If you come back from your trips to the Big Apple exhausted and feeling like you’ll have to buy yourself a pair of hips and ankles, we suggest you try the CitiBike, BIXI’s cousin. Here is a day on two wheels in New York where we could not help but make comparisons with Montreal.
The network
The 12,000 CitiBikes, spread over 750 stations (twice as many as in Montreal), are like BIXI: disarmingly simple to use. The one-day subscription requires a credit card and two minutes (no need to read the 70 contract pages). After that, we have unlimited trips, as long as they don’t exceed 30 minutes each. Yes, it’s more expensive than in Montreal ($ 5 for 24 hours), but it’s much cheaper than renting a bike or taking the metro. NYC 1 – MTL 1
Departure
The CitiBike is of Montreal design: the tank of the bicycle, but with less speeds than at home (three against seven). We start from Brooklyn, which looks furiously like Montreal, minus the potholes. You have to go to a shop to settle an old cross-border dispute: who makes the best bagels? Answer: Montreal, which uses wood-fired ovens. But for the garnish, NYC dominates (mention for the grilled chicken bagel). NYC 2 – MTL 3
1re speed
To reach Manhattan, we have several options regarding bridges (unlike Montreal). We opt for the Brooklyn Bridge despite the warning of a passerby (“there are too many pedestrians, you will not stop sacred”). Wow! On the bridge, the long wooden footbridge overhangs the tracks for cars and offers a magnificent view of the skyline New Yorker. NYC 4– MTL 3
2e speed
We’re in Manhattan. If you think Montrealers are street offenders, wait until you see New York, where everyone has their own interpretation of the Highway Code! Despite everything, it is not dangerous, because the metropolis has 1,800 km of tracks, one third of which is in a protected site. Even in the mythical Times Square, a green strip allows cyclists to pass quietly without crushing a Spiderman or a Batman in tourist representation. NYC 5- MTL3
3e speed
The self-service bicycle allows you to enjoy each neighborhood by walking to the next station. We admired how the city recovered the former port area of the Tribeca district to offer citizens access to the banks (unlike the Port of Montreal). We sipped a cocktail with a view at the top of the Standard-Hotel, lamenting the disappearance of the Hotel de la Montagne. However, our favorite remains Bryant Park and its incredible atmosphere. It looks like Jardins Gamelin multiplied by 10. NYC 8 – MTL 3
Scattered findings:
- Disappointed with the new ones buildings, even the Freedom Tower.
- Central Park has fallen asleep on its laurels.
- But where have the eccentric New Yorkers gone?
- Montrealers are much more beautiful than New Yorkers, honor is safe!
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