Tagged: Greenwich Village

A Cyclist’s Secret to 8th Street and Saint Mark’s Place

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I learned this years ago when I used to live off Washington Square and in the West Village.

The fastest way to get crosstown on a bicylce, from Greenwich Village to the East Village, specifically between Sixth Avenue and Avenue A, is along 8th Street and Saint Mark’s Place.

And about a month ago, I noticed that the Department of Transportation began to mark a bike lane on 8th Street, between 6th Avenue and Astor Place, to give cyclists an initial clear path along this crosstown corridor.

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To be sure, there are other bike routes. You can ride eastbound on 10th Street and westbound on 9th Street. You can also navigate along Bleecker Street, to get from the west side until the street terminates on the Bowery. And, although it doesn’t have marked bike lane, you can take 4th Street from the West Village all the way to Avenue D. But the problem with these routes is the incessant red lights. A speedy but safe cyclist will encounter a red light at just about every intersection.

However, whether it is by design or by coincidence, you get a pretty consistent wave of green lights on 8th Street and then on Saint Mark’s Place, until you get to Avenue A at Tompkins Square Park.

Although it came a decade after I left the neighborhood, it’s great that we cyclists have a safe efficient route to get cross the downtown area.

Is there a WiFi Trap in Greenwich Village?

WiFi Traps

The other day outside of the IFC Center on Sixth Avenue, I found that my iPhone had automatically connected to the attwifi network, which makes sense since I was within a sight line of a McDonald’s. But it was a weak signal, so when I tried to turn off the WiFi radio, I saw these “open” WiFi networks with familiar names, such as Amazon, Google, Groupon, and Hotels.com.

Now, I know the downtown area is pretty well-connected with technology companies, but I doubt that these open networks are actually run by the companies in question. I am guessing is that these open networks are there to sniff unsuspecting users’ personal data, such as passwords and account numbers.

I wonder if anyone has noticed these networks around other parts of New York, and whether anyone has been brave enough to connect to them.