Bikes allowed! Manhattan was once the most bike-hostile place on the planet, where bike racks were more rare than bathrooms

It's certainly true that one of the bike-iest things a business can do is install bike racks. It's a signal to the world that bikes are welcome -- and, incidentally, it encourages cyclists to park where they are wanted rather than in annoying and obstructive places. The fact is, they'll park wherever they can whether they are wanted or not, so you (as a business owner) may as well try to take a little control and turn lemons into lemonade. 

 Years ago, I used to commute by bicycle from my place in Park Slope, Brooklyn to my office in Murray Hill in Manhattan. If the doorman was working, I was told that there was no bike parking allowed in front of the building. No problem, I said. I'll just wheel my bike into the massive lobby, across the granite floor, to the humongous elevator, and up into my roomy office. The arm shot out. "No bikes allowed in the building," he said.