Currently, two of the biggest trends of the year have been bikes and local sourcing. Combining the two is NYC’s Bowery Bicycles, who weld, paint, assemble, pack and ship all their wares in and from Brooklyn, NY. The bikes themselves are vintage-inspired cruisers which boast comfort to ride and the relative ease of maintenance. The bikes are also inspired by the rich history of downtown NYC- and not just the CBGB’s heavy nostalgia NYC- but of the earliest years of Manhattan when Dutch trading paths paved the way for what today are some of America’s most traveled roads and avenues.
In their mission statement BB not only explains their reasons for creating NYC friendly bikes, but also touch upon the diverse history of Downtown:
Founded in Manhattan in 2008, Bowery Lane Bicycles is committed to making affordable bikes in America that meet the actual day to day needs of urban cyclists. We actively support urban cycling advocacy and the goal of reclaiming city streets for safe and sustainable transportation… The Bowery is one of the oldest thoroughfares in New York City and in turn the country. Before the Dutch it was a Native American footpath. It later became a connection between the city and the farmland to the north. Its first residents were freed slaves. In its long and diverse history it has gone from the most elegant shopping and dining area to a dangerous neighborhood full of brothels and beer gardens; home to some of the toughest gangs of New York. These days the Bowery is going through a revival of sorts but continues to retain, for now, some of the grittiness that makes it a symbolic New York artery with deep roots to its past.
In keeping with the ideas of heritage and craftsmanship popular for fashion this season, Bowery Bicycles hope to conjure an image of a time when NYC was one of the capitals of the world for cycle use through bikes such as the Broncks Black and Breukelen Bikes- both named after the original Dutch spellings of the two NYC boroughs.
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