Walking d this street on a photowalk 2 months ago I spied these bicycle locking station sreflecting in the street level windows. This design started appearing around the city a few years ago, and I’ve been a bit intrigued by them ever since I first noticed them. I have read nothing about them, so what follows is complete speculation on my part.
They seem poorly designed for their purpose. A single post with a ring (or rings) would serve the same purpose and take up less space. I surmise then that the purpose of the design is aesthetic. It sort of looks like a bicycle wheel, but not really. I find the look pleasing, even as I wonder both about whether the design makes functional sense and whether they are supposed to look like bicycle wheels. Maybe the small mystery is what creates my interest. But even that seems odd because both questions contain an inherent assumption of mild incompetence on the part of the designer. I’ve been wanting to photograph them since I first saw them near Brooklyn Bridge Park, but all of my doubts about their design and purpose held me back.
The reflection in the windows pushed me over the edge.