New York Times goes green with orange-coloured Dutch bikes

How the Dutch love those bikes

NEW YORK, NY - Time to act and protect the planet. And what better way to do this, then to leave your car at home and get on a bike. The New York Times Style Section declared the Dutch bicycle the latest ‘It object’. In the Netherlands, bikes have been a vital part of the Dutch cityscape ‘for centuries.’ As the New York Times sees it, the Dutch riding a bicycle to work in a suit and tie is as common as drinking a cup of coffee, yet there is no bike culture. All culture includes the bike. The newspaper has started a weekly feature on urban cycling, called ‘Spokes'.

Biking is the most sustainable, green and clean way of transportation, according to the daily. Since the City of New York has embraced biking, with 170 miles of new bike lanes throughout the city, it is a great time for New Yorkers to give biking a try. Due to some creative promotional efforts in the city, bicycling has recently increased by 35 percent, the daily notes, pointing to May as National Bike Month, giving the citizens plenty of opportunities to get on those bikes.

In recent coverage, the New York Times observed that on April 30, Dutch Queen’s Day, 200 orange Batavus bikes would make their official appearance in NYC in a very festive way. Later that day, the bikes were to be part of a special NY400 Queens Day Bike Tour, organized together with The Netherland Club and NLBorrels. Exactly 400 years after explorer Henry Hudson, hired by Dutch merchants, set sail from Amsterdam, the bright orange NY400 bikes were making the same journey to New York City. To show New York City how much the Dutch love their bicycles, the newspaper invited New Yorkers to join it for a bike tour celebrating Queen’s Day. The response was so overwhelming, that registration for the event was closed early. No one needs to despair, since there are many other biking events coming up soon.