Is Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie NYC's Most Powerful Bike Commuter?

Last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio got on a bicycle for the first time in nearly a decade, but it was a quick trip on a boardwalk to show off the City's new dockless bikeshare possibilities. Senator Chuck Schumer has been known to bike around Brooklyn, but we haven't seen him on two wheels recently. On Friday, State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie joined the increasing number of New Yorkers who have opted to ride their bikes to work.

Gothamist briefly spoke with the Assembly Speaker about cycling in the Bronx, drivers who block the bike lane, and the State Senate's intransigence on speed cameras.

Was that the first time that you rode your bike to work?

No, it was the first time I posted it.

How often do you ride your bike to your office in the district?

I’ve had the bike for about a month. What I’ve decided I’m gonna do is, if I don’t have a bunch of meetings or have to go to the City, if I’m just gonna hang out in the office, I’m gonna try to ride my bike to work.

Why is that?

I’m trying to be a little healthier. I like the idea of bike riding, I always had a bike as a kid. It’s a nice way to take a stroll through the district.

I’ve done some constituent work with the bike, and I’ve rode it to the office twice. My house is on the opposite side of the district, so it’s about a 2.5 mile ride to the office.

Have you settled on a single route or are you still experimenting with different ones?

No matter which one I go, going home I run into hills. I live on Hill Avenue. Going to the office is much easier than coming home.

Are you using bike lanes or are you in the street?

There’s bike lanes on certain streets, like 233rd, or Bronxwood Avenue. On the main strips there’s bike paths, but if I’m going through a regular residential block I try and obey the rules and stay on the right side, constantly looking and making sure people see me and I can see them.

It’s pretty nice, I’ve run into some constituents and they love the idea of seeing me on the bike.

During election season I like to go out and get signatures along with some of the other volunteers. So the first time I took the bike out, I actually stopped at someone’s house. She gladly signed for me but said that the City had cut down a tree but they left it there, they hadn’t come to get it. I wrote the notes down, but then I don’t know what I did, and so when I was sending it to one of my staff, I said I don’t remember her exact address, so I got on my bike and I rode to her house and took a picture of it and then sent it to my staff. So I’ve even used my bike to do some constituent work.

Do you think it’s faster to ride your bike to address issues like that then to take a car?

I wouldn’t say it was faster, but I would say it was fun. It was the first time I really took the bike out in the district. One of my neighbors across the street, every time I get on the bike she laughs at me and says “It’s great to see the Assemblyman on his bike.”

Again it was like, a different perspective than riding up there in a car. Maybe it was a little quicker, because it was a actually a one-way street and I didn’t go all four ways around, I just rode up the one-way. [Ed. This is called salmoning, a controversial and illegal, if sometimes necessary technique.]

I’m thinking about doing it tomorrow, we have National Night Out, and I’m thinking of taking my bike from my house to my precinct.

The City releases a report periodically showing the state of bicycling in New York City, and in the most recent one, the Bronx had one of the lowest rates for commuting to work. Why do you think that is?

I honestly I don’t know. It be interesting to see what they note in the report. It could be that some people have to use public transportation to get there, it might be a little difficult if you have to drop your children off in the morning. But I believe if people were able to work locally, like me, I’m lucky enough—maybe we could start one of these campaigns, if you work locally, how about riding a bike to work?

I know the Borough President [Ruben Diaz, Jr.], he does the Tour de Bronx, he tries to get people to be more bike-centric. But maybe that’s something we could do: if you work locally, you should ride your bike to work.

Has riding to work made you more attuned to things like potholes? Or the way traffic is managed? Things you may not notice if you’re in a car or on the bus.

I think that does work that way. When you’re a pedestrian, a bicycle rider, and in an automobile, I think you get the perspective of each one. Yes, I have noticed that some people aren’t considerate to bike riders, as in people who double park, meaning I have to ride all the way out into the middle of the lane, things like that. I have gotten a greater appreciation. And honestly, I haven’t had a bike since I was a kid, so it is refreshing my recollection of what it is to have a bike in today’s world.

I bet the person double-parked in the bike lane probably doesn’t think that they’re blocking the Speaker of the State Assembly.

[Laughs] No, I didn’t stop and flash anything.

How can the Legislature get the State Senate to come back and reauthorize speed the City’s school zone speed cameras that are currently turned off?

Hashtag #PassTheBill. There’s an omnibus bill, sitting here waiting for the Senate Republicans to pass, that has the speed cameras, as well as speed cameras for the City of Buffalo, and bus cameras for buses outside of the City of New York, waiting here for our good colleagues in the Senate to show how much they care about children.

Or they could pass a stand-alone bill that extends the speed cameras. No one objects—even [Senator] Marty Golden supports this bill. I don’t believe kids should be used as leverage. John [Flanagan, Republican Senate Majority Leader] says he wants to discuss other things, we can discuss other things when we come back in January, but this is an immediate need to address not only the 140 existing cameras, but also provide safety for more schools.

[The cameras] work, this should not be used for leverage.

Have you used the new bike lanes on Broadway next to Van Cortlandt Park?

No, maybe I will. I have to increase my stamina, because I gotta tell you, going from my office to my house, I’m gasping for air. I’m trying to get better and better, because to go up to Broadway I don’t wanna cheat and have to drive up there.

It’s a great bike, it’s a 27-speed bike.

Do you use all 27 speeds?

I don’t use the first set of 9, but I use the second and third sets of 9.

Pretty soon you’ll be so jacked you’ll just need that big gear and none of the others.

Yeah I dunno about that, you need to see the hills I’m biking up—remember, I live on Hill Avenue!

This interview has been edited and condensed.