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Newswise — A half-day symposium on the evolving culture and impact of the bicycle in Brooklyn, sponsored by New York City College of Technology's Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center and The City University of New York's University Transportation Research Center, will take place on Friday, March 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in the College's Namm Hall, room 119, 300 Jay Street, Downtown Brooklyn. For more information, www.brooklynwaterfront.org or call 718.260.5130. The symposium is free.

They say that once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget. Brooklyn, however, did forget -- for a while. After an explosion of interest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Brooklynites forgot about bikes until later in the twentieth century and now, in the twenty-first century, bikes are ubiquitous in Brooklyn, especially in its rapidly changing waterfront neighborhoods. There are bike lanes and bike paths; bikes are seen as an answer to transportation problems and as a solution for environmental troubles. In this conference, speakers will examine the issues raised by the history and ubiquity of bikes in Brooklyn.

Topics and speakers include: "Engineering Bikes and Bike Lanes," Ted Wright, Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects, NYC Department of Transportation; "Bikes as Agents of Environmental and Social Change," Brian McCormick, co-founder of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Initiative and Ben Shepard, City Tech professor and author of "The Beach Beneath the Streets: Contesting New York City's Public Spaces"; "Bringing Bikers to Brooklyn: Tourism, Recreation, and Sport," Chris Wogas, president, Bike and Roll, Mike Lydon, principal, The Street Plans Collaborative, and David Trimble, director, Red Hook Criterium. Screening of "Racing toward Red Hook," Jessica Scott, director.

There will be a bike tour of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway after the conference,with 25 free bikes provided by Bike and Roll on a first come/first serve basis.