Citi Bike is expanding its reach across New York City by roughly 11%, adding 234 stations in seven neighborhoods across Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday.
The rollout includes more than 3,700 new docking spaces in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge, Brownsville, East New York and Kensington; Norwood and Riverdale in the Bronx; and Forest Hills in Queens, according to City Hall.
“Riding a bike is one of the best ways to get around the city, and expansions like this one help more New Yorkers get where they need to go,” Mamdani said.
The initiative was first announced in December 2024 by former Mayor Eric Adams.
Station installation began in Bay Ridge last fall. Since then, cyclists have made more than 75,000 trips from the neighborhood’s Citi Bike stations, City Hall reported.
Lyft is also planning to install “hundreds of docks” inside the existing Citi Bike service zone this fall, with additions expected in Midtown, Chelsea, Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Gowanus, according to City Hall.
The network’s continued growth comes as riders increasingly criticize the rising cost of using Citi Bike’s silver electric bicycles.
Mike Flynn, commissioner of the city Department of Transportation, said during a New York Law School breakfast on Oct. 8 that making the service more affordable is currently “a very high priority for us.”
Flynn also pointed out, without being prompted, that the bike-share system was created without direct public funding. He said the city’s next contract with the operator could provide an opening to reconsider pricing.
“We know that our micromobility share programs were set up without direct public subsidies,” Flynn said. “So I’m happy to talk more about affordability.”
The city’s current agreement with Lyft runs through 2029, though its terms can be changed sooner. New York and the company have amended the deal in the past.
Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit advocacy group, is urging the city to subsidize Citi Bike so that riders would pay no more than $3 for a 45-minute e-bike trip.
Lyft, however, ranks among Transportation Alternatives’ largest donors. The company appeared in the organization’s fiscal 2024 donor records—the most recent available—in the $100,000-plus giving tier.
