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In honor of Bike to Work Day, NYC's 5 best neighborhoods for cyclists

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Do you live in one of these neighborhoods?

In celebration of National Bike to Work Day, which is tomorrow, StreetEasy has published a list of NYC’s five best neighborhoods for bikers. Surprisingly, Lenox Hill emerged at the top of the list, and StreetEasy says this is largely due massive improvements in bike infrastructure in recent years.

While conducting its study, StreetEasy considered factors like access to parks and greenways, the density of bike paths, Citi Bike docks, and buildings that offer bike storage. They used data provided by the city’s Department of Transportation, Citi Bike, Mapzen, and their own database to come up with these conclusions.

Lenox Hill has about 4.4 miles of bike lanes, which is among the lowest in the top five best neighborhoods for bikers, but it came out on top because of its access to Central Park, the East River Greenway, and the large number of listings in the neighborhood that offer bike storage.

StreetEasy also pointed to the large number of Citi Bike docks (16) considering the size of the neighborhood as a factor in its favor.

Unsurprisingly, Manhattan neighborhoods featured heavily in the top five with just Park Slope being the odd one out. Park Slope comes with 12.68 miles of bike lanes and 26 Citi Bike docks. StreetEasy pointed to local residents pushing for more bike lanes and Prospect Park’s reputation as being one of the best places to bike in the city, as factors in its favor.

Rounding out the top five after Lenox Hill and Park Slope were Battery Park City, the Upper East Side (though wouldn’t you say Lenox Hill is a part of the UES?), and Midtown West.

Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island did not feature at all, and this is largely due to the lack of bike infrastructure in those boroughs, at least in comparison to Manhattan. As Citi Bike’s expansion continues in Brooklyn and Queens, and as the bike share service finally prepares to show some love to the Bronx and Staten Island, things will likely change in the coming years.