New York City--Citibank paid $41 million dollars to be the main sponsor for New York's controversial bike-share program for five years. Citi Bike, a collection of 6,000 blue bicycles scattered over lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, allows commuting Big Applers to take short (no more than 45 minutes) trips from strategically placed bike station to strategically placed bike station. Chicago-based Chase Bank reportedly offered nearly $50 million for the naming rights to the country's largest bike-share program, but was turned down by the city. "In the end we simply felt that the word Chase--Chase Bike or Bike Chase--would become a running joke and perhaps lead to unsafe riding and driving conditions: either by bikes chasing bikes, bikes chasing cars, cars chasing bikes, pedestrians chasing bikes, or bikes chasing pedestrians. We lost a few million bucks by not going with Chase, but we feel we may have saved a whole lot of lives," explained Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
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