Todd Heisler/The New York Times

My favorite part of the latest New York Times coverage of the city’s bike share rollout is this eclectic list of items for sale by street vendor Alfred Haddenden.

“On Lafayette Street recently, where a 55-bike station has been assembled near Astor Place, a couple leaned on the kiosk as if it were a well-worn city bench, plotting their next move with their daughter waiting in her stroller. Nearby, on University Place, Alfred Haffenden, 71, sat between a bike station and his table of available consumer items —

two Al Franken books, a baby-care advice book and VHS copies of ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘Wuthering Heights.’

The stations would be a change, he said, but who would want to live in a New York that refused to try something new? ‘There’s not much you can do about that type, my friend,’ he said, leaning toward the kiosk. ‘Some people can’t see. Some people just don’t want to see.'”

Let’s go for a spin.