Citi Bike To Expand Network In Harlem

HARLEM, NY — Get ready to see more Citi bikes in Harlem. Starting this month the bike share program will begin an expansion that will bring the blue bikes up to 130th Street, officials announced Tuesday.

On Sept 12. the city Department of Transportation will begin installing 140 new Citi Bike stations within the city, many of which will pop up in Harlem. The expansion project will add 2,000 bikes to the citywide fleet, officials said Tuesday.

"With this round of Citi Bike expansion, bike share will now cover more than 30 square miles, with more New Yorkers able to take advantage of this fast, affordable, convenient and sustainable transportation option," DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said in a statement. "More than just adding neighborhoods to the bike share network, Citi Bike is also bringing more bikes and stations to already established neighborhoods."

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The DOT will begin installing the new bike docks in Harlem and then continue on to areas of Queens and Brooklyn, a department spokesman told Patch. Citi Bike docks currently reach as far north in Manhattan as 110th Street, according to the program's bike station map.

New bike docks will become active as soon as they are installed, a DOT spokesman told Patch. The city will review the size of all new stations in the system and makes adjustments if needed, the spokesman said.

"As we proceed with phase two of Citi Bike’s expansion, we celebrate one of the most successful public private partnerships in the history of our city," Jay Walder, president and CEO of Motivate — the company that operates Citi Bike — said in a statement."

"By working in partnership with the Department of Transportation, we’ve been able to create more than 450 good new jobs, we’ve engaged New Yorkers and visitors in a healthy, fun and safe way to get around the city, and we’ve been able to turn urban bike share from an interesting experiment into a crucial component of our city’s transit network."

The Citi Bike expansion is expected to be complete by the end of the year, a DOT spokesman told Patch. Once the expansion is completed the Citi Bike program will have more than 700 stations and about 12,000 bikes in New York City.

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