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“Very conservative and unresponsive attitude towards bikes”: United Nations' delegates slam policy of allowing cars in HQ but not bikes

“You have very lofty and ambitious objectives and high-level statements, but when it comes to delivering, it’s a major gap”

The United Nations is celebrating the World Bicycle Day tomorrow and urging people to get on their bikes to help fight climate change, but apparently you're not allowed to do that if you’re in the UN headquarters campus in Manhattan, New York.

If you’re a cyclist, you are barred from entering the campus for “security reasons” and have to park your bike five blocks away from the main entrance in a separate bike storage area. However, as RTE reports, drivers in their cars, or their shiny black SUVs can go straight in, and even have a parking garage directly beneath the International-style building.

In April, the UN installed a handful of bike racks within its gates after pressure from a group of cycling advocates in the UN, but they were made accessible only to high-ranking officials like ambassadors and deputy ambassadors, not for delegates, members of the General Assembly, other UN staff, or journalists. The move has been criticised by many.

Udo Fenchel, a member of the United Nations from Germany said: “This is really VIP parking for very high-ranking members.

“With a car and motorcycle you can easily access the UN garage, which is basically underneath the Secretariat building. You can either take the elevator or use the staircase, you’re not even exposed to weather or anything. It’s much more convenient.

“There are slogans about greening, sustainability, and sustainable development. They banned single-use plastic from the compound and whatnot, but this is a very conservative and unresponsive attitude towards this bike and bike parking situation. It is unclear to me why this is the case.”

> UN adopts resolution promoting cycling to fight climate change... proposed by Turkmenistan's cycling-mad outgoing dictator

Cornel Feruță, Romania’s ambassador to the UN was one of the members involved in pressuring the body to install the bike racks within its grounds, but he said there’s a long way to go.

“As ambassadors we can always access the compound through the main gate in our official cars, and I find it unfair, to say the minimum, to not be able to access the same gate by other means, environmentally-friendly means, like the bicycle,” he said.

He added: “I’m sure there is much more we can do as individuals and professionals and we can provide a good example to others. It’s striking because you have, on the one hand, very lofty and ambitious objectives that we put on papers and high-level statements, but when it comes to delivering, it’s a major gap.”

The General Assembly had earlier endorsed a recommendation to ease bicycle, e-bikes and e-scooter access within the Headquarters, but according to employees and documents, Secretary-General António Guterres has failed to provide such a proposal, instead telling the committee that “any upgrade to existing infrastructures to accommodate bicycle parking would require extensive planning and resources to mitigate security risks”.

Last November, the United Nations also banned any e-bikes, or even any folding bikes from its entire campus, citing the rising number of fires stemming from lithium-ion batteries. However, Teslas and other electric vehicles are allowed.

At a news briefing on Wednesday, spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, another cycling advocate within the UN, told reporters that Guterres had put forward a budget proposal to expand bike parking for all staff, including reporters, and move it closer to the main entrance.

“We want to see greater bike access. We want to be more bike friendly. We want to be more friendly, full stop,” Dujarric said. “And this is a step in the right direction.”

Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.

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8 comments

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ubercurmudgeon | 9 months ago
2 likes

The message from the UN is clear:

Murdered-out SUV = one of us

Bakfiets fitted with child seats = suspicious

Avatar
eburtthebike | 9 months ago
6 likes

Secretary-General António Guterres has failed to provide such a proposal, instead telling the committee that “any upgrade to existing infrastructures to accommodate bicycle parking would require extensive planning and resources to mitigate security risks”.

Extensive planning?  Like taking away a few car parking spaces and putting in some bike racks?  This is the UN, so cockups are not entirely unkown, but this is pretty much the definition of simple, easy, quick planning.  We aren't exactly talking mediating between warring countries here, although, if this is something that the UN considers needs extensive planning, I'm beginning to see why so many conflicts drag on so long.

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Car Delenda Est replied to eburtthebike | 9 months ago
0 likes

The best I can make of it is that they mean electric vehicles.
Not sure what 'extensive planning' was done for electric cars and why it wouldn't apply to others though.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Car Delenda Est | 9 months ago
1 like

Why would the UN be any better than our more local lot?

With some odd exceptions (NL and some of Scandinavia again... oh and this highly liberal chap in Turkmenistan) for security / convenience but also status reasons the elites go by the big expensive vehicles.  Physically above contradiction and visible to all.  It's probably been that way since before horse riding or ox-carts.

So that means motorcade when not helicopter or plane.  Look at how e.g. our prime minister does it.

I'm pontificating now as I know almost nothing about the UN - however if you've got a global remit presumably you tend to look at the big stuff.  Again I bet cycling suffers by comparison with other modes / transport strategies.  The idea of "lots of little, widely distributed and fundamentally decentralised" would not seem to be the approach that is likely to get attention and cash.

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hawkinspeter | 9 months ago
6 likes

A cynic might think that they just want to talk a green game, but when it comes to U.S. cities, bikes and active travel are just jokes to them. They even have laws to specify the minimum amount of car parking that new developments must have.

Until we can separate oil/motor money from politicians, there's little hope that there'll be major change except for that caused by climate catastrophes. That'll only affect the poor people and foreigners, so it's not like any of these delegates will care.

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AidanR replied to hawkinspeter | 9 months ago
3 likes

Listen to episode 537 of the 99% Invisible podcast for more on mandatory minimum parking requirements for new developments and the mess that has unleashed.

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hawkinspeter replied to AidanR | 9 months ago
2 likes
AidanR wrote:

Listen to episode 537 of the 99% Invisible podcast for more on mandatory minimum parking requirements for new developments and the mess that has unleashed.

There's a transcript! https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/paved-paradise/transcript

Edit: Just read it. There's some surprising details about how space for cars got prioritised over space for people in L.A. and the foolish decision to sell Chicago parking meters to Morgan Stanley.

Avatar
momove replied to AidanR | 9 months ago
1 like

They're good, 99% Invisible. Or also basically any episode of The War on Cars, including the most recent "Paved Paradise with Henry Grabar". Very US-centric, but an interesting listen on a vision of where we could go, or avoid.

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