‘We’re totally
backed up’
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
New York City bicycle shops continue
to face a strong demand for bikes
and repairs as pandemic supply chain
issues persist and the number of cyclists
remains high in the Five Boroughs.
“Every bike we get goes,” said Michael
Gonzalez, a manager at Astoria
Bike Stop. “And we can’t get new bikes
until February 2022.”
Gonzalez has seen locals continue
to bring in two-wheelers they got
bought or fi xed up during the pandemic
bike boom, when New Yorkers
avoided public transportation for fear
of catching COVID-19 and opted for bicycles
en masse instead.
Services like tuneups have had wait
times of up to three weeks this spring,
the Queens mechanic said.
“We’re totally backed up I’ve had so
many people coming in,” he said.
At Toga Bikes on the Upper West
COURIER L 14 IFE, JULY 16-22, 2021
Side, manager Hobie Estrella said the
recent demand for bikes and fi xes has
been “overwhelming.”
“A lot of people bringing their bikes
out of the woodwork,” said Estrella. “A
month ago we couldn’t take any work orders
for repairs, there was a two-week
wait — with four mechanics.”
The large amount of repair services
have kept some shops in business, according
to one longtime Brooklyn cycle
fi xer, as they had to pull the brakes on
bike sales due to the shortages, especially
from East Asian supplier countries
like China.
“I had a horrible May if it wasn’t for
repairs,” said Tony Scarselli, the owner
of Atlantic Bicycles in Boerum Hill.
The store got less than 20 bikes this
year, compared to around 200 in prior
years, but repairs alone don’t bring in
the kind of cash that sales do, according
to Scarselli.
“How many fl ats can I do for $25,”
he said.
More the surge of cycling last year,
25,000 people pedaled over the city’s
four East River Bridges on an average
weekday from July through October, a
21% bump compared to the same time
in 2019, according to data from the DOT.
Subway ridership plummeted 90%
during the spring of 2020, and numbers
have since crept back up to around half
of pre-pandemic fi gures in June, hovering
around 2.3 million average daily riders
in July so far, excluding the Fourth
of July weekend.
The preliminary bike counts for this
year are more mixed, with DOT’s June
numbers still showing a slight increase
of cyclists crossing the bridges weekdays,
but a dip on weekends.
There were 22,580 riders crossing
the East River spans on an average
non-holiday weekday this June,
compared to 21,675 last year, up 4%.
On days without rain, the growth was
11%, up to 25,431 cyclists on an average
dry day. However, the weekends saw a
similar dip of 11 percent.
Bikes still fl ying off the racks as
cycling continues to boom across city
Tony Scarselli of Atlantic Bicycles. Photo by Kevin Duggan
LET US BE YOUR
"DESIGNATED
REPRESENTATIVE "
AND
HAVE THE RESPONSIBLE INSURANCE
COMPANY PAY TO REPAIR YOUR CAR TO
FACTORY SPECIFICATIONS AND 'DELIVER
IT TO YOU WITH THAT NEW CAR
SHOWROOM LOOK WHILE DRIVING AN
IMMEDIATE REPLACEMENT CAR RENTAL
A short drive thru the Battery Tunnel from Manhattan