The best racks in the city are on display on Astor Place.
Bike racks, that is.
Nine new designs for places to park bikes were unveiled. They include a Y-shaped design that looks like a whale’s tail, three that seem to have been inspired by bent paper clips and two that look like steering wheels.
A 10th will be displayed in the coming weeks.
A panel that includes musician David Byrne, bus-shelter designer Duncan Jackson and city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan will pick a winner later this month.
The grand prize in the bike-rack design contest is $10,000.
Harry Dobbs, who helped create the whale-tail rack, said, “It works in terms of security” and “also functions as a perch for people to sit on.”
“It’s street furniture with more than one purpose,” he said.
The new racks will be added to about 5,000 U-shaped bike racks now bolted to sidewalks.
The city plans to install around 1,000 new racks at a cost of $275 apiece by next July. It’s unclear how many will be of the design chosen in the contest.
Cycling advocates say more racks will encourage cycling and reduce bike theft.
“These new racks will go a long way to removing barriers that keep New York City from becoming a biking city,” said Paul Steely White, executive director of the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives.
Pedestrians passing through Astor Place said having better places to lock up might encourage them to bike.
“They are quite elegant,” Thomas Chan, a 33-year-old NYU student, said of the bike-rack display – arranged in a circle like a modern-sculpture exhibit.
“The designs look very safe,” said James Acquaviva, 49, an electrician. “More people would feel safer riding their bikes with racks like these in place.”
Duplicates of the designs will be displayed around the city – including Fordham Plaza in The Bronx; Borough Hall in Kew Gardens and PS 1 Museum in Long Island City, Queens; the New-York Historical Society on the Upper West Side and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.