Life in the Trike Lane

So Helen and I were cycling through Southampton for the very first time, curious of what the hub bub was all about – and we get stopped by a young gentleman in a light blue shirt telling us that we have to dismount our Bromptons because it’s illegal in the town center to ride a bicycle! Of course, we were dumbfounded at first; eventually, we became extremely disturbed.

The police officer told us it was very dangerous for us to be biking there. I mentioned I bike in Manhattan daily. He insisted we dismount and walk our bikes. It just didn’t seem worth the trouble to mount an impromptu civil disobedience action – we were on a fun day-trip, for goodness’ sake – so instead we stewed for a bit and then soldiered on to Shelter Island with the help of a route provided by a friendly local organic farmer sited at one of the farm stands in the town car park for the Sunday Farmers’ Market.

Suffice it to write we won’t be returning to the Hamptons any time soon. Shelter Island? That’s a different story . . .

The sign indicating the ban on all human powered conveyances in town

That is, the freedom to walk a pedicab over an NYC bridge (rather than load it into a gas-guzzling motor vehicle), in order to provide eco-positive passenger transport to the noble folk of the outer boroughs. If so, please attend a fundraiser Monday night, August 9, to help fund the legal battle to keep this freedom legal.

Place: Duncan Elder’s cool DUMBO theater/loft space in Brooklyn at 75 Hudson Avenue.

Time: Doors at 7pm; program at 8:30pm.

Cost: Sliding scale of $15-25.00.

Admission price will include food, adult beverages, and entertainment. There may be a screening of the Chinese pedicab action film, “Pedicab Driver.”

Getting there: Take the F train to York Ave (first F stop in Brooklyn) or ride a bike over.

Rain or shine.

Those were the days....

RR participated in Food Systems Network NYC’s inaugural Policy Subcommittee meeting, keen to bring to the table the eco-logical transport & logistics programs in town that help forge the often missing link in local organic food sales. RR is a member of the network and is keen to help build the eco-logical food network in conjunction with local farmers, distributors, marketers, and retailers. Our partner in business Basis Foods is also a member of this network.

During Bike Month 2010, RR hosted its inaugural Organic Transport for New York event at The Commons, in Brooklyn. Turns out the audience member typing furiously on his laptop and asking all kinds of incisive questions was in fact the articulate and perspicacious Chris Hunt, who writes for EcoCentric (”a blog about food, water and energy”). The fruits of his labors, titled Rethinking Local Food Distribution: Revolution on Three Wheels are now available for your reading enjoyment.

Thanks, Chris! RR thinks your “Awesomeness Factor” is pretty high too!

Also at our Bike Month event, RR received some great audience suggestions for a new name for our cargo vehicle – we were looking for something that conveys its brawn, and also its reliance on pedal power. One that’s stuck with us is freight trike, the contribution of Adam Horwitch, Brooklyn-based rooftop farmer and transport buff.

A belated three-wheeled thank-you, by the way, to all who attended. And if you’re an educator/event organizer/conference maven looking for panelists or presenters from the cutting edge of organic transport – you know whom to call!

Mmm...hauling organic matter via organic transport...

Here’s what Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director of Green America, has to say about the BP oil spill:

“[A]s heartbreaking a disaster as this is, it’s critical that we remember.  It’s not a natural disaster.  It’s not an aberration. It isn’t even a surprise!

“It’s only the latest in a series of economic and environmental disasters that will continue to strike our nation and cost our economy billions of dollars — as long as we continue to rely on dirty, dangerous sources of fuel like coal, oil, and natural gas.”

In a message titled “Stop the next oil spill before it starts!” she goes on to suggest that Green Americans put efficiency first, invest in Clean Energy Victory Bonds, and support creation of Clean Tech Jobs.

Yes, yes, yes! And trike, trike, trike!

Here at RR we are by no means clean of addiction to ancient sunlight: Our trikes wouldn’t exist without the fossil-fuel-powered equipment and tools used to make them. If not for asphalt and steamrollers we wouldn’t have paved roads to ride on. Parts orders roll up to our door in a UPS truck.

However: When you ride a pedicab or freight trike, you don’t ever have to stop at a gas station.

RR: Boycotting BP (and Exxon, and Chevron, and so on) since 2005.

No oil spills in this picture! ("LOTS" stands for Local Organic Transport Systems.)

Lincoln Tunnel Farm

Rush-hour traffic at a Lincoln Tunnel entrance…yawn…what else is new? But wait! What’s that in the foreground? It’s a roof…it’s a shipping container…it’s a farm!

More precisely, it’s Lincoln Tunnel Farm, installed this spring atop the Beta shipping container (40′ x 8′ x 8′) in RR’s parking lot. We’re growing lettuce, spicy greens, hardy greens, cucumbers, green (and purple and yellow) beans, radishes, herbs, snap peas, watermelons, nasturtiums, and flax (because this clueless dude I ordered seeds from didn’t have mache and decided I’d have fun growing a plant I don’t know how to make clothing out of). The farm is a partnership between RR and Lots to Eat (my gardening company and gardening philosophy, merged into one memorable phrase).

Would Lincoln Tunnel Farm qualify for organic certification, under the national organic standards? Probably not. The vegetables are, after all, basking in the pollutants and particulates that we Manhattanites inhale every day. (Hint: If you’re afraid to eat food that grows where you live, turning your car into a planter is a good first step towards ameliorating the situation.) However, they also get to drink NYC’s excellent tap water, and eat NYC-generated worm compost (mixed into the 800 pounds of potting soil we purchased from the Lower East Side Ecology Center). On special occasions, I treat them to coffee grounds from Starbucks (free at the 9th Ave & 15th St location, thanks to the Grounds for Your Garden program). And I saw a ladybug up there the other day, so I must be doing something right!

Oh, the little darlings! Lettuce and green beans grow up together.

Organic Transport for New York: Moving People & Cargo by Pedal Power

Tuesday, May 11: 7:30-9:30pm

Trike is the new truck! Join Revolution Rickshaws for a lively slide presentation on the present and future of pedal-powered cargo and passenger transport in NYC. Learn how an average human can pedal 500+ pounds around town, without fuel. Get the inside scoop on driving a pedicab in Midtown. Find out how NYC might transition from fossil-fuel-dependence to vigorous self-reliance in the realm of short-hauling heavy stuff.

Speakers: Gregg Zukowski (Founder & Owner) and Helen Newman (General Manager) of Revolution Rickshaws. A former state committee member of the New York Green Party, Gregg has been pedicabbing in NYC since 2003 and running RR since 2005. He is president of the
NYC Pedicab Owners’ Association. Helen learned to drive a giant trike in 2008. She holds a certificate in permaculture design, and is in the process of starting a rooftop farm in the RR parking lot.

$10 suggested donation

Location:
The Commons
388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn
Closest to A, C & G (Hoyt/Schermerhorn), but near the B, M, Q, R, 2, 3, 4, 5, and F

Contact:
Revolution Rickshaws
http://www.revolutionrickshaws.com
helen@revolutionrickshaws.com
(212) 239-0200