Time's Up

What Time's Up does

Time's Up! is a grassroots environmental organization founded in 1987 in New York City by Bill DiPaola, operating across all five boroughs with a mission to promote sustainable urban living through educational outreach and direct action. The organization is entirely volunteer-run, with approximately 150 volunteers and no paid staff, and is funded through donations, membership contributions, and volunteer labor. Its core programs include the monthly Critical Mass bike ride (supported since the late 1990s), a Bike Co-op offering free repair workshops, community garden maintenance (La Plaza, Green Oasis, Children's Magical Garden), the Street Memorial Project (pioneered in 1996 for cyclists and pedestrians killed by motorists), and the Time's Up! Zine publication.

The organization's technical footprint is unconventional: it pioneered bike-powered generators that provided electricity during Occupy Wall Street (2011) and Hurricane Sandy disaster relief (2012), and helped launch the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MORUS) in 2012. Notable partnerships include Visual Resistance (ghost bike memorials), Right of Way (Street Memorial Project), and Clearwater (anti-nuclear protests). The organization's go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, relying on social media presence, email newsletters, recurring in-person events, and extensive earned media coverage from major NYC outlets.

The business model is non-commercial: most programs and events are free to participants, with revenue derived from donations and membership support. The organization accepts tax-deductible car donations in exchange for recycled bicycles, and conducts no traditional sales activity. Customer segments are three persona types: NYC cyclists and cycling advocates (primary), community gardeners and urban agriculture advocates, and general environmentally-conscious NYC residents. The organization has no parent company, no institutional investors, and operates as an independent nonprofit domiciled in New York.

Name

Time's Up

Legal name

Time's Up!

Website

https://times-up.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Time's Up! is a volunteer-run NYC grassroots environmental nonprofit, founded in 1987, that promotes cycling, community gardens, and urban sustainability through direct-action campaigns, free events, and education, serving NYC residents across all five boroughs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Advocacy & Community Activism

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Education & Outreach (BPAGAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable Cities, Urban Development & Green Infrastructure (BPADALAL), Cycling, Mountain Biking & E-bike Adventures (THAJABAF)

Keywords

• Environmental advocacy
• Bicycle community organizing
• Urban gardening programs
• Grassroots environmental education
• Direct action campaigns

Headquarters

HQ city

New City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Membership Support: The organization relies on donations from supporters and membership contributions. Members can support through financial contributions. Tax-deductible donations are accepted via email to [email protected].
2. Volunteer Labor: All operations are volunteer-driven with no paid staff, reducing operational costs significantly.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Time's Up! is a grassroots environmental organization that uses educational outreach and direct action to promote sustainable urban living in New York City. It organizes community bicycle rides and events (including the monthly Critical Mass), runs a free Bike Co-op offering repair workshops and maintenance education, maintains urban community gardens, and operates advocacy programs such as the Street Memorial Project commemorating cyclists and pedestrians killed by motorists.

Product overview

Time's Up is a grassroots environmental organization offering community-based environmental programs rather than a traditional product platform. Its core offerings consist of bike rides and cycling events (including the monthly Critical Mass), a Bike Co-op providing repair education and workshops, community garden maintenance programs, and the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MORUS) documenting urban activism history. The organization also publishes the Time's Up! Zine and operates the Street Memorial Project for cyclist/pedestrian safety awareness. These programs work together to promote sustainable urban living through education, direct action, and community engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bike Rides & Events Organized group bicycle rides throughout New York City including the monthly Critical Mass ride, themed rides (New Year's Eve Bike Ride, Doggie Pedal Parade, Coney Island Cyclone Bike Ride), and educational/safety-focused rides. Targeted at urban cyclists of all skill levels seeking safer streets and community.
• Bike Co-op

Quantifiable outcome

• Organized Critical Mass rides with thousands of participants monthly since 1990s
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MORUS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTime's Up! helped launch this living history museum in the East Village which highlights the history of urban activism and environmental movements in the neighborhood. The organization is actively involved in supporting the museum's mission and programming.
• Visual ResistancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner on ghost bike memorial projects. Visual Resistance provides visual documentation and artistic elements to Time's Up!'s Street Memorial Project commemorating cyclists and pedestrians killed by motorists.
• Right of WayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on the Street Memorial Project, which creates silent memorials through stencil memorials, memorial bike rides, and candlelight vigils to draw attention to pedestrian and cyclist fatalities.
• ClearwaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint bike ride and sail action to Indian Point nuclear power plant with 50ft banner reading 'SHUT DOWN INDIAN POINT NOW'. Combined cycling and sailing activism campaign.
• Critical MasscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTime's Up! has been a key supporter and promoter of Critical Mass monthly bike rides since the late 1990s. The organization publicizes and supports the leaderless bike movement that gathers on the last Friday of each month.
• Occupy Wall StreetminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided bike-powered generators to the Occupy Wall Street movement after NYPD confiscated gas generators. Built 15 bicycle-powered generators to sustain the occupation's electricity needs during 2011.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• GreenThumb: NYC Parks Department's community gardening program supporting 550+ gardens citywide — directly comparable urban gardening mission in the same geography but publicly funded and larger scale.
• 350.org: Global climate advocacy organization with broad environmental mobilization mission — comparable as a larger-scale environmental nonprofit but operating at a fundamentally different geographic and tactical scale than Time's Up!.
• Open Plans: NYC urban planning and open streets advocacy organization with broader scope than Time's Up! but overlapping mission around car-free streets and community-led urban design.

Direct peers

• Bike New York: NYC nonprofit running bike education classes, community rides, and the TD Five Boro Bike Tour — directly comparable education-and-events model serving the same NYC cycling community.
• Transportation Alternatives: NYC-based nonprofit advocating for safe streets, better bike infrastructure, and reduced car dependency — directly comparable to Time's Up!'s cycling advocacy mission in the same geography.
• Critical Mass: Global leaderless bike ride movement that Time's Up! has actively supported and promoted in NYC since the late 1990s — directly comparable ride-based activism model.
• Right of Way: NYC advocacy group focused on pedestrian and cyclist safety, co-collaborator with Time's Up! on the Street Memorial Project — directly comparable mission on memorializing traffic fatalities.
• Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MORUS): Living history museum that Time's Up! helped launch in 2012, covering urban activism in the East Village — directly comparable partner and overlapping programmatic mission.

Emerging players

• Recyclery Bicycle Collective (Chicago): Volunteer-run bike co-op providing repair education and recycled bikes — directly comparable Bike Co-op model in a different geography with similar community organizing approach.
• Earth First!: Grassroots direct-action environmental network using similar tactics (creative protests, non-hierarchical organizing) as Time's Up! but with a broader ecological focus beyond urban cycling.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nyctimesup
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/txup
• Facebookfacebook.com/timesupnyc
• Instagraminstagram.com/times_up_nyc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/times-up-ny

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Time's Up