By Sheryl McCarthy

Newsday, July 23, 1987
 
 

Bike messenger John Mera was among a dozen cyclists who gathered outsideCity Hall yesterday to protest the city's plan to ban bicycles in midtown.

"It's stupid," said Mera, 21, a courier for Cycle Service Center inManhattan. "Fifth Avenue, that's a lot of business. If they close FifthAvenue, we lose time and money."

 In a 90-day experiment to begin Aug. 24, bicycles will be bannedfrom Fifth, Park and Madison Avenues between 31st and 59th Streets duringbusiness hours. The program is aimed at reducing accidents between bicyclistsand cars and pedestrians.

Rick Abedon was at 36th and Madison yesterday making a delivery forPrime Time Messenger Service when he learned of the ban.

"I don't think the answer is banning bikes from the street," Abedonsaid. Bikes, he said, offer a pollution-free way of getting messages betweenoffices quickly.

The city's bicycle-messenger trade has been booming in recent yearsbecause bikes are cheaper and faster than public transportation, says NancyCooper, president of the Association of Messenger Services, which has 40members. In 1972, there were only three messenger services using bicycles.Now, 50 have 20 or more bikes, she said.

Not surprisingly, courier services surveyed around the city took a dimview of the ban, saying it would cost them thousands of dollars in losttime and money.

"It's going to cause chaos," said Laura Lucier, vice president of CycleService Messenger, which employs 20 couriers. "We're talking about vitalindustries, ad agencies on Madison Avenue. They won't be able to handletheir business in a timely fashion."

Cooper said the ban will hurt not just courier services, but all midtownbusinesses.

She estimated the average bike messenger makes 25 runs and earns $80to$90 a day. The restrictions would mean three fewer runs a day, she estimated."

The messengers will make less money. It's going to take more time tomake deliveries and pickups. And because we'll have to hire more messengers,we'll have to charge the clients more money."

After hearing about the plan, Cooper said, she called the mayor's officeto propose a compromise: Impose no ban on Madison Avenue, but permit bicyclesto travel no more than two consecutive blocks along Park and Fifth Avenues.

She said there was no response from the mayor's office yesterday.