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I don't know about two weekends from now, but Brooklyn Half Marathon is THIS Saturday. GREAT race. Starts by the Brooklyn Museum, grand boulevards, once around Prospect Park, then straight down Ocean Parkway with a finish ON the boardwalk at Coney Island. I'll be running.
Brooklyn Half

Hi, riders!

I'm a volunteer tour marshal with Bike JC

Thanks for the compliments and critiques; shortly we will be having a post-tour meeting to discuss this year's ride and plan improvements for next year. I'll make sure every word on this thread is made available to everyone there.

I don't want to speak for the group about anything specific, but I can tell you that we're already aware of most of the points mentioned, and that we were talking about ways to improve on them literally before we got off our bikes at the festival.

One constant: It always helps to have more marshals -- and I can definitely help y'all sign up for that next year!

The big bike is coming up, a week from Sunday! Have you registered yet? Spots are still available:

REGISTER HERE

That's awesome.

Some suggestions for cyclists regarding the test bike lane, and they are just my suggestions:

1. Ride that sucker. Ride it, and ride it some more. We need drivers, other cyclists, pedestrians, police, and the businesses and residents along the lane to realize that it's there and grasp what it's there for thoroughly.

2. Be safe. If anyone is hoping to use this lane to "prove" that cycling is unsafe, let's not let them do it. Be twice as careful as you would be anywhere else. Expect a few people to open doors or pull in or out suddenly. Don't put the slightest scratch or drop of grease on their cars.

3. If someone is double parked in the lane, and you are feeling particularly diplomatic, maybe ask them VERY nicely to move, pointing out the new lane. But if you are gonna get steamed or wise off, just let it go. This is brand new for JC; some people probably genuinely won't realize it's there. Benefit of the doubt. We are the away mission to the planet Car; let's set phasers on diplomacy.

4. Maybe stop and patronize a business along the bike lane -- shouldn't be that hard since there are lots of good restaurants etc., and places where you can eat outside with your bike securely in your view at all times. More goodwill for us!

Woooooo!!! Registration for the tour is now open! Do it online right here: REGISTER

More info is here: TOUR INFORMATION

And here's the link to download the full-size PDF of the map of the tour route: Map PDF

JC Independent article on the new test bike lane:

Article

If you open another one near Lincoln Park, will you call it MAE West?

Sorry. I look forward to trying this place!

Hell to the yeah, we should have at least a few bike lanes.

As discussed above, they aren't an instant fix, they aren't free, they won't initially be the protected kind, etc., but they are a step in a long process that is mostly about awareness on all sides.

Some cycling advocates actually oppose bike lanes, believing that they encourage both cyclists and drivers to see themselves as separate populations that shouldn't mix. They say it's better to use education and law enforcement to fully integrate bikes into existing traffic (as they are in some other countries).

I see their point, and these days I tend to use bike lanes only on the busiest streets (e.g., Manhattan avenues).

But the cars-only culture is so entrenched here that I think some incremental steps are helpful. Training wheels, if you will.

I'm love the White Star's. I don't know what's in it, but it's savory, not terribly complicated, and topped with cocktail olives on a little skewer.

Bump!

Here's a link to some cool photos of last year's tour, from the Jersey Journal, so you can see the dealio:

Tour Photos


More info to come.

Just a save-the-date for now: Bike JC's third annual bike tour through all of Jersey City's wards will be held Sunday, June 3, with a rain date of Sunday, June 10.

More details will follow as the Tour approaches, here and on the Bike JC website.

For now it looks like the route will be the same as or similar to last year's (which seemed to work out well).

If you don't want to ride, but want to help, we'll be needing volunteers to hand out number bibs, sell T-shirts, etc. And if you're reasonably nimble on two wheels, and maybe know a bit about changing tires and minor bike adjustments, please consider joining me on the marshal crew!

My girlfriend lives in Astoria, Queens, and has a fairly timid cat who reacts to a lot of outside noises and tremors.

The morning of the quake day, this cat was unusually clingy, following her right to the apartment door as she headed out for work, something the cat had never done before.

Could be nothing, but ...

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I think some of the trees along the water would be there without the monument. I could be wrong, but I thought the park was putting in more trees generally, which I think is great for that currently windswept space.

You can see through trees to a degree, though once they get big, you sure won't have the kind of totally unobstructed views you had 10 years ago from ground level. At least, not in the warmer months when they're in leaf--the same months when most people visit the park.

And sure, it takes years for trees to grow to full size, but long-range planning is good, right? Landscaped projects usually look crappy before the landscaping grows in, but they get better with time.

As I said, I don't love it. But I think in time we'll look at that area as "the part of the park with the nice trees and that old sculpture in there somewhere."

I'm not thrilled about this thing, especially given the cost-cutting shortcuts taken.

But as far as blocking views of the old railroad terminal, the NYC skyline, etc., and creating its own localized ugliness: Aren't all those young dogwood (or whatever) trees (the ones next to it and the ones all around the seawall to the east and north by the marina) going to make that all moot fairly soon? Isn't the whole area near the monument going to be full of adult trees, blocking ground-level and low-level views of all the above?

A week ago I was running a 10K training run up and down Palisade Ave. through the Heights (though probably I had just crossed into Union City), when I felt a thud near my feet and something like dirt spraying onto my calf.

It was a warm and fairly nice evening, and there were a lot of kids and others on the stoops and coming in and out of the little stores. Pretty sure someone threw a rock at me.

Heights, interesting that you mention biking between Manhattan and the Bronx. During last year\'s New York City Century bike ride, as I was passing through Marble Hill (politically Manhattan, geographically the Bronx) some tween boy with a strong arm stepped out between two buildings and whipped a dirtbomb at my head from about 10 feet away. Most of hit hit my helmet, otherwise I probably would have crashed. I called the cops, whatever good that did.

Both times, of course, I was guilty of the terrible crime of doing something geeky/athletic in someone else\'s neighborhood, for which I deserve serious injury.

Done.

Eerie old place. Probably are some strange things happening there.

However, rest assured that there are no hauntings, poltergeist activity, spirit agita, or other such imaginary stuff happening there, or anywhere else.

For all you need to know about the Ghost Hunters and their ilk, please consult this link, in which Hugh Laurie and the cast of Saturday Night Live shed some pale green light on the subject:

Ghost hunting

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Thanks, that sounds promising and low-hassle.

Thanks for the tips, all "barriers to entry" help is appreciated.

Yeah, Hudson traffic, currents and rocks, etc., will have my continued respect and caution.

In choosing an entry-level boat, I would like something a little more adventure-worthy, but I am unfortunately limited by 1. money and 2. portability, as I have no car.

I'd love to find, say, a folding but rigid non-confining river kayak, used and cheap, and small and light enough that I could carry it a few miles on foot, get it into the trunk of a taxi, etc.

Anyone know of something like that, maybe something that's already inexpensive, but that I could hunt for used on eBay even cheaper?

I am seriously considering this little inflatable 2-seater at $199:


Inflatable kayak

Can anyone tell me definitively that it's legal for me to just put a kayak in the water and paddle, as long as I stay out of others' way?

I'd like to buy a VERY small kayak that I can transport from my apartment in Hamilton Park to the Hudson or the Hackensack without a car, even if I have to carry it on my back and walk.

I've kayaked a bit in the Hudson and East River coves with various volunteer groups, and I've volunteered with them too. I've done some more adventurous paddling in river and ocean kayaks and canoes on the Toms River, inland and in surf on Cape Cod, and off various ocean beaches, without any untoward incidents.

I'm also very comfortable in open water, having raced in seven triathlons and having grown up swimming off NYC/NJ ocean beaches. I even swim in the Hudson off Manhattan on occasion (in the NYC Triathlon).

Yet when one asks local boating groups about doing any substantial trips with them, or independently, really getting out and traveling up and down waterfronts and around the harbor, the responses often seem to be focused on all the terrible things that can happen, the 20 safety classes one absolutely must take before we let you out of the little roped-off cove, the horrors of reversible tidal currents and marauding cruise ships, etc., etc. ...

I get it, OK? My dad was a professional sailor for years. Boating can be dangerous, the physics are highly complex, the weather and the water itself are hazards. I know. And I know they mean well in discouraging various yahoos, drunks and daredevils from endangering themselves and others and fouling up marine traffic.

But I think I'm more like the others in this thread, just a mildly intrepid but responsible urbanite who wants to explore his home waters in the most unobtrusive vessel imaginable, giving absolutely every other vessel the right of way.

So can anyone give me some encouragement and basic guidelines here?

Can I in fact slip into the Hudson and Hack and tool about without violating some kind of law?

Are there specific areas around here that are navigable but off-limits to a wee kayak?

Are there any places that are legal but are just so dangerous or high-traffic that you recommend against them? Offhand I would think the marinas with all the big-boy boats are places to avoid, and no doubt it's wise to give various terrorist targets a wide berth, e.g. the Statue of Liberty and the sea walls near WTC/WFC.

(I do plan on taking a kayak self-rescue lesson before soloing in any body-confining kayak.)

I had the soft pretzels with dipping sauces at Zeppelin Hall a couple of months ago, and I thought they were pretty good. Hot out of the kitchen, with a beer, they hit the spot.

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I was the guy who creepily peered in the windows at a couple of different locations just before 8. I can confirm that the above description seems accurate to me. I liked the wood floor, the little potted plants around the walls, and the fact that the front walls are glass, which could make the place a little cheerier on dark winter days, though they had blinds or curtains blocking the summer gray glare last night.

I think I even spotted His Mayorness rocking a blazer and holding forth, whereupon I fled like a prowler.

Peeked in. Looks OK inside, clean but not fancy. People hanging, watching ballgames.

It occurred to me that there are lots of gritty little businesses right around there, auto body, contractors, etc., plus the big firehouse across the avenue, so they could get the working man after work.

And if the food's lacking, I guess they could grab some pulled pork at BBQ @ Legal Beans just across little Division Street.

The one reviewer on Yelp describes it as an old-fashioned Hudson County type of place, and loves it, though I note for the record that this is the only review on Yelp by this reviewer.

Yelp review

I live very near here, and whatever the politics, the bar is on sort of a barren little patch away from most residences, an odd little area that could stand a little life at night.

I don't know how much of a demand there will be for it. The Lamp Post is very close by if you want a basic bar; hopefully, they plan to stand out in some way.

Maybe they will get some city government types, a few from the Village and maybe the Island just up the hill, and some cops. I could see a few Hudson County types strumbling down from the courthouse area.

The place is very visible when driving down Newark Avenue, and there are bus stops right there.

If they all behave themselves it could be OK. If they don't, I have a feeling the Healys have enough enemies that it won't go unnoticed.

Guess we'll find out. I'll be quaffing a brew there soon.

Anyone know what the deal is on these? You know, the ones pasted in twos and threes around Downtown, three-pronged wall outlets done in paper and pasted up on mailboxes, signs, etc.

All of them look like troubled faces; some have a little rectangular "tear" added beneath one "eye."

Most of them are done in plain white paper; a few use paper with printed material on it, maybe magazine ads or movie posters.

He's also too heavy to be Teddy.

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Other street (or under-street) justice techniques I enjoy employing:

--Deliberately sitting next to Mr. Spready Legs and then spreading my own knees veeeery slowly, but with relentless force, so he's eventually forced to close his. He usually does this suddenly with a grunt that I find deeply amusing.

--Deliberately standing in front of the seat with someone's bag on it, turning around, lowering my butt slowly toward the bag, and watching the owner remove it hurriedly.

--"Accidentally" kicking or bumping people sitting on station stairways when crowds are trying to use them.