Transport on the threshold of thrill

A Manhattan Rickshaw bicyclist steers through the city's mean streets. Photo from Main Street...
A Manhattan Rickshaw bicyclist steers through the city's mean streets. Photo from Main Street Taxicabs.
Among the experiences that make one go "Eek!", tooling around Manhattan in a rickshaw ranks high - falling somewhere between a cab ride during rush hour and walking through Times Square after the theatres are out.

Some of the bike-drawn buggies come equipped with seat belts, others don't.

You decide your threshold of thrill.

"There's a real rush going through traffic," said Jacob Press, a tour guide with Manhattan Rickshaw, the longest continuously operating pedicab outfit in New York City.

"We can always find a way through."

I have explored the City That Never Stops by foot, bus and bike.

But on a recent trip, I wanted to sightsee in a vehicle that was intimate with the urban landscape but didn't require any energy expenditure.

So I called Manhattan Rickshaw a few days before my visit and booked Press and his quadriceps.

"It's a combination of entertainment and transportation," said Manhattan Rickshaw owner Peter Meitzler, who was instrumental in bringing pedicabs to New York in 1994.

"It's fun and environmental and fills a niche."

Today, nearly 500 pedicabs work the streets.

They can be hailed on nearly every busy corner and charge $15 to $40 for a 10- to 30-minute ride.

In Central Park, where I met my driver, pedicabs congregate alongside horse-drawn carriages, vying for passengers with a romantic streak.

Press pedalled off, leaving the park behind, and joined the stream of traffic, staying to the far left.

Maintaining a running commentary, his eyes ping-ponged between me, the sites under discussion (eg, the Plaza, St Patrick's Cathedral, Trump Tower) and the surrounding bedlam.

"We're faster than traffic," he said, swooshing around a double-parked minivan, then seamlessly returning to the bike lane.

Seated on a padded bench protected by elbow-high sides and a convertible canopy, I feel as if nestled in a cocoon and am at ease enough to give Press 90% of my attention. (The remaining 10% is busy being a back-seat driver.)"We've had fender-benders, but no fatalities," he says.

Well, that's comforting.

Press never gasped for breath or faltered for topics.

He explained such architectural designs as art deco detailing and cornices.

"They make you feel so cozy and warm."

When we reached Greenwich Village, about 50 blocks from Central Park, Press steered us on to narrow streets girdled by centuries-old buildings.

We stopped briefly to peer through the nondescript door of a former speakeasy, then hopped back into our seats for a spin through SoHo and Little Italy, where Press' description of the clam pies at Lombardi's (America's first pizzeria) made me wonder if he was carb-deficient.

Evening was now approaching, and Press started heading uptown.

As we crawled through Chinatown, the smells of dinner scenting the air, Press pointed out one final attraction: the spot where he almost got smacked by a car door. - Andrea Sachs

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