Why We Need This
New York City has spent decades—and billions—building bike lanes. Yet for many riders, the experience remains fragmented: a protected lane here, a painted stripe there, too often ending at a stressful arterial or a crowded park drive. The result is a bike network that exists mostly in pieces, not as a coherent whole. Grayways offers a simple, practical fix.
Overview
Grayways is a proposal calling on the NYC Departments of Transportation and Parks & Recreation to designate a 600 mile recreational weekend bike network—representing some ten percent of NYC’s 6,000 miles of roadway—that connects parks, neighborhoods, and transit hubs across the city.
Instead of starting from scratch, it stitches together what New York already has: existing bike lanes, quiet residential streets, lightly used commercial areas, and park connections into a “capillary” network.
The concept is adapts the East Coast Greenway model by mapping the entire network, through bike-friendly legislation and GPS wayfinding. In addition:
- Routes would be GPS-mapped and recognized as official NYC bike routes
- Speed limits for all vehicles could be capped at 15 mph
- Cyclists could yield at stop signs
- A defined three-foot safe-passing standard would apply
These are not radical ideas; they are widely used tools that calm traffic, improve safety, and make streets more accessible for everyone.
MUTCD, Joe Lertola.
The proposed network currently comprises 27 routes spanning the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. They range from seven to 47 miles, averaging about 28 miles—long enough to feel like a destination, not just a commute.
They mostly avoid already overcrowded facilities like Central and Prospect Park Drives, the Hudson Greenway, and the Coney Island and FDR boardwalks.
The routes also seek to minimize use of arterial roadways. Rather, it is a capillary network of low traffic streets that connects neighborhoods to the city’s marquee parks and green spaces.
The network features local food stops, leverages ferries and subways, and incorporates playgrounds at regular intervals as rest stops. And it provides a roadmap to expand bike-share to the outer boroughs.
“There may be nothing more frustrating for a cyclist or advocate than a bike lane to nowhere—one that ends in a dangerous roadway, or at an intimidating intersection, or only exists for a block or two.” — League of American Bicyclists
Easy to Jump-Start
The first iteration could be launched almost immediately by publishing GPS routes on NYC.gov. That alone would benefit New Yorkers who already cycle and are comfortable riding in city traffic. As routes gain acceptance, targeted upgrades would follow, expanding access to a greater percentage of city residents.
Alta Planning + Design.
Cheaper to Upgrade
This incremental approach is also fiscally smart. NYCDOT’s own data shows that adding a standard bike lane to a low-stress road achieves nearly the same harm reduction as building a fully protected lane on a high-stress road.
New York City Department of Transportation.
A network built around calmer streets is cheaper to implement and easier to improve over time. Proven, low-cost strategies include:
- Crowd-sourced feedback
- Integrating new DOT projects as regular road maintenance
- Adding leading pedestrian interval (“LPI”) signals at major crossings
- Designating bicycle cut-throughs to reconnect cul-de-sacs and bypass sections of high-traffic arteries
Douglas Rd> Milden Ave, Aqueduct Raceway> Home Depot>Rockaway Blvd
Make it Fun!
Why does this matter? Because most people bike for recreation, not commuting. Nationally, twice as many ride for fun as for transportation. In New York, state and city surveys show strong interest in bike tourism and recreational riding—especially trips that feel safe, scenic, and connected.
The NYSERDA-Urban Cycling Solutions NY Cycling Census, found that “a third of respondents currently use their bikes for tourism purposes and that most are very likely to.”
If the City wants increase the percentage of residents and tourists who bike, it should create the infrastructure that supports how most people ride.
“U.S. Bicycling Participation Benchmarking Study, 2015, People for Bikes (p.22)
Improve Public Health
Designation of a weekend recreational network across NYC would comprise a highly cost effective public health intervention, potentially delivering quality-adjusted-life-years at a fraction of typical health care standards often referenced at ~$50,000–$150,000 per QALY.
Extend Access to Green Space
Grayways would dramatically expand access to green space. It supports Parks & Recreation’s Walk to a Park goal by making far-flung parks—like Shirley Chisholm State Park or Orchard Beach—reachable without a car.
It advances the vision of Parks Without Borders by treating the journey itself as part of the park experience.
And by shifting recreational cycling away from already saturated routes like Central and Prospect Parks and Hudson Greenway, it would ease crowding during peak weekends and holidays.
Hamilton Beach
Benefit Underserved Constituencies
The equity benefits are just as compelling. A citywide recreational network would bring safe exercise and low-cost mobility to neighborhoods with limited access to green space.
It would bridge transportation deserts, reduce household travel costs and strengthen the “safety in numbers” effect that makes cycling safer as participation grows.
Civic Bike Commuting Research Project (CiBiC)
Create Jobs, Develop Local Economies
There is also real economic upside. Cycle tourism contributed $83 billion annually in direct spending to the U.S. economy. Even a modest share of that activity represents hundreds of millions of dollars annually for New York City.
Studies consistently show that proximity to bikeways increases property values, and local bike shops are heavily dependent heavily on recreational riders.
It would also give bike-share providers a roadmap for expanding service into the outer boroughs. And give bridge operators incentive to enable cycling across the city’s arterial crossings.
Map by Marcel Moran, data from 2023 American Community Survey
Reduce Vehicle Miles Travels and Carbon Emissions
Encouraging recreational trips by bike reduces vehicle miles traveled. Applying models developed by NYCDOT and Transportation Alternatives to assess reductions in vehicle miles traveled and the EPA to assess changes in carbon emissions associated with Grayways yields the following:
| Lower | ~10,500,000 miles | ~4,200 tons CO₂ |
| Higher | ~14,300,000 miles | ~5,720 tons CO₂ |
Enhance Resilience
In an era of extreme weather, pandemics, and infrastructure failures, a connected bike network provides critical redundancy when other systems are stressed.
New York does not need another bike lane to nowhere. It needs a network that makes sense—one that invites people to ride, explore, and connect. Grayways offers exactly that: a fast, affordable way to turn scattered infrastructure into a citywide asset.
The streets are already there. It’s time to connect them.
Brookville Park
Resources
- Draft City Council Bill (PDF)
- Route Collection (RidewithGPS)
- Quantification as public health intervention (Mailman School for Public Health)
- Estimated reduction in vehicle miles traveled (NYCDOT, Transportation Alternatives)
- Estimated reduction in CO2 emissions (EPA)
- Proposal to expand bike capacity on early NYC Ferrys to Bay Ridge and Rockaway (NYCEDC)
- one-pager (PDF)
- RidewithGPS> print cue sheet converter (Roboviva)
Other Bicycle Master Plans
Urban – Transport for London Strategic Cycling Analysis, Regional Plan Association Jamaica Bay Greenway, 1997 NYC Bicycle Master Plan, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative—Greenway Adventures, San Francisco Slow Streets, NYC Council Intro 0291-2022 – CityWide Greenway Bill, 34th Avenue Open Street, Chicago Cycling Plan 2020, Benching Bike Networks, League of American Bicyclists, Cycling in New York, London, Paris, and Berlin before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Suburban – Somerset (NJ) Walk-Bike-Hike, Bergen (NJ) Parks Master Plan, Suffolk County Hike And Bike Master Plan, Bike Hunterdon
Rural – Small and Rural Multimodal Networks, USDOT-FHWA
Scenic Roads – CT Scenic Roads, NY Scenic Byways, Taste NY Cuisine and Beverage Trails
Extended Routes – U.S. Bicycle Route System, NY Bicycle Route System, NY BR Viewer, Old Croton Aqueduct State Park, Empire State Trail, High Point (NJ) to Cape May Bike Route, East Coast Greenway, RPA Tri-State Trail Network, LAB Benchmarking Bike Networks
Regional Plan Association Five Borough Bikeway
Organizations in Support (19)
Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey, Black Girls Do Bike: NYC, Ciclistas Latinoamericanos de New York, Empire Tri Club, Five Boro Bike Club, Huntington Bicycle Club, I Challenge Myself, InTandem Bike, Kids Ride Club, Long Island Randonneurs, Morris Area Freewheelers, New York Cycle Club, NYC Velo, OutCycling, Open Plans, QNS Social Ride, NYC Mountain Bike Association, Staten Island Bicycling Association, Team Red White & Blue
Neile Weissman heads up Complete George, which was formed in 2013 to advocate for modern bikeways across the George Washington Bridge. We continue to call for laws and infrastructure that support the growth of cycling.
North-South County Trailway. Image Alex Lektchinov.