How Building Owners Can Comply with NYC’s Bike Accessibility Laws for Office Buildings

As part of the mayor’s plan to make New York City an even better place to live, steps have been taken to add more accessible public spaces while also making the City more bicycle friendly. The risk of a bicyclist being in a serious accident has decreased by 72% between 2000 and 2014, and Mayor de Blasio’s ‘Vision Zero’ program, which focuses on the redesign of streets to prevent pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities, is already making streets even safer. However, there remains another obstacle to making New York a truly bike-friendly city: rampant bicycle theft.

Lack of secure parking is one of the most frequently-cited reasons given by bike-happy New Yorkers who choose not to commute by bicycle. Unfortunately, bicycles left outside on some streets aren’t always there or fully intact upon the owner’s return. Most bicyclists know that the most secure place for their bike is inside of a building.The 2009 Bicycle Access to Buildings Law laid the framework for bicyclists to file for a secure space to store their bike either within their own office building or nearby their places of work. In its original form, the authors of the bill were successful in their efforts to encourage New York bicyclists to use their bikes on their daily commute, but the 2009 version of the bill failed to actually guarantee bicycle access for people who had taken the time to file official requests.

However, last September, the passing of new legislation has once again reinforced and readdressed the need for building owners to assist bike owners in securing their bikes.

Building owners should be aware that the following three new local regulations relating to the Bicycle Access to Building Laws are now in effect:

1. Local Law 105 of 2016

This law requires office building owners to allow the transportation of foldable bicycles on passenger elevators where “foldable bicycle” is described by NYC GOV as, “a bicycle designed to fold into a compact assembly not exceeding 20 inches (508 mm) by 36 inches (914 mm) by 32 inches (813 mm).”

2. Local Law 107 of 2016

This law requires office building owners to allow bicycles to be brought into their buildings through the use of freight elevators in the same manner as ordinary freight. In addition, when the freight elevator isn’t in operation, bicycles may be brought onto one or more designated passenger elevators.

3. Local Law 106 of 2016

This law requires owners of buildings classified as R-2 to allow tenants and subtenants to transport their bicycles on passenger elevators to and from their apartments with the exceptions of:

1.) The owner offering use of a freight elevator at all times of the day and the tenant doesn’t need escorted and

2.) The owner may limit use to one or more passenger elevators.

The law also requires owners of class R buildings to allow foldable bicycles on all passenger elevators with no exceptions.

As of January 2017, about 86,000 adult New Yorkers bike to work daily . Based on the January 2017 Cycling in the City report, Manhattan has seen a 98% growth in bicycling commuters between 2010 and 2015. As the city becomes more bicycle-friendly, and even more people start using bicycles as part of everyday life, building owners will need to be aware of how they should accommodate bicyclists to avoid any issues.

If you’re a building owner with questions about updated laws or best practices for complying with Bicycle Access to Building Laws, please contact Milrose and we'll be happy to assist you. Click to learn more about our DOT permit filing services.