We love spending long weekends in New York City. You can actually get a parking spot because "anyone who is anyone" has left for the Berkshires (hello Sheila Anderson) or the Hamptons. Friends of ours have an apartment midtown, on the east side and this is where we stayed.
Instead of shlepping our own bikes in, we decided to take advantage of Citi-Bikes. Run by Citibank, Citi-Bike is the nation's largest bike share program, with 8,000 bikes and 500 stations across Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and Jersey City. It was designed for quick trips with convenience in mind and its a great and affordable way to bop around town.
Uber and Lyft and NYC Yellowcabs, WATCH OUT. For as little as $12 a day, you can rent a citi-bike at of these 500 stations. With the Citi Bike app, you can find the nearest station to rent or to dock your bike. You just insert your credit card at a machine that looks like an ATM, click on the number of bikes you are renting and bingo, a code pops out. Insert the code at citi-bike docking station and remove your new ride. The bikes are only available in 30 minute blocks, for quick trips and to ensure that everyone gets a bike when they need it and, that bikes can be tracked. IF you purchase a one year membership, you get 45 minute blocks of time. Should your trip be more than the alloted time, simply dock the bike at the nearest station, wait two more minutes and repeat the process. Your credit card is only charged once in the 24 hour time period.
With our bikes we rode up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A 20 minute ride, we had ample time to dock the bikes. Two hours later, we returned to the docking station, got new bikes and rode to our dinner reservation on First Avenue and 64th Street.
Next morning, after a relaxing coffee and pastry at an east side cafe, we repeated the process. Dressed for a glorious day in the low 80's, we rode the East Side Bikeway to the Lower East Side, up Houston Street and over to SoHo. A quick dip into Jonah 
Shimmel's Knishes gave us the sustanence we needed. We docked our bikes for two minutes and then took them out again, riding up the West Side to Harlem. By that time we were exhausted, and an iced coffee at Harlem Roasters was just what the doctor ordered. No worries about locking up your own bike and there is always a bike available for you to take and to return after
I'm not sure how a guy would enjoy riding to work in a suit or I would enjoy tooling around in a skirt, but there is a great basket to hold a large pocketbook or briefcase should you want to get to and from appointments that way. I'm a walker so I think I'd take a pass!
What a great way to get where you want to go and, a lot cheaper and clearly more aerobic than a taxi. New York City now has more bike lanes than ever and the Citi-Bike App gives you great routes to take to your destination or, suggested routes to some of NYC's best sights. I think, like my Cuisinart, Citi-Bike is one of those things that may change my life.
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