Bikes and the City
By Laurie Lewis
The bicycle was a craze among men of means in the late 1860s until nearly the end of that century. Like most new toys, it was too expensive for working-class families, who could barely keep food on the table and who had little time for leisure activity. As for women, the mores and clothing of the Victorian era initially kept them off the bicycle.
The early cyclists wanted to spin their wheels in newly developed Central Park. “No!” said the authorities, who viewed bicycles as a menace to other park visitors. It would be two decades before cyclists, who fought vigorously for the right to ride, received permission to pedal in Central and Prospect Parks, provided they had a license from the Parks Department, belonged to a cycling club, and refrained from speeding.
The bicycle was a craze among men of means in the late 1860s until nearly the end of that century. Like most new toys, it was too expensive for working-class families, who could barely keep food on the table and who had little time for leisure activity. As for women, the mores and clothing of the Victorian era initially kept them off the bicycle.
The early cyclists wanted to spin their wheels in newly developed Central Park. “No!” said the authorities, who viewed bicycles as a menace to other park visitors. It would be two decades before cyclists, who fought vigorously for the right to ride, received permission to pedal in Central and Prospect Parks, provided they had a license from the Parks Department, belonged to a cycling club, and refrained from speeding.
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