Mayor Bloomberg Recommends

Hi, my name is Levi. I am a Bike The Big Apple tour guide who will also be sharing experiences from my bike tours. This is my first posting......
For the first time in Bike The Big Apple's history...... a customer got a totally candid photo of Mayor Bloomberg. And the best part was that he was in a tree of all places. Our tour stopped at City Hall to talk about the mayor's workplace when we were pleasently surprised to see our city's mayor posing in a tree in the backyard of City Hall. He was being photographed for a piece in Time Magazine by professional photographers. He was also photographed by Jeroen Smits from our tour (above left photo). After several minutes of trying to look as mayoral as possible, Bloomberg carefully stepped out of the tree onto a ladder and decended back to the earth. There was a young couple that had just married across the street at the Municipal Building whom were watching the mayor just as we were. The newlywed bride said to Bloomberg, "Mr. Mayor, we just got married! Could you take a photo with us?" He smiled and came over to pose for a picture with the couple. Bloomberg asked them where they were going on their honeymoon and the woman told the mayor that they were going to Milan (photo below). Mayor Bloomberg told them that he was recently in Milan and then proceeded to recommend various restaurants to eat at in Milan. Just the idea of being recommended to go to a restaurant by a billionaire mayor is hilarious and we were fortunate enough to witness this exchange actually occur. Great photos Jeroen!

Eccentric Eddie Lives On

Our day began with what could be our last stop ever at the 'Toy Tower' in the East Village. Sadly, this local landmark is due to be torn down any day now. Although, knowing the way the city moves, I wouldn't be surprised if it hung around for a bit. Here, our groups sheds a tear for Eddie, its creator, who's mischievous ways seemed to permeate the city on this spring Tuesday.Eddie's eccentric spirit stuck with us the rest of the day as we encountered one odd thing after another. In DUMBO we met a woman walking her piglets!? I'm not sure why they squirmed away from me, but after one sniff they acted like I was the one who smelled and headed in the other direction.
In Red Hook, I intended to take the group to one of my favorite stops--- a huge warehouse full of cars used for movie shoots. Last week, this warehouse had police cars and buses from every decade; pimped out cars and burnt out cars; taxi cabs and Cadillacs; and it was home to Thomas the Train. This week it was all gone. It was amazing. Just one big empty warehouse about 1 km in length. I have a hard time imagining how they removed all those cars in one week and I wonder where they are now. After snooping around a bit, a van pulled in the entrance and suspiciously approached. Upon realizing that we meant no harm, he explained that the "City Office of Redevelopment" was evicting them and then he tried to sell us their old office furniture.
After leaving the warehouse, we looped around the back of the building only to stumble upon something else I'd never seen before. Moored to this normally empty Red Hook shore line was looked to be a massive Naval submarine. My guess is that it also had something to do with movie shoots although I really have no idea.I have looked into these things (the disappearance of the cars and the random appearance of the 'submarine') but found nothing so far. If anyone hears anything, let me know. I look forward to the new changes that are sure to await us next time we're down in Red Hook.

More bikes on Mothers Day!

Thirteen riders from Holland, Belgium, Denmark, and Germany joined Wendy and I for Mothers Day in Harlem. Although Mothers Day falls on different dates in each of these countries they had no problem getting into the spirit of the day. The energy in Harlem seems to have this effect on the even the biggest 'Mothers Day scrooges' (if there is such a thing). I did not have my camera today but I hope that pictures will soon be provided by other riders because if there is ever an occasion for your Sunday best, it certainly Mothers Day in Harlem! Last Saturday, 46 Dutch fietsers (aka cyclists) joined Levi and I on a great Brooklyn ride. We all met for lunch on Bedford Avenue. If you've ever been on Bedford Avenue you'd know that there's hardly space to lock one bike, let alone 50. However, Levi, Mark, Craig, and I were up to the task and found a great empty wall along a Brooklyn Industries mural (see above).

In order to fit 50 bikes on this heavily trafficed sidewalk, our bikes on May 3rd needed to be a lot more organized than the bike chaos you see in the bike painting above. I know my loyal readers come to this blog to read about the bike tours, but I have to digress for a minute and share the newest addition to my apartment. Thanks, Mom, for the great birthday gift and happy Mothers Day!

Back to our great ride last Saturday: These fietsers were definately my kind of people-- they were in town to ride for several days in a row AND they had no qualms about bringing their lunch leftovers along with them while riding! A few hours after lunch, we all enjoyed second lunch on the beautiful Pratt campus. Ride. Eat. Ride. Eat. Ride. Who could ask for more?

Bike Month Begins!

May is bike month in New York City and business is certainly beginning to reflect this. Despite the threat of rain and the chilly weather on Friday, all 49 participants showed up for a Tour A that had reached its capacity. Levi, Pat, Richard, and I split these riders from all over the world into 4 groups and took to the streets-- ready with bags full of ponchos, hats, and gloves (in May!).
While the sweeping views from Long Island City were hampered a bit by the fog, this rider from Berlin still took the opportunity got a photo of the U.N. with her Subway pass. You'll have to join us on Tour A to find out why in the world she'd do something like that!

If the group wasn't blown away by the great views that Tour A normally offers, our visit to 5pointz got them excited. Fifteen people literally gasped in unison as we entered the rear courtyard of this artist enclave and graffiti heaven.

Later in the day, we took the opportunity to warm up in one of my favorite galleries in Williamsburg. This month they are featuring remote control plants as part of a larger exhibit. I'm glad all of our participants were better at riding bikes than they were at driving these durable little remote control plants. Those things took a beating.

Stay tuned for more posts from recent weeks. Its been busy and there's lots more to share!