My NYC Biking Story: Gabri Christa
Choreographer and filmmaker Gabri Christa commutes to work on her trusty Dutch bike from her home in Staten Island to her office in Rockefeller Center, and to rehearsals and performances all over the city. On her morning commute, she catches the free Staten Island Ferry, meets up with friends, and then hops on the Hudson River Greenway to 48th St. When Gabri's daughter was young, she used a child's seat to ride with her around Staten Island. Gabri loves that riding her bike keeps her moving, free, and discovering NYC in new ways.
Streetfilms would like to thank our dedicated viewers for sponsoring this episode of My NYC Biking Story.
[music]
Gabri Christa:
[00:09] I’m Gabri Christa. I live on Staten Island in New York.
I work as Director of Performing Arts for the Consular General of the
Netherlands, and I’m a dancer filmmaker. I’m a physical person
so one of the things I love is just biking and being outside and the
other thing I love, water. I can’t be landlocked. That’s
what I love of Staten Island. I leave my house and bike down to
the ferry, put my bike on the ferry. I meet some friends most
of the time, or I work. I meet a dear friend of mine [unintelligible],
she’s also a working mum. We used to dance together. We
have 20 minutes or something to sit, chat, catch up and relax.
And then I get off and I bike through Battery Park all the way to 48th
Street. The whole Westside Highway bike ride is amazing.
This is a great bike to go to work. I can wear my dress cos I
have to be kind of dressed up, I have my other shoes in there.
And I leave my bike in the streets and I get to work. I’m Dutch
so I biked when I was in the Netherlands and Manhattan has a lot of
the same conditions if it weren’t for all the cars that are here.
I really started riding in New York all the time after September 11,
the subway was closed near the ferry. That’s when I really started
biking in New York, and loving it really, and discovering a whole other
part of New York City. You’ll love New York on the bike and
you’ll love it on the Westside Highway. I mean there is not
one day that I don’t think it’s amazing.
[music]
Transcription Sponsored by: Transcript Divas Transcription Services
