x higher than paltry 490,000 statistic that was recorded within the five boroughs during 2017.
Traditionally, planners and activists have focused on creating a bicycle lanes and a way to entice more riders onto the streets, and there is ample data to show that this strategy has yielded results. But there is also evidence that an infrastructure ecosystem, with specific emphasis on secure parking and charging, is similarly as important. To grow adoption, a transit mode must be safe, convineint and reliable. While cycling has undoubtedly become safer, the experience is often cumbersome, depressing and chaotic.
It’s estimated that about half of all active urban riders experience theft, and a significant portion of those actually never replace their bicycles. New York records up to 75,000 stolen bicycles each year and the City’s own data continues to show that the lack of secure parking (and all of the corresponding negative effects) are a leading barrier to widespread adoption.
London isn’t just far ahead by pure happenstance, the city has invested in a cycle parking at major transit parking facilities and has implemented more than 1000 secure bicycle “hangers” along its residential streets.
This is a major blindspot that we must tackle if cycling is to truly thrive in New York.
The Need for a Dense Network
Secondly, if we are to invest in secure parking facilities, we must ensure that most cyclists can actually use them. New York is a vast metropolis, with 307 square miles in the five boroughs alone. The average cyclist is only willing to walk a few blocks to get parking, we call this the walkback zone.
Citibike, which is regarded as the nation’s best planned bikeshare network, was built on a similar assumption. Stations are packed into a dense contiguous network; each kiosk is only about 2–3 blocks from another.
To achieve any significant impact on the experience, secure cycle parking facilities must emulate this network driven approach. One large, dense network of easy to use stations.
Leveraging Public Space
The sheer scale of the network requires the usage of public space. While there will always be a place for private parking within buildings, public parking is an important supplement. Like bikeshare, transit and even on-street parking for cars, cycle infrastructure must have a streetscape presence to be useful.
For this reason, a bevy of additional underlying implications must also be considered including design, placemaking compatibility and operational strategy.
The Need for External Funding
No large city in the world has truly committed to building this important cycling infrastructure on any appreciable scale. New York, which has hesitated to even use public financing for bikeshare, is very unlikely to dedicate the large amounts of capital needed to finance and operate a dense network of cycle parking facilities anytime soon.
Private capital is needed to finance this infrastructure if it is to truly scale.
Implementation Strategy
New York, as is the case with many other major cities, typically enacts major streetscape schemes via franchise. Under this model a major company bids for the right to operate a city-sanctioned program with sponsorship or advertising as a key source of revenue; the City gets free top-quality infrastructure and a revenue share. The bus shelters, newsstands, LinkNYC and Citibike were all birthed via this mechanism.
Unfortunately, there are two significant problems with this approach for our work. First, franchise agreements and RFPs can take years to put together and the City has shown no desire to incorporate cycle parking facilities into a such a structure anytime soon.
Secondly, we’re a small company, and would be ill-positioned to participate in such a large process anytime soon. We don’t have the money and we certainly don’t have years to wait.
A Grassroots Approach
Absent a franchise driven master planning process we sought to engage public and private landowners on an opportunistic basis. The first locations would be the hardest, but once there is established traction, a compounding network effect would encourage more property holders to come online. As a result of this dynamic, a majority of our time at Oonee is spent pursuing real estate deals and convincing property owners to place a kiosk within their public spaces. The sales cycle tends to be long and entire affair can be capricious; it’s not uncommon for a lead to go dormant for months only to re-emerge later.
The most significant risk, however, is regulatory. Without government support, each installation would have to go through an arduous approval process. This back and forth eventually doomed the our inaugural station at Water-Whitehall and threatens to complicate and slow our deployment at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn.
Our ideal scenario would be to formulate a partnership with a government agency for a pilot of 10–15 units, with the ability to scale thereafter. We had hoped that once we demonstrated the viability of the technology and operational method, the rationale would be clear, and the path to growth would be streamlined.
This is why our recently announced a partnership with the Port Authority is so exciting. The agency controls large amounts of state-owned land throughout the metropolitan region and has the ability to set its own regulations — we regard this as an important path to potential scale.
Conversely, it’s also why the Department of Transportation’s reticence to streamline regulations and implement a pilot has been so dispiriting. The City of New York, and specifically the DOT, control large amounts of property throughout the five boroughs in high density locations. This includes on-street space, plazas, the areas around subway stations and much more. I sincerely hope that we’ll be able to come to a place of understanding with them in the future.
Our pitch to property owners
Property owners are the primary “customers” of our project; without their buy-in there can be no cyclists and there can be no sponsorship. Therefore, we designed our pitch to anticipate all the traditional counter arguments from landlords. The highly customizable premium modular design could fit into a wide variety of architectural frameworks, and the placemaking amenities would ensure that the kiosk would enhance the surrounding public space. We design, build and operate the kiosk so there is no burden on the landowner. In fact, we actually pay the landlord a revenue share on the sponsorship — which can amount to more than $20,000 annually in some locations.
The end result is a free amenity that burnishes green bonafides and produces passive revenue for the property. Not to mention a key node in a growing network of cycling infrastructure.
Currently there are three confirmed locations for Oonee and at least fifteen others in the works. In the succeeding paragraphs, we’ll provide a few details and insights on each. To protect the integrity of the process, we will conceal the identity of the community partner(s) in cases where there has not been a public acknowledgement of a potential installation.
Journal Square & Port Authority Pilot: Confirmed
In August we will complete installation of a kiosk at the PATH Journal Square Transportation Center in Jersey City. At launch, the kiosk will provide secure parking for twenty bicycles and up to five scooters at a time.
Cyclists will pay $4.99 per month in order to park their bicycles at the kiosk, with the first month being free. A pump will also be available, at no cost, for members that wish to refill their tires with air.
The kiosk will be Jersey City’s first dedicated secure cycle parking facility.
The installation will serve the PATH Transportation Hub, which sees about 45,000 commuters per day. Other nearby locations include PATH Headquarters, Hudson County Community College, which serves nearly 10,000 students, a range of private offices and Blink Fitness.
There is major demand for cycling facilities at Journal Square all year round and local media notes that there have been numerous reports of bicycle theft throughout the course of the year.
We will work with the PATH to evaluate demand at the site and to add capacity accordingly.
Atlantic Terminal & Barclays Center: Confirmed
In late August, we will complete an installation of a kiosk at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Terminal. The kiosk will feature space for twenty bicycles and, eventually, up to five scooters (depending on the legalization of e-scooters in New York).
The facility will also offer charging for e-bicycles and an air-pump for tires.
Membership (first-come-first-served)will be priced at $4.99 per month, with the first month available for free. Day passes will also be available for under $1 per twenty-four hour period. Pre-registration is available at this link.
We are currently working with the property owner, Madison International Reality, and the New York City Department of Buildings (“DOB”) to ensure the structure has the proper permits prior to construction, the final remaining hurdle. Our kiosk design is innovative and unfamiliar to DOB and we are working to make sure that it is compliant with the requisite zoning regulations.
As the kiosk will be defined as a building, there are a bevy of codes that are typically applied. For example, most new buildings are required to have their own bathrooms and sprinkler systems. Since our kiosk is not able to incorporate those elements, we’ll be working with the City and DOB to determine if some exceptions can be granted.
The installation will serve some of the busiest destinations in Brooklyn; the three block radius includes the MTA Atlantic Avenue Barclays Center Subway and LIRR Hub, the Barclays Center, The Atlantic Terminal Mall and Office Complex, as well as numerous residences and smaller neighborhood institutions.
Queens Place Mall: Coming Soon
We have worked with Madison International Realty to secure a location at Queens Place Mall in Elmhurst. First announced in January, the kiosk will provide secure parking and charging for twenty bicycles at a time, available on first-come-first-served basis.
Interest from local brands and sponsors in this location has not materialized as quickly as we’d hoped. To our surprise, although many brands are very comfortable with Brooklyn and Manhattan, there is decidedly less interest in Elmhurst. Given the fact that our model relies on sponsorship for revenue, this lack of interest has made it difficult to attain financing for installation.
Regardless, we will continue to work to identify the right sponsor(s) for this location and hope to be able to announce a launch date soon. We’re especially interested in pursuing Queens-based brands as an avenue towards sponsorship.
The Queens Place walkback zone includes two subway stations, and one boroughs largest retail destinations. The kiosk is also located along one of the busiest streets in Queens: Queens Blvd.
Due to a variety of factors, there are a number of potential locations that are on hold throughout Manhattan. The common thread is that each of these locations are on property that is directly controlled by the City of New York and administered by the Department of Transportation. While we were initially optimistic that secure cycle parking stations like Oonee would be allowed to draw revenue from sponsorship, that permission has not materialized.
Without the right to have sponsorship space on the exterior of the kiosk, with clearly defined guidelines, these installations will not be able to generate nearly enough revenue for the capital cost of the kiosk, and then later for upkeep and maintenance. As a consequence, our inaugural location at Water-Whitehall is scheduled to be removed later this week.
We hope to work with the City of New York and the Department of Transportation to find a way forward on these locations eventually.
Water-Whitehall: Scheduled To Close
The Water-Whitehall installation, which first opened in Spring 2018, is slated to close later this week. The installation has proven extremely popular with the community and has nearly 200 monthly pass users.
We hope to work with the Downtown Alliance and the Department of Transportation to find a way to bring the Water Whitehall station back once sponsorship regulations are clarified.
The Water-Whitehall installation was located within close proximity of the South Ferry Terminal and Subway station, which provide service to nearly 100,000 commuters each day. More than 50,000 jobs are located within walking distance of the kiosk, as are several apartment buildings. The kiosk generated no complaints from the community, a significant accomplishment for a new, large piece of cycling infrastructure.
As the first secure parking hub for bikes in New York, Water-Whitehall proved that this kind of infrastructure can work well in an urban setting.
Herald Square: On Hold
We’ve been working closely with community partners to implement a kiosk in Herald Square. The kiosk would provide 30 bicycle parking spaces, available on first-come-first-served basis. The planned kiosk would have also provided limited charging for bikes and scooters.
Placemaking amenities would have included plantings, color changing ambient lighting, seating and rooftop greenery.
Unfortunately, we are unable to continue moving forward with this installation unless the Department of Transportation and The City of New York are able to permit media sponsorship on the exterior of the kiosk.
A Herald Square installation would have been within walking distance to a significant portion of the Midtown South community, including the 34th Street shopping district, more than 50,000 jobs as well as Madison Square Garden. The 34th Street-Herald Square Subway Station, one of the system’s busiest, would have been less than a block from the installation, while Penn Station would have been at the edge of the primary walkback zone.
We hope to work with our community partners, and the City to permit sponsorship and eventually make this installation a reality.
Times Square: On Hold
We were in the process of working with community partners to consider an installation in the Times Square area. The kiosk would have provided secure parking for between 20–30 bicycles, as well as a number of other amenities including e-bike charging, seating and greenery.
Unfortunately, we are unable to continue moving forward with this installation unless the Department of Transportation and The City of New York are able to permit media sponsorship on the exterior of the kiosk.
The installation would have been in close proximity to the Times Square entertainment and retail district. Several subway stations, including the city’s busiest are located within the primary walkback zone. We would have eventually hoped to expand the footprint at this location once demand warranted or work with the community partner to add additional locations within the District.
We hope to work with the City of New York and the Department of Transportation to permit sponsorship so this location can become a reality.
Grand Central & Pershing Square: On Hold
We’ve been working with community partners to activate the Pershing Square Plaza with an Oonee installation. The installation would feature enough space for 20–25 bicycles along with space for retail towards the street. The kiosk would also feature a number of placemaking amenities including seating, greenery, e-bike charging and cell phone charging.
Unfortunately, we are unable to continue moving forward with this installation unless the Department of Transportation and The City of New York are able to permit media sponsorship on the exterior of the kiosk.
In addition to Grand Central Terminal, the immediate walkback area includes nearly 100,000 jobs and other top destinations such as the New York Public Library.
We hope to work with the New York City Department of Transportation to eventually make this location a reality.
Lower East Side- Delancey Plaza: On Hold
We were in conversations with a community partner to activate two public spaces in the Lower East Side; Delancey Plaza and Straus Plaza. Both of the Plazas are located within densely populated portions of the community, but would offer coverage to very different sections of the neighborhood.
The Delancey Plaza kiosk would offer secure parking for between 60–100 bicycles and would come with a range of amenities including e-bike charging, seating, a repair station and some concierge & valet services (provided in partnership with a local bicycle shop). On the exterior of the kiosk, there would be ambient lighting and cell phone charging, along with other amenities.
The proposed kiosk would have been within walking distance of several major new developments as well as thousands of homes, offices and small businesses.
We hope to work with the Department of Transportation and the City of New York to permit sponsorship on the kiosk and help us make these locations a reality.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is one of the largest landowners in the Greater New York City Area, with holdings in two boroughs and in the Garden State. We are set to launch our first installation in partnership with the agency in August and are actively exploring launches across their portfolio once the pilot is a success.
With such a large and diverse footprint, and few of the advertising & sponsorship restrictions that inhibit New York City agencies, the Port Authority has the potential to be a game changer for cyclists on both sides of the river. Their properties include everything from major transit hubs, to office complexes and subway stations. We are excited to work with them to implement Oonee across their portfolio.
Generally speaking, some of the key opportunities for Oonee in partnership with the Port Authority include:
PATH System
With thirteen stations and nearly 300,000 daily riders, the PATH is an important transportation lifeline for New Jersey commuters. The system carries people through Hudson and Essex county’s population centers and also into Manhattan.
While some of the Port Authority stations do not have significant open real estate around them, others are quite spacious, especially on the New Jersey side. These include Newport, Hoboken, Journal Square, Grove Street and Exchange Place.
We look forward to working with the Port Authority to consider the placement of additional kiosks on PATH facilities
World Trade Center
The Port Authority is the key landowner at the World Trade Center. The WTC is a 15 acre cultural, office and retail complex in the heart of Downtown Manhattan. In addition to the growing office complex, which holds more than 50,000 jobs, the WTC is a major transportation hub and destination in its own right, with more than 300,000 daily commuters and thousands more daily visitors.
Bus Terminals
The Port Authority operates two major commuter bus terminals in Manhattan; the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the George Washington Bus Terminal.
Utilized by over 225,000 daily passengers, the Port Authority Bus Terminal is the busiest in the world by volume of traffic. It’s located in the heart of Midtown, only an avenue away from Times Square.
The smaller George Washington Bus Terminal sees over 1,000 bus daily bus departures and is located at the eastern end of the George Washington Bridge
Aviation and AirTrain
The Port Authority operates the region’s three major airports and the JFK AirTrain. While some may not consider airports to be a prime candidate for secure cycle parking, these are the employment centers for thousands of workers, and many more visit the terminals each day for business.
The AirTrain stations, which are located throughout Queens, also provide an opportunity for Oonee installations, which could serve travelers, workers and the community at large.
Lincoln & Holland Tunnels
The Port Authority owns the land directly above and surrounding the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels. This includes large parcels of space in Manhattan’s Hudson Square and Midtown. Some of these locations are development sites others are parking lots or greenspace.
Waterfront Developments
The Port Authority operates a number of other major developments including waterfront developments in Queens (Hunterspoint) and in Hoboken.
There are a number of projects in our pipeline that are either in the earlier stages of planning and development. Generally, these projects are on either private property or property controlled by the state. The process of real estate acquisition can be slow and somewhat whimsical; a project can be on a slow-moving track for quite some time, and then suddenly take a leap forward with a phone call.
So while these projects are generally in the preliminary phases of planning, with only a handful of conversations taking place, we are continuing to press forward and hope to convince the property owners to allow for the placement of secure cycle parking infrastructure on their properties as quickly as possible.
Moynihan Station: Delayed
We began working with community organizations in 2018 to consider bringing secure cycle parking facilities to Moynihan Station (aka Penn Station). Though serving Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and the LIRR, Moynihan Station is controlled by the Empire State Development Corporation, which is a subsidiary of the State of New York. We were initially optimistic that we could formalize an agreement in the Spring of 2019, with a placement coming in the summer, but staff turnover within the community and at the state has substantially delayed the project.
Generally speaking, these projects rely on individual champions within the organization at the staff level to push forward. Losing one or more of these people, especially in a placement as complex as this one, can result in a loss of momentum or a cancellation of the project. We’re hoping to re-engage New York State and the community organizations around this placement.
The proposed kiosk was to be located within one (or both) of the station’s plazas and would have accommodated up to 30 bicycles. At the front of the kiosk would have been retail space for a local business. The installation would have included other amenities including seating, greenery, charging for e-bikes and scooters and a basic repair station for bicycles.
In addition to the Penn Station complex, the kiosk would be located in close proximity to a number of employment hubs, Madison Square Garden, and the 34th Street shopping and entertainment district.
South Street Seaport: It’s Complicated
We have long maintained an interest in activating the East River Greenway, especially in Lower Manhattan where there are large amounts of open and underutilized spaces directly adjacent to a major cycling route, and employment hub.
The most natural location for a preliminary activation along this corridor is South Street Seaport area, which lays at the nexus of a retail and entertainment complex, as well as NYC Ferry to the South.
Despite being an obvious location for activation, the stakeholder web is complex. On the governmental side, the City’s Economic Development Corporation and Parks Department control the space. On the private side, much of the land is ground-leased to Howard Hughes, a major developer, which is building out the Seaport complex.
We’ve been in preliminary conversations with all three stakeholders about activating the corridor, and there is interest. Given the web of city and privately leased property, however, there are still quite a few of the regulatory challenges to work through.
The first installation along the corridor would have accommodated between 50–100 bicycles and would have also provided a range of placemaking amenities including seating, greenery, benches, e-bike charging and ambient lighting.
Battery Park City & East River Greenway: Early Stages
Like the East River Greenway, we consider the Hudson River Greenway to be a primary target corridor for Oonee. As the busiest cycling route in the country, the Greenway has copious amounts of open space, and is in close proximity to a number of attractions and destinations on the West Side of Manhattan.
This is most true along the lower portion of the route as it makes its way through Lower Manhattan and Battery Park City.
Since 2017, we’ve had off and on again conversations with a number of community groups about bringing Oonee to those portions of the route. Our efforts have largely focused on locations below Chambers Street; the World Financial Center and down to Battery Place.
At these locations, there is a large amount of open space, as well as dense mixed use development. Through our engagement with the community, we’ve projected that there would be an extremely high demand for secure cycle parking for on the part of the local residents and on the part of inbound commuters.
Since our deployment at Water-Whitehall, conversations with the Battery Park City Authority have paused for a bit. We hope to re-engage them soon, so a pilot can move forward.
Hudson Yards: Preliminary Conversations
We’ve been working closely with community actors to consider one or more placements within Hudson Yards. As a new and rapidly growing neighborhood, Hudson Yards needs this kind of cycling infrastructure. We hope to continue the conversations and have a more thorough update soon.
Jay-Street MetroTech: Preliminary Conversations
Downtown Brooklyn, the city’s third largest business district, is an ideal location for a cycle parking hub. With nearly 100,000 jobs and 60,000 college students, as well as a burgeoning creative scene the neighborhood’s cycling infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with growth.
Since April, we’ve been working with local property owners to consider placements around the MetroTech Campus, which lays at the heart of the District. Our efforts have largely centered on the entrance to MetroTech, which features a significant NYU presence, an entrance into one of the borough’s busiest subway stations and a number of large office buildings.
We will continue to engage with local groups and property owners, and hope to finalize details soon.
I hope this information has been helpful, please feel free to shoot us an e-mail with questions at info@ooneepod.com, We love to chat!
