May 12, 2009

Free bike rental opens downtown, May 13 to Sept. 30

Today is the first day you can register to borrow a free bike from the Downtown Alliance as part of its Bike Around Downtown program.

There are 30 bikes available every day from May 13 to Sept. 30.

There are three time slots for each day:

9:30 a.m. to noon
12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Bikes are free, but you must reserve with a credit card that will be used as a security deposit. (Be warned, the terms of use state: “Registrants give permission to Bike the Greenway LLC (dba Bike and Roll NYC) to charge their credit card in the amount of up to $300 per piece of lost/stolen equipment.”) In addition, if you return a bike late, you’ll be charged $2.50 per 15 minutes.

Bikes can be picked up at Bike and Roll’s kiosk at the South Street Seaport. You can return them to the same location, or at the Bike and Roll kiosks at Pier A in Battery Park, or 12th Avenue and 43rd Street, or on Governors Island, (which opens for the season on May 30.)

Reservations can be made up to 3 days in advance, and you can only have one pending reservation at a time - so no back-to-back rentals, schemers. However, when you’ve created an online account with the Downtown Alliance and given them your credit card, you can reserve up to four bikes (if friends or families are joining you for the same time slot.)

Helmets and locks are provided free to all riders.

May 12, 2009 11:15 AM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, Kids, Midtown, Sports

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