This awesome bike rack wasn’t actually inspired by Betty Boop, but we like the alliteration of Betty Boop Bike Rack. It’s actually part of a series by artist David Byrne (from the Talking Heads) in partnership with the NYC Department of Transportation and Pace Gallery. As an avid cyclist, David was invited to join a city design competition for bike racks and later submitted his own designs which the city agreed to install.
Each design was neighborhood specific, ranging from “The Old Times Square” (above), to “The Hipster” (of a guitar), “The Wall Street” ($ Sign), “The Jersey” (a car, right near the Lincoln Tunnel), “The Villager” (a dog), “The Coffee Cup,” “The MoMA,” “The Ladies Mile,” (a high heel shoe).
A NYC resident decided to spend a weekend tracking all of them down (a map is available on Byrne’s website), writing “We ventured from Wall Street to Times Square and from Williamsburg to the Hungarian Pastry Shop. I’m so glad that this was done in NY and that I live in NY…hope you enjoy my little trip in search of the bike rack.” These were photographed in 2008, so we’re not sure they are all still installed, but we did personally capture the one in Times Square.
Michelle is the founder of Untapped New York and the author of The Art Spy (HarperOne, forthcoming) Secret Brooklyn, Secret New York Hidden Bars & Restaurants, and Broadway. michelleyoungwriter.com
