New York Bike Portrait: Henriette and Paloma

Henriette lives in lower Manhattan, works in film set design and uses her bike for just about everything – commuting, errands, and child transport. She owns a car too, but only really uses it for getting out of the city. I caught up with her as she was picking up her daughter Paloma from school in the East Village. Originally from East Germany, Henriette has called New York home for the last 19 years, for most of which she’s used a bike for transportation. Having had a couple of run-ins with car doors over the years, she has her guard up, even as the addition of bike lanes and increase in ridership have made her feel somewhat safer. With Paloma on the bike, she sticks to only riding in bike lanes or walking the bike on the sidewalk where necessary.

For years, Henriette rode a beloved old beater with coaster brakes. In fact, she traded up for this Biria just a couple of weeks ago. She was sad to part with the old bike, but loves the comfort and reliability of the new one. Paloma has spent most of her 5 and 1/2 years on the back of Henriette’s bike, graduating from a small child seat to the current rear banana seat configuration. I noted that quite a few other parents were also picking up their kids by bike; Henriette told me they have the same reasons she does. “A lot of the parents live on the Lower East Side. So it might be a bit far to walk. You can take the bus, but that costs… what is it now? Two dollars? It’s been a long time, I don’t really know!”