Coming full cycle

A new bicycle store has opened on West 72nd Street near Riverside Drive. It is most appropriate. During the "Bicycle Craze" of the late 19th century, Riverside Drive was a favorite thoroughfare and folks would pedal down West 72nd Street to get there - the street had a sort of primitive bike lane and was lined with planters and trees. A favorite destination - the Claremont House, a famed inn not far from where Grant's Tomb stands today.

Bicyclists on Riverside Drive in the 1890's. These folks must have felt truly liberated.