{"id":323350,"date":"2026-08-17T19:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T19:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/323350\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T19:18:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T19:18:51","slug":"queens-bp-richards-launches-inaugural-community-bike-tour-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/323350\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens BP Richards launches inaugural community bike tour \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_4732.jpeg\" class=\"crop-center wp-post-image\" alt=\"unisphere\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The Unisphere \u2014 the majestic centerpiece of Flushing Meadows Corona Park \u2014 now towers over the promenade as a defunct relic of the 1964-65 World\u2019s Fair. <\/p>\n<p>Photo by Renee DeLorenzo<\/p>\n<p>To celebrate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/html\/dot\/html\/bicyclists\/bikestats.shtml#trends\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">growing community of bikers<\/a> in New York City, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. announced the inaugural \u201cRide Queens\u201d bike tour, a free community cycling event through the borough.<\/p>\n<p>Hosted in collaboration with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nycgovparks.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">NYC Parks<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/transalt.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Transportation Alternatives<\/a>, the event will begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20. Cyclists will choose between two routes, both beginning and ending in Flushing Meadows Corona Park: a shorter two-mile loop through Central Queens, or a longer 25-mile route stretching into Northern and Eastern Queens.<\/p>\n<p>Following the ride, a festival at Flushing Meadows Corona Park will round out the event, featuring international food vendors, performances, sponsor tabling, and giveaways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a great time to bike in Queens!\u201d said Mae Francke, Queens Organizer at Transportation Alternatives. \u201cWe\u2019re so excited to participate in the inaugural Ride Queens bike tour, and we hope this ride encourages more New Yorkers to get out there and see their city on two wheels. Queens has some of the best bike infrastructure in New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Taking place during <a href=\"https:\/\/greenways.nyc\/2026-nyc-greenways-summit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">NYC Greenways Weekend<\/a>, the event can accommodate approximately 2,000 bike riders.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Richards hopes Ride Queens will become the borough\u2019s biggest annual celebration of cycling, part of his larger initiative to establish the park as a premier destination for residents, tourists, and high-profile events. In July, Richards launched the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Task Force, a coalition bringing together public, private, and community stakeholders to drive investment into the park.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are few better ways to take in the sights and sounds of Queens than a two-wheel trek throughout the diverse communities that make up the World\u2019s Borough,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether you\u2019re just learning how to ride or you\u2019re a dedicated cyclist who gets around the city on your bike, Ride Queens is for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The exact starting location within the park will be announced closer to the event date, and participants will receive the routes digitally upon registration.\n<\/p>\n<p>Pre-registration is required to participate in the event. Those interested in joining Ride Queens can sign up by completing the <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSeZ9nwhCKKDaKel8bTRzwmFJP6Zi-Ale40FIiRjGw_eo46YHA\/viewform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">registration form<\/a> or heading to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.queensbp.nyc.gov\/ridequeens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">queensbp.nyc.gov\/ridequeens<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Unisphere \u2014 the majestic centerpiece of Flushing Meadows Corona Park \u2014 now towers over the promenade as&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[85525,121803,2100,121804,9,24,63,122,121805,19471,124,123,121806],"class_list":["post-323350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-bike-tour","tag-flushing-meadows-corona-park-events","tag-flushing-meadows-corona-park","tag-greenways-weekend","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-bike-tour","tag-queens-borough-president-donovan-richards-jr","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-ride-queens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}