A new law mandating bike access to office buildings goes into effect today, but there's a catch. WNYC's Andrea Bernstein reports.

REPORTER: The city's planning commission says biggest obstacle to increasing bike commuting is limited access to safe bike parking. The new law will begin to change that. Under the law, building managers have to draw up bike access plans, and allow bikes in freight elevators. But employers don't have to create space for employees to store bikes. Transportation Alternative's director Paul Steely White says it's nevertheless a giant step forward.

WHITE: This bill doesn't solve all of the obstacles to bike access in buildings, but i think it solves the key obstacle and that is building management and ownership.

REPORTER: The real estate industry had opposed the bill, but some building managers now say they'll use easy bike access as a selling point to get commercial tenants. For WNYC, I'm Andrea Bernstein.