In New York City, the bicycle has always been more than just a way to get from point A to point B. For decades, it has been a tool of resistance, community, and joy. No organization embodies this spirit more than Time’s Up NYC. Founded in the late 1980s, this volunteer-led group has spent more than 35 years transforming the city’s relationship to cycling, the environment, and public space.
Their mission is simple but powerful: to promote a healthier, more sustainable city through direct action, education, and community events. From organizing legendary Critical Mass rides to fighting for car-free parks and safer streets, Time’s Up has consistently pushed New York to rethink who its streets are for. Their activism has helped lay the groundwork for many of the bike lanes, greenways, and pedestrian zones New Yorkers enjoy today.
But their work doesn’t stop at infrastructure. Time’s Up is equally focused on building culture and community. They host free bike repair workshops, group rides, and classes that make cycling accessible to everyone — especially those left out of mainstream environmental conversations. Their “Love Your Lane” and “Green Apple Festival” campaigns combined celebration with protest, showing how grassroots action can create lasting change. Whether it’s setting up pop-up bike repair stations during a blackout, or turning abandoned lots into community gardens, Time’s Up consistently shows how everyday tools can be repurposed for resilience.
This year, with support from CitizensNYC, Time’s Up is expanding its community programs to reach even more New Yorkers. Volunteers are repairing bikes for delivery workers, hosting rides that highlight the city’s environmental justice struggles, and teaching young people how to care for their bikes — and by extension, their neighborhoods. It’s hands-on, practical work, but also deeply visionary: a model for how urban residents can reduce emissions, reclaim public space, and build healthier, more connected communities.
“Cycling is liberation,” said a longtime volunteer with the group. “It’s about mobility, equality, and reclaiming power in a city that often forgets its people.
That sense of power and possibility is what makes Time’s Up such a vital partner. In a city where low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately exposed to pollution, unsafe streets, and lack of access to green space, Time’s Up is proving that sustainability can be joyful, inclusive, and driven by the people most impacted.
Supported by CitizensNYC and Con Edison, their work is a reminder that climate action doesn’t only live in legislation or big infrastructure projects. Sometimes, it rides on two wheels, fueled by people power and a vision of a city where everyone can breathe easier, move freely, and thrive together.
