Ken Podziba, Bike New York’s President and CEO, stood with Richard Carranza, NYC DOE Chancellor, and Kim Wiley-Schwartz, NYC DOT Assistant Commissioner for Education and Outreach, at IS 72 in Staten Island to announce and celebrate the expansion.

Riding a bike is associated with all kinds of benefits for young people—improved fitness, confidence, concentration and academic performance, and an increased sense of independence, to name a few. That’s why we’re working together with the with NYC Department of Education the NYC Department of Transportation to deliver our bike education programs to even more NYC youth by making bicycling part of the regular NYC school day. Last year we kicked things off by bringing this bike education pilot program to 13 Staten Island middle schools, where it was implemented as part of physical education classes. This fall, the program will expand to every middle school on Staten Island, as well as to 20 community schools across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx.

“Our goal has always been to empower youth to lead healthy, productive lives, and transform communities through bicycling.”

“We are so excited that the students on Staten Island have benefitted from this program this year, and we’re ready to expand our partnership with DOT and Bike New York to help 6,000 students learn how to ride bikes safely,” said Richard Carranza, NYC DOE Chancellor, who strapped on a helmet and rode with students at IS 72 in Staten Island last week in celebration of the program and its expansion.

Ken Podziba, our President and CEO, is thrilled to further Bike New York’s mission through this program. “Our goal has always been to empower youth to lead healthy, productive lives, and transform communities through bicycling,” he said. “This program ‎does just that. We’re proud to partner with DOE and DOT as we work together to raise the next generation of bike riders in New York City.”

Bike New York worked closely with the NYC DOE, NYC DOT, and each individual school to provide curriculum, teacher-training and on-site support. “We’re exposing more students to cycling as a mode of transportation that is both healthy and fun,” said Polly Trottenberg, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation.

“This is a huge opportunity to promote cycling and active transportation by reaching kids at an age where they are becoming more independent and more mobile.”

Throughout the course of six 45-minute bike sessions, students learned various skills, like, how to select and fit a bicycle and helmet, how to smoothly start and stop, how to shift gears, and use hand signals. Students who didn’t know how to ride a bicycle received additional support. 

“This is a huge opportunity to promote cycling and active transportation by reaching kids at an age where they are becoming more independent and more mobile,” said Rich Conroy, Bike New York’s Director of Education. “It will expand cycling in New York City by teaching useful bike safety skills, thereby giving early teens the confidence that they know the basics of riding a bike and can use that to go places.”