If New Yorkers were to decide

As New York City prepares for the arrival of its public bike-sharing program in July, most of the intrigue has been over where and how these bikes will be placed in the city. Although none of the locations has been set in stone, the city Department of Transportation offered a sneak peek last week at where about four dozen bike stations might be placed along the West Side of Manhattan. Most of the stations were placed on streets, like the east side of Broadway every couple of blocks from Columbus Circle to Pennsylvania Station. A smaller number of stations are to be situated on sidewalks. A small number of bike stations were placed in parks, like Hudson River Park between 39th and 40th Streets. Officials with the Department of Transportation, who presented the preliminary map of kiosks at the transportation planning committee for Manhattan’s Community Board 4, have said the program will have 10,000 bikes that riders can pick up and drop off at 600 stations, mainly in Manhattan’s central business district. New Yorkers have offered their own suggested locations by voting on sites on the department’s Web site and by attending workshops held by community boards this spring.