Citi Bike roll-out in Bay Ridge 96% complete
Update: as of November 27, forty-six of the new docks (96%) have been installed, with the rest expected to roll-out throughout all of Bay Ridge in Fall 2025.
Almost 50 new Citi Bike docks coming to Bay Ridge!
In early September 2025, DOT started installing the first of 48 new Citi Bike docks throughout Bay Ridge. This expansion finally brought North America’s largest and most successful bike share system to Bay Ridge twelve years after its first launch, and four years after Sunset Park was added to the service area.
It’s because of your direct action.
You SPOKE UP when it mattered most
The Transportation committee of CB10 held a community feedback meeting on NYC DOT’s proposed docking locations on Tuesday, June 10. In southern Brooklyn, it’s the committee meetings, not the full board meetings, where most of the decisions by the community boards are made, and therefore the best opportunity to demonstrate support.
Our ask to you was to show up in person and speak up in favor of Citi Bike expansion, and you came through. Good thing, because cycling opponents turned out their side, too — your support provided the crucial balance to the discussion and demonstrated local support for bikeshare.
You CALLED your Councilmember
Councilmember Brannan took to Facebook in May to voice strong support for the expansion plan, notably supporting the number of stations proposed and offerring reasonable critique over the precise placement of a few of them.
Our ask to you was to not take this kind of support for granted, and to call his office to thank him. Phone calls in these instances count so much more than emails, and again you came through!
Why is this important?
Proposals for bicycle infrastructure improvements typically face the greatest opposition after a firm proposal has been presented, and dissipates once they’ve been implemented and the world subsequently doesn’t end. But it is in this moment where such proposals are the most vulnerable at city agencies, and when elected officials get cold feet.
It’s important for people like you that have quietly supported such improvements all along to make sure YOUR voice is heard, and counter the opposition to biking that is often emotional rather than rational.
Background
Announcement: In December 2024, NYC DOT announced plans to expand Citi Bike into Bay Ridge as part of the “Phase 3.5 expansion.”
Proposal: After conducting outreach through late winter and early spring 2025, NYC DOT proposed 50 docking stations on street and sidewalk locations across Bay Ridge at a meeting of CB10’s transportation committee on May 15.
Number of stations: The spacing between stations is standard and core to NYC’s tried-and-true model for the most-used bikeshare system in North America, but still came as a shock to several members of the community board and public who don’t bike and have a difficult time relating to those that do.
Car Parking: A number of concerns were raised over feared parking loss, though they were overblown from the start: Citi Bike rollouts eliminate 0.5% of on-street car parking spaces (only 1 out of every 200), partly because of spacing, partly because of sidewalk and other parking-neutral installations.
Business worries: The local business group responsible for producing Bay Ridge’s wildly popular car-free Summer Stroll series has come out against any Citi Bike expansion for fears of loss of car-access to businesses.
Bottom Line
Common sense: Most of the hostility to Citi Bike and bicycle infrastructure in general is emotional rather than rational. Fortunately, the reasons to support the Citi Bike expansion pass the common sense test, too, in addition to having facts on our side.
Spacing is spread out: 50 docking locations spread across 35 blocks and seven avenues really isn’t that much – if anything, they’re spread too thin – and we’re urging DOT and elected officials to disregard noise that would water down the number of stations.
Bike parking is parking, too: There isn’t a reasonable argument against settling for 199 car parking spaces where 200 used to exist – and using the 200th space to increase the number of bike-share bikes from zero to up to 15.
Bike-share is pro-business: We support the merchant’s association and its constituent businesses in their overall mission, but data and common sense don’t back up their position here – there are plenty of studies that back up bikes being good for business, and areas of NYC that already have Citi Bike and protected bike lanes would have economically collapsed by now if they weren’t.
Project Timeline
- January 2021
- As part of the Phase 3 expansion that brought Citi Bike to the South Slope and Sunset Park, NYC DOT released its proposed locations for Citi Bike docks on the northern edge of Bay Ridge – the frontier of Phase 3. Docks were installed later in the year.
- December 2024
- Mayor Eric Adams administration and NYC Department of Transportation announce upcoming expansion of Citi Bike footprint billed as “Phase 3.5” — objective is to incrementally add neighborhoods on the fringes of the 2019-2024 Phase 3 expansion
- The entirety of Bay Ridge is included in the Phase 3.5 expansion area, along with Brownsville, East New York, Kensington (Brooklyn), Norwood, Riverdale (Bronx), and the western edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
- January – April 2025
- NYC DOT conducted research and outreach to support its selection of site for Bay Ridge’s bike share docks, which included an online feedback portal, in-person outreach at locations such as the Brooklyn Public Library, and in-person visits to each prospective site.
- May 2025
- NYC DOT presents it initial list of 50 proposed locations for Citi Bike docks, stretching from the existing line along 66th and 67th Streets all the way south to the Verrazzano Bridge, and between the New York Harbor to the west and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the east.
- Spaced at the same intervals as other dock installations throughout NYC, 30 proposed locations are either on sidewalks or on the streetbed in parking-restricted locations; the remaining 20 docks are expected to replace one or two car parking spaces each.
- NYC DOT presents it initial list of 50 proposed locations for Citi Bike docks, stretching from the existing line along 66th and 67th Streets all the way south to the Verrazzano Bridge, and between the New York Harbor to the west and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the east.
- June 2025
- Brooklyn Community Board 10 holds a feedback session in a packed room at its district office (plus some attendees on Zoom)
- By our rough/unverified accounting, 11 residents spoke in favor of Citi Bike expansion, 16 opposed, plus three mixed or site-specific comments
- At the end of the meeting, CB10’s transportation committee adopted a resolution to support the plan with minor stipulations, to be considered by the full board one week later
- The full board made an amendment to one of the stipulations, and then passed the resolution of support with all board members present in favor
- Brooklyn Community Board 10 holds a feedback session in a packed room at its district office (plus some attendees on Zoom)
- September 2025
- Installation of the first new dock began
Additional Resources
Initial dock location proposal as of May 2025 (NYC DOT)
Citi Bike expansion Phase 3.5 announcement (NYC Office of the Mayor)
News report from 2017 regarding pro-Citi Bike petition with 700+ signatures (Brooklyn Paper)
May 2025 presentation by NYC DOT to CB10 and first round of resident feedback (YouTube)