Here’s a silly little stunt that makes a fairly obvious point: Mark Malkoff, a Queens filmmaker, raced an M42 bus from 10th Ave. to Madison Ave. and won. That’s not so much of an accomplishment until you realize that he did so on a child’s Big Wheel tricycle.
The Daily News has more on the race:
The 5-foot-7, 131-pound Malkoff set out at 1:18 p.m on Feb. 17 to test his pedal power against the MTA behemoth. Riding a Razor Rip Rider 360 he ordered off Amazon for $80, Malkoff waited for his unsuspecting opponent at the traffic light at 10th Ave. and 42nd St. “Once the green light went, the bus was destroying me,” Malkoff said. “Then we were neck and neck for a while, and suddenly I was able to propel myself faster.”
Wearing a bicycle helmet, he made sure to obey all traffic signals as he rode in the street. “I was nervous about what the police would think, but … they just kind of smiled,” he said.
He mounted a flip-camera to the handlebars and had a team of camera operators following him as he reached speeds of 4.7 mph. Malkoff made it to Madison Ave. in 12 minutes and 42 seconds. The bus took 15 minutes and 20 seconds to cover the same distance at an average of 3.9 mph.
Those who watch the buses for a living weren’t surprised. “It’s a fact of New York life, but it’s awful,” Gene Ruissianoff said. “That bus is actually slower than a running chicken.” In fact, the Straphangers Campaign had given the M42 its Pokey Award in 2010. Between the surface congestion and the dwell times as stations as passengers dip their MetroCards, the M42 is a bus fit for a snail.
10 comments
I like Trike!
Seriously though how pathetic did he make the MTA look using a kids tricycle of all things. I guess if he used a razer scooter it wouldn’t even be a contest.
I’m not sure why this comes as such a sudden shock. Everyone must have known for at least the last 20 or 30 years how damned slow crosstown buses are, especially on 34, 42, 49-50 and 57. At most times of day a brisk walker can beat the bus – and, except in the middle of summer, probably without even breaking a sweat. I know this for a fact because I’ve done it myself on countless occasions. This is why I don’t even bother using a bus in Manhattan. I’d rather walk. And even if walking, on a rare occasion, takes a bit longer at least the walking is first rate cardio.
Who said it was such a sudden shock? That crosstown buses are often slower than walking is not a new development. But when you consider the neighborhood opposition to any improvements to bus speeds, it’s something to ponder.
Connecting up with an earlier post today, if the MTA had built the 10th Avenue station for the No. 7 line, people using mass transit to go crosstown on 42nd would have an alternative to the bus or the big wheel to get from the far west side to Grand Central.
Shouldn’t he have made the same stops as the bus? But at least the bus has a Sleepy’s ad, an LOL moment.
This film should win the Academy Award in short documentary
Just curious, why did he stop at Madison Avenue? Any reason not to go on to First Avenue?…
Could be a lot of reasons, but I imagine sheer physical exhaustion was high on the list. He mentioned it being about 1 mile.
As much as I find Mark Malkoff annoying, he does have a knack of getting publicity for his web video stunts.
yeah this is some outer borough dumbshow… of course the tricycle would win!!! the bus going to go a lot faster than the trike until 8th then get really slow until around park — i question the methodology