I tried cycling to MetLife ahead of the World Cup

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World Cup visitors shouldn't try to save some dough by biking or walking to MetLife Stadium, officials in New York and New Jersey say.

I wanted to know if that was sound advice or just government overreach. The World Cup host committee, NJ Sports and Exposition Authority and NJ Transit urged me to not try cycling to MetLife, saying it was too dangerous.

But they don’t write the traffic laws.

So on a 91-degree day last week, I convinced my editors to let me bike to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to get an idea of whether a fan could avoid the $98 NJ Transit ticket by simply cycling.

The answer — after a three-hour ride that began at the WNYC/Gothamist newsroom in SoHo and took me across the George Washington Bridge through Fort Lee, Leonia, Little Ferry and Moonachie before I finally reached majestic MetLife — is I wouldn’t recommend it. At all.

The deeper I got into New Jersey, the worse the experience got. The shoulders of the roads got narrower. The little section of asphalt I occupied as cars raced by at 50 mph grew filthier, filled with glass and other debris that appeared to be the remnants of car crashes.

There wasn’t much to look at, either. Washington Avenue, which feeds into MetLife, was a patchwork of sidewalks that ended abruptly amid a backdrop of warehouses, offices, gas stations, and fast food restaurants.

New Jersey drivers clearly weren’t used to sharing the road with cyclists on many stretches of my journey, and the conditions were so poor that I was forced to retreat to the empty sidewalks for safety for long stretches of the ride.

It was mostly a bad time that I wouldn’t suggest to the average cyclist or pedestrian.

Many New Jerseyeans who I spoke to on my journey thought I was nuts. Before turning onto Washington Avenue I chatted up workers waiting for a NJ Transit bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

“ Stay out the street!” said Miriam Solomon, a worker at an Amazon fulfillment center who had finished her shift for the day. “Look how close these trucks are coming.  I fear for my life even waiting for the bus.”

She said she lived in Hudson County, and, like many of her coworkers, didn’t own a car.

“To  me, this is a highway. It's like a small highway and, and I mean, I wouldn't bike on this,” Solomon said.

After drinking some water, I continued on to my destination.

If the route to the stadium is anti-cyclist, the area around it is downright hostile. Chain-link fencing was seemingly everywhere. I saw the stadium that will seat some 80,000 fans for the World Cup — it’s impossible to miss — but actually getting there required a lot more riding, navigating roadways that were plainly designed only with cars in mind.

I asked Jack McKee, the campaign manager with Hudson County Complete Streets, about the area around the stadium. He said visitors from around the world will be disappointed by the car-centric layout.

"We have this public arena that is completely surrounded – I don't even wanna say flanked, it is surrounded by highways," McKee said.

"I'm really sympathetic to whoever's got to untie that Gordian knot,” he said. “But if we don't, I don't see a chance for us to host things like the World Cup in the future because it's not going to deliver a good experience to the fans."

A handful of people appeared to have arrived at the American Dream Mall on foot, but everyone else was in cars. I took a few photos and considered visiting the mall, but didn’t see any bike racks.

I planned to ride back into the city. But by the end of my trek to New Jersey, I felt defeated. There was no bike route to the south, which was surrounded by major highways. Faced with the prospect of retracing my ride all the way back to the bridge, I threw my bike under a NJ Transit bus and slumped into the seat.

This would probably be my only visit to MetLife before the World Cup. But I did get a hint of the fan experience: Workers getting off their shifts were cracking open beers in the back of the bus.

NYC transportation news this week

• Trump’s Penn Station. According to internal materials obtained by Gothamist, the federal government’s renovation of Penn Station will feature myriad gold accents and a presidential seal engraved with President Donald Trump’s name. The new renderings reveal how the plan was revised to fulfill Amtrak’s request for a “classical look.”
• Subway surfing persists. The NYPD said fatal subway surfing incidents have continued because teens are stealing MTA conductors’ keys and buying them on Amazon, making it easier for them to gain access to trains’ back doors.
• The skincare bus of Brooklyn. As a promotion, the skincare brand Ordinary is running free shuttle bus service between Williamsburg and Prospect Park through June 9.
• The bike lane of McGuinness Boulevard. Transportation officials said they’ll extend the parking-protected bike lane from Calyer Street to the Pulaski Bridge, fully implementing a project that prosecutors allege had been watered down in exchange for bribes paid to a deputy of previous Mayor Eric Adams.
• E-bikes don’t have to be registered, for now. Lawmakers had hoped to consider legislation on the issue, but hammering out the state budget took too much of the session and now there isn’t enough time.

Curious Commuter

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Question from John in Brooklyn

I like Aretha as much as the next guy, but the "Respect" signs in Franklin Street station always bugged me. They would be really confusing for anybody who doesn't know her most famous song. Recently I noticed that the signs aren't there anymore. Hallelujah. Why were they taken down?

Answer

The tribute to Aretha Franklin went up in the two Franklin Avenue subway stops shortly after the Queen of Soul died in 2018. MTA spokesperson Lucas Bejarano explained why they were removed.

"The decals were removed over time as they became worn or vandalized, resulting in the phase out of this temporary tribute," Bejarano wrote in an email.

John, when you come home (on the train), or you might walk in (to the Franklin stop), and find out (the sign) is gone, you got to have (just a little bit) a little respect (just a little bit) for the Queen of Soul. RIP.