NY e o amor secular pela bicicleta

Desconheço a origem do texto.

Nunca tinha visto os termos “swift walkers,” e “dandy horses” para designar uma bicicleta. Dandy horses é bem gosado, já que a bicicleta virou moda no meio dos almofadinhas ou mauricinhos.

 

NYT One hundred and 99 years ago, New York City began its love affair with : bicycling.

Bicycling at Fifth Avenue and 124th Street in 1897. Bettmann, via Getty Images

One hundred and 99 years ago, New York City began its love affair with another sport: bicycling.

The first bicycles — known then as “swift walkers,” “velocipedes” or “dandy horses” — were introduced to the United States in 1819 here in New York City.

The proto-bikes had wooden frames, wooden wheels covered in leather and seats that allowed riders to dangle their legs on either side and push themselves along. (As you can imagine, riding one looked awfully silly.)

And it didn’t take long for our city to regulate the new contraptions.

By August 1819, the Common Council passed “a law to prevent the use of velocipedes in the public places and on the sidewalks of the City of New York.”

The skirmish between the city and cyclists continues. A group of e-bike activists gathered this week at City Hall demanding that the city clarify laws surrounding pedal-assist bikes. They say the police use the laws to punish food delivery workers.