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New York Bike-Share Program Bans ‘Fat’ People
Opposing Views ^ | 05/02/2013 | Lauren Schiff

Posted on 05/02/2013 1:54:17 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd

A new bike-share program in New York looks like a promising way to fix some of the city's biggest problems, like traffic congestion, air pollution, and obesity.

Or rather, let us rephrase: It will help to relieve issues of obesity, but only for the portion of the population weighing less than 260 pounds.

“Everyone who signs up for the program has to agree to a contract, which states users ‘must not exceed maximum weight limit (260 pounds)’ because the bikes can’t hold that much heft,” explains the New York Post.

But citizens aren’t buying it. Jhoskaira Ferman, a 20-year-old student from Pelham Bay, Bronx, says that “If you’re 260 pounds or 300 pounds and want to ride a bike, you should be allowed to. You’re making a choice to live healthier and to lose weight.”

19-year-old Juleissy Lantigua agrees: “That’s bogus,” she says. “260 pounds isn’t going to break the bike. To me, that’s discrimination. And I’m not easily offended!”

Although the anti-fat rule has some people outraged, the New York Post’s coverage clarifies that “bike-share programs run by the same contractor — the Portland, Ore.-based Alta Bicycle Share — launched in Boston with the same weight restriction. London’s program also has the restriction.” It’s a battle of morality against practicality. 

MailOnline.com says that New York Department of Transportation Policy Director Jon Orcutt has explained that despite the weight recommendation from the bike manufacturer, the city will not strictly enforce the limit, claiming that he thinks riders “will be self-selecting, practical and safe.”

The program apparently will cost users $95 per year, or $25 per week to hop onboard, albeit for those who pass the weight limitations.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: bikeshare; newyorkcity; nofatchicks
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1 posted on 05/02/2013 1:54:17 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
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To: Responsibility2nd

I’m sure they only use tax money from those 260 lbs or less.


2 posted on 05/02/2013 1:57:58 PM PDT by andyk (I have sworn...eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.)
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To: Responsibility2nd
I bought a nice bike for doing PT and some local errands for $85US. It's mine. I own it. I'm not renting it.

Those people are crazy.

/johnny

3 posted on 05/02/2013 1:58:00 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Responsibility2nd
“260 pounds isn’t going to break the bike."

Do you think the city wants to do that?

Or do you think the lawyers lining up around the corner have something to do with it?

4 posted on 05/02/2013 1:59:48 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: Responsibility2nd
 photo NewYorksm_zps017a225b.jpg
5 posted on 05/02/2013 2:02:14 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Responsibility2nd; Revolting cat!; Slings and Arrows

6 posted on 05/02/2013 2:02:31 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: Responsibility2nd
The program apparently will cost users $95 per year, or $25 per week to hop onboard, albeit for those who pass the weight limitations.

Can you pay with food stamps?

7 posted on 05/02/2013 2:04:20 PM PDT by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannoli. Take it to the Mattress.")
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To: Responsibility2nd

http://www.moviesoundclips.net/download.php?id=578&ft=mp3


8 posted on 05/02/2013 2:04:30 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: JRandomFreeper
I'm dead serious when I say I would rather live in Detroit than any number of other American cities.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

-CS Lewis.

Detroit may be the wild west of urban America but taming the frontier is what built America.
9 posted on 05/02/2013 2:06:45 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: All
 photo I_Beat_Anorexia_T-Shirt.jpg

10 posted on 05/02/2013 2:07:08 PM PDT by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: Responsibility2nd

I once borrowed a bike rated for 230 lbs and weighed 280 at the time. That didn’t work out too well

Fatties can lose weight or ride bikes rated for them


11 posted on 05/02/2013 2:08:49 PM PDT by varyouga
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To: Responsibility2nd

“Everyone who signs up for the program has to agree to a contract, which states users ‘must not exceed maximum weight limit (260 pounds)’ because the bikes can’t hold that much heft”

I see a DOJ lawsuit coming. That 260 lb. maximum will have a disparate impact on black women.


12 posted on 05/02/2013 2:08:52 PM PDT by NotYourAverageDhimmi
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To: Responsibility2nd
“If you’re 260 pounds or 300 pounds and want to ride a bike, you should be allowed to....Maybe not said the bicycle seat!!!
13 posted on 05/02/2013 2:09:19 PM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
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To: musicman

14 posted on 05/02/2013 2:10:31 PM PDT by SIDENET
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi
That 260 lb. maximum will have a disparate impact on black women.


15 posted on 05/02/2013 2:11:44 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (LBJ declared war on poverty and lost. Barack Obama declared war on prosperity and won. /csmusaret)
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To: NotYourAverageDhimmi

Hey. If the airline industry can sell a seat designed for a 100 pound person to a 300 or 400 pounder - then why can’t NYC let these people rent a bike?


16 posted on 05/02/2013 2:12:31 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Big people need big stuff. A rather large friend of mine had to get a gym quality treadmill because the regular in home treadmills aren’t rated for his weight. The difference between him and these people is he’s not riding the longest river in Africa, so he buys accordingly.


17 posted on 05/02/2013 2:12:33 PM PDT by discostu (Not just another moon faced assassin of joy.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

18 posted on 05/02/2013 2:12:55 PM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
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To: AngelesCrestHighway


John Edwards Approved!
19 posted on 05/02/2013 2:16:15 PM PDT by Jewbacca (The residents of Iroquois territory may not determine whether Jews may live in Jerusalem.)
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To: freedumb2003

Mooch looks like she’s hiding the hotel pillow under that smock.


20 posted on 05/02/2013 2:17:04 PM PDT by RedStateGuyTrappedinCT
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