City Cyclist
I was president of the New York City advocacy-activist organization Transportation Alternatives from mid-1986 through 1991, and editor of TA's bi-monthly newsmagazine City Cyclist from late 1986 through 1992.
Below are links to the 40-odd issues we published during that period, as well as a handful from before and after. Most noteworthy, perhaps, are the two dozen from 1989-1992 -- a "golden age" of NYC bike advocacy driven by grassroots energy and a shared love for city cycling. Each issue was brainstormed, written, edited, photographed, designed and assembled by an all-volunteer crew who piled into my SoHo office for four consecutive nights every two months and pasted up each page. (Yes, this was before desktop publishing, ensuring a messy but vital group process that proved far greater than the sum of our individual parts.)
Also striking is the progression in quality and intensity to that high plateau, as the struggle against civic indifference and City Hall hostility galvanized and radicalized a new cadre of activists who turned TA and City Cyclist into a vibrant organizing force. With each issue of the magazine the voice grows palpably stronger, the arguments are sharpened, and the design becomes more compelling.
I hope you'll download, read, and post widely. (So far as I know, the issues are public domain.) And be sure to read The Bicycle Uprising, my 5-part Streetsblog series (2012) that recounts the activism that defeated the 1987 NYC Midtown Bike Ban and energized cycling advocacy from the late 1980s onward, giving rise to these great City Cyclist issues and lasting change on the streets of New York. -- Charles
1986 City Cyclists
June-July
August-September
October-November
December(1986)-January(1987)
1987 City Cyclists
February-March
April-May
June-July
August-September
October-November
December(1987)-January(1988)
1988 City Cyclists
January special issue, "The Ban Is Back"
Same as above, in 11x17 "poster" format
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December
1989 City Cyclists
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December
1990 City Cyclists
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December
1991 City Cyclists
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December
1992 City Cyclists
January-February
March-April
May-June
July-August
September-October
November-December
