Photo courtesy: PANYNJ

Agency Collaboration with Oonee and Hudson Square Business Improvement District Creates New Secure Bike Parking Pod with 20 Spots and Access to City’s Hudson Street Bike Lane

Hudson Square Business Improvement District Also Unveils New Mural to Accompany Pod, Beautify Area

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Oonee, and the Hudson Square Business Improvement District (BID) today announced the opening of one of Manhattan’s largest-capacity, secure free parking pods for public use near the Holland Tunnel and New York City’s Hudson Street bike lane. The facility is the fourth installation of an Oonee bike parking pod on Port Authority property, further advancing the agency’s goal of encouraging more sustainable transportation choices and reducing emissions.

The new bike parking pod, which will open for public use at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Aug. 11, reflects Port Authority’s efforts to increase bike access to its facilities. This year, Oonee pods also were installed at the Harrison PATH station with 16 bike parking spaces and outside of the Midtown Bus Terminal with 20 spaces, following a 2019 installation at the Journal Square PATH station with 20 spaces. In February, the agency also reopened a completely reconstructed pedestrian and bicycle path on the north side of the George Washington Bridge to widen access approaches and make space for cyclists and pedestrians. The Goethals and Bayonne bridges already feature new shared use paths for cyclists and pedestrians. Bicycle accessibility information at other agency facilities can be found here.

The Hudson Square bike parking pod, located at the intersection of Hudson and Canal streets near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, includes protected docks for 20 bicycles. The pod from the Brooklyn-based Oonee is equipped with smart locks, lift-assist racks, interior and exterior lighting, theft insurance, and surveillance cameras, providing an extra layer of security. Spaces in the pod are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and each bicycle can be locked at the dock for up to 72 hours. Entering the pod and checking dock availability can be done through the Oonee smartphone app, which can also be used to access other existing Oonee bike parking installations in Jersey City, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.

Funding for the bike parking pod installation was raised by Oonee, which also commissioned the mural designed in partnership with the BID to surround the pod. The costs of building and maintaining the pod are underwritten by advertising on two screens on the pod’s exterior. The Hudson Square BID, which commissioned and maintains landscaping and planters, has helped transform Manhattan’s former printing district into a thriving creative hub with open green spaces, public art, retail and dining, and a growing residential community.

About the Hudson Square Business Improvement District (BID)

Founded in July 2009, the Hudson Square Business Improvement District (BID) serves the area generally bounded by Clarkson Street on the north, Canal Street on the south, Sixth Avenue on the east, and West Street on the west. Originally created as the city’s only planning BID, it has overseen the transformation of Manhattan’s former printing district into a thriving creative hub with inviting open green spaces, abundant public art, vibrant retail and dining, and a growing residential community. Hudson Square BID’s signature projects include the nationally recognized redevelopment of Hudson Street from Canal to Houston; the creation of new open spaces such as Spring Street Park and Freeman Plazas East and West; an award-winning urban forestry program; pedestrian safety managers; neighborhood maintenance and marketing. The BID’s new neighborhood plan builds on lessons learned about open space and mobility, and focuses on seamlessly connecting Hudson Square into surrounding neighborhoods and Hudson River Park. For more information, visit www.hudsonsquarebid.org.

About Oonee 

Oonee is a Brooklyn-based startup that works with communities to build, deploy and operate regional bike parking and charging systems with a particular emphasis on grassroots engagement and equity. As a Black- and Brown-owned firm, the company is proud of the fact that 65 percent of its userbase identifies as nonwhite, while 25 percent are below AMI. It is New York’s largest secure bike parking and charging operator.  

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state agency that builds, operates, and maintains many of the most important transportation and trade infrastructure assets in the country. For over a century, the agency’s network of major airports; critical bridges, tunnels and bus terminals; a commuter rail line; and the busiest seaport on the East Coast has been among the most vital in the country – transporting hundreds of millions of people and moving essential goods into and out of the region. The Port Authority also owns and manages the 16-acre World Trade Center campus, which today welcomes tens of thousands of office workers and millions of annual visitors. The agency’s historic $37 billion 10-year capital plan includes unprecedented transformation of the region’s three major airports – LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and JFK – as well as an array of other new and upgraded assets, including the $2 billion renovation of the 90-year-old George Washington Bridge. The Port Authority’s annual budget of $8 billion includes no tax revenue from either the states of New York or New Jersey or from the City of New York. The agency raises the necessary funds for the improvement, construction or acquisition of its facilities primarily on its own credit. For more information, visit www.panynj.gov or check out the Now Arriving blog.