Fans can now ride Citi Bike to see the Mets, after the team opened dozens of docks at Citi Field — the first time the bikeshare system has come to the stadium since its start in 2012.
“From so many different Queens neighborhoods, we can now hop on a Citi Bike and leave our cars at home,” Jim Burke, co-founder of the 34th Avenue Open Street Coalition, said at a press conference outside the ballpark Thursday.
“It has been a remarkable sight to see so many people around all five boroughs riding bikes,” said Scott Havens, the team’s newly-minted head of business operations. “I’m really, really proud that one of the first things I get to introduce is the expansion of Citi Bike, of course, here at Citi Field.”
Thirty-seven docks have been installed along the path from the stadium’s main entrance to the Mets-Willets Pt. station on the No. 7 train, and another 29 have been installed along the greenway near the World’s Fair Marina.
Jordan Levine — a spokesman for Lyft, which operates Citi Bike on behalf of the city — said that the firm would provide valet bike parking during early games this season, so that no one would be stuck without a dock.
The Mets host the Milwaukee Brewers next Thursday for the first game of the season.
Though the docks add another public transportation option for New Yorkers hoping to catch a game, the stadium is not easily accessible via the city’s bike-lane network.
An unprotected bike lane on 34th Ave. leads to the stadium from the west, but no other bike routes lead to the ballpark.
During Thursday’s press conference, multiple cyclists could be seen riding the sidewalk beneath the elevated tracks of the No.7 train, staying out of Roosevelt Ave.’s four lanes of car traffic.
Transportation commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who attended Thursday’s ribbon cutting, acknowledged the need for more bike lanes.
“We need to continue going farther investing in [bike] infrastructure,” Rodriguez told reporters.
“For me, to build more bike lanes is a top priority,” he said. “However, there’s a lot more work that has to be done.”
