WESTWOOD—Eight Westwood fifth graders came to Borough Hall on Dec. 16 with a simple, civic-minded request: more bike racks downtown, in the Central Business District
The girls—Lainey Joy, Seraphina, Isabella, Victoria, Hayden, Siena, Toby, and Rebecca—are Junior Girl Scouts from Troop 98178, led by Jeanine Farfalla and Jamie Hogan. They took turns reading a prepared pitch as part of a Girl Scout Bronze Award effort.
“We love riding our bikes to school, parks, and local stores,” the girls told the mayor and council. “Bikes help us stay healthy, have fun, and feel more independent. But when we get to places around town, we often don’t know where to put our bikes because there aren’t enough bike racks.”
They described a problem they said kids and families run into constantly: without racks, bicycles end up leaned against buildings, left in front of doors, or parked on sidewalks—creating hazards and bottlenecks, especially for people using wheelchairs, walkers, or strollers. Bikes can also fall, they noted, risking injury or damage.
The girls argued that bike racks are a small improvement with multiple benefits: encouraging more people to ride instead of drive, reducing traffic, improving air quality, and bringing more customers to local businesses.
They suggested a sidewalk at Starbucks, at Washington and Center avenues, as a logical spot for racks many kids would put to use. (The borough has designated this area as a site for 10-minute holiday “Grab & Go Parking, as it happens.)
“We believe that adding bike racks is a simple solution that can make a big difference,” they said. They emphasized “We know that most people don’t want to cause a problem—they just don’t have another place to park their bike.”
They also floated fundraising ideas to help pay for racks, including a hot chocolate sale or other seasonal fundraiser.
Councilwoman Lauren Letizia, the borough’s land use liaison, praised the group work right away: “Great presentation, ladies. That was very, very impressive. So, well done.” She told the girls bike racks are “definitely something that we’ve talked about on some of our boards,” and encouraged them to bring their proposal—including suggested locations—to the planning board and building department for review.
As the girls described the style of rack they had in mind, Letizia responded, “I love that,” adding that it sounded like they were “definitely on the right track.” She also suggested the borough could help by providing a map that the girls could mark up with preferred rack sites.
Councilwoman Beth Dell used the moment to reinforce a related downtown safety rule the borough recently adopted: “It is no longer allowable to ride your bicycle on the sidewalks” in the downtown core, she said, explaining that for safety, riders should dismount and “walk it through the sidewalk.”
Dell pointed to the tight quarters created by outdoor dining and other sidewalk obstacles, and told the girls, “I’m so proud of you,” calling their pitch “an excellent presentation.”
Mayor Ray Arroyo, wearing Christmas novelty glasses and elf tie, kept the exchange moving toward next steps in all due solemnity, directing that the girls be connected with staff and boards so they could use a zoning map to identify appropriate locations and “work together” on where racks would make the most sense.