Not everyone loves the bike lanes, pedestrian malls and reconfigured bus stations the city has installed, bemoaning the loss of space for cars. But the efforts have made parts of the city safer, reducing crashes by 34% where they've been installed.

While accidents still happen, they've also encouraged more people to get on a bike -- cycling has increased fourfold over the last decade. The city's bike share program, Citibike, logged 40,000 daily trips in 2013.

To help New Yorkers secure their new-found objects of desire, the city has put in nearly 12,000 bike racks.