Northeast - NYPD = Bike Thieves???

I was out to dinner last night in the Lower East Side in Manhattan, and all of a sudden a dozen or so police officers appeared and started cutting bikes from parking meters with an angle grinder. The cop I talked to said they were doing it where bikes had been sitting for more than 30 days...

They went so far as to cut the frame tubes on at least one vintage frame I saw when they couldn't get it off by just cutting the lock.

The woman whose frame had been made into multiple pieces was outside of the restaurant when we finished, she had parked it there a half-hour earlier. Has anyone heard of this before???

I was pretty shocked, and someone started taking pictures. By the time a few minutes had passed, a whole slew of folks came running out from bars and restaurants to grab their bikes before they got "cleared away." Pretty unreal, hope everyone remembers to keep an eye out so it doesn't happen to them.

This has been covered quite a bit by Transportation Alternatives in their e-bulletin. See here (http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&cof=AH:left%3BS:http://www.transalt.org%3BL:http://www.transalt.org/images/talogo_blue.gif%3BLH:50%3BLW:247%3B&domains=transalt.org&sitesearch=transalt.org&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=abandoned+bikes&spell=1) for results from their website.

Williamsburg police have been particularly bad about this. I thought East Village cops were supposed to be the good guys.:(

Yep, that happens. Police aren't very good at discriminating bikes from garbage, and ever since the RNC there's been a kind of cold war on between the NYPD and cyclists.
OTOH, the abandoned bikes can collect and crap up the place. There was a totally trashed bike abandoned chained to one of those no-crossing fences on my walk to work for about 9 months before someone -- police? sanitation? thief? shop owner? -- removed it.

While I wish the cops were a bit more careful I can't entirely blame them. Abandoned bikes have become a problem downtown. While I'm not in the habit of leaving my bike on a public street for more than a few minutes I would occasionally like to park my bike downstairs from my South Village apartment. Unfortunately there must be at least 30 bikes, and a motor scooter or two, parked on my block, chained to tree guards, various iron fences, and of course the two public bike racks. Most of these bikes have bent frames, missing wheels, and extensive rust indicating they're there for the long haul. If we don't clear away this clutter there's no room for those of us with functional bikes who actually need to use the racks.

Yet another reason I don't lock up my bike anywhere (bring the folder). Absolutely crazy.

Stacy - good point. But if sanitation can put a sticker on a car that says you should have moved why can't the police come through, tag them, whatever still has the tags on after a few weeks go? It's not that hard to do - probably requires less manpower too.

Now I see a good use for one of those magnesium framed bikes. I would love to see an officer start cutting one of those with an angle grinder.

Tagging them with a date is probably the best solution. It's also kinda crazy that it would be dealt with differently from one precinct to another. I'm in the Sixth Precinct where they don't seem to do anything about bikes.

Most of these bikes have bent frames, missing wheels, and extensive rust indicating they're there for the long haul. If we don't clear away this clutter there's no room for those of us with functional bikes who actually need to use the racks.

Maybe you should TALK to the police about removing the junked bikes, before they spontaneously show up and remove every bike in sight.

If it's a bike that is periodically chained to poles, fences, racks, etc., an idea might be to have a laminated dayglo card printed on both sides secured around the frame that says something like this:


-- N.Y.P.D. --
Do not remove bicycle. Owner nearby.
Cellular: 212-999-9999


That might prevent some problems, but who knows...

The woman whose frame had been made into multiple pieces was outside of the restaurant when we finished, she had parked it there a half-hour earlier. Has anyone heard of this before???

I was pretty shocked, and someone started taking pictures.


Wowee! Where are these pictures? Who is this woman?

And Stacy: Where is the "South Village"? Is that somewhat north of TriBeCa Heights?;)

And Stacy: Where is the "South Village"? Is that somewhat north of TriBeCa Heights?;)

South of Washington Square, West of Noho, East of the West Village, but not quite Soho. :p

Ah. So you live under the Fiorello LaGuardia statue?
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_60/cover.jpg

Ah. So you live under the Fiorello LaGuardia statue?
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_60/cover.jpg

Right around the corner - somewhere between the proposed Bleecker Street bikelane and the proposed Prince Street bikelane :)

I believe that you're referring to what Dante called Limbo. You'll share those bike lanes with the unbaptized and the poets of antiquity.

I believe that you're referring to what Dante called Limbo. You'll share those bike lanes with the unbaptized and the poets of antiquity.

Brings a whole new meaning to Share The Road.

I believe that you're referring to what Dante called Limbo. You'll share those bike lanes with the unbaptized and the poets of antiquity.Now that was a witty post!

Now that was a nice thing to say! Especially coming from "Blonde on Blonde"-era Bob!

But back to the problem at hand: the TA links to this are a bit wonky. We don't see any pictures of NY Finest with Angle Grinders. There's got to be some photographic evidence somewhere, no?

I'm afraid the guy with the camera was across the street from me, and I didn't have mine with me when it played out. I didn't know him, so I don't have pictures of the goings on.

I wonder if you can get reimbursed for a damaged/destroyed frame if your bike had only been there for 30 mins., not 30 days. It's illegal to lock up to anything but a bike rack which makes parking a bike frustrating. You want to obey the law to keep stuff like this from happening to you, but there's not a lot of bike racks available for us to lock up. Maybe we should all call the city to have them install free bike racks in places we frequent the most.

Right around the corner - somewhere between the proposed Bleecker Street bikelane and the proposed Prince Street bikelane :)

The avaricious realtors have given every four block area a name. Everything west of Broadway used to be called the Village when I lived there. TriBeCa was just "way downtown." People tell me the East Village was the Lower East Side along with the less gentrified sections below Houston although I don't remember those days.

Exactly. If you remember when it was all the East Village, you weren't there, man.

The avaricious realtors have given every four block area a name. Everything west of Broadway used to be called the Village when I lived there. TriBeCa was just "way downtown." People tell me the East Village was the Lower East Side along with the less gentrified sections below Houston although I don't remember those days.

Nowadays the South Village is the non-historic part of the Village.. but locals are working on that. They've proposed a South Village Historic District (http://www.gvshp.org/southvillage.htm) :rolleyes:

"cold war on between the NYPD and cyclists."
That would not say much about the police, since most cyclists are not politically involved and just use the bike for transportation. Personally I think the police were just ordered to clear the street of bikes.

Special hint, you can tell an abandoned bike because:
1) The Chain is rusted solid, does not flex
2) wheels are bent and damaged.
3) It is missing important parts

As far as I am concerned people who own property should be able to post a note giving 48 hr notice that a bike will be cut. I do not see this as a police responsibility.

Here in DC, DDOT places a laminated card onto bikes that have been noted as abandoned. It has a date on the card, and gives the owner 30 days from said date to remove the bike. After that, DDOT can remove the bike with whatever method works, up to and including destroying the frame.

But the cards are very easy to spot and clearly worded - and effective, from what I've seen. Perhaps NYPD could be so clear.

Oh, wait a minute - it's the NYPD. Nevermind.

Here in DC, DDOT places a laminated card onto bikes that have been noted as abandoned. It has a date on the card, and gives the owner 30 days from said date to remove the bike. After that, DDOT can remove the bike with whatever method works, up to and including destroying the frame.

But the cards are very easy to spot and clearly worded - and effective, from what I've seen. Perhaps NYPD could be so clear.

Oh, wait a minute - it's the NYPD. Nevermind.

I'm going to ammend my earlier comment. Now that beach weather is upon us there seems to be, maybe, half as many bikes on my block as there were just a few weeks ago. I'm sure some of the regulars are off performing their bikely duties but most of the bent frames with missing wheels, or missing seats are gone. The tacoed wheels and solitary ulocks that adorned many of the local bike racks are also missing.

Most of the bikes I'm talking about are x-Mart mountain bikes or vintage Ross. Not only are they missing wheels and missing seats, but many have had their frames bent bent by parking cars. Anything that looks remotely salvageable gets gobbled up by bike scavengers. Some of the long term parkers have been there so long that they're secured with Bic Pen era Kryptonite locks :eek:

CBS News had some cell phone video and NY 1 is running a story on their website

From http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=70390

Local Bicyclists Want Charges Dropped From Alleged Sweep Last Week

June 04, 2007

A city environmental group and local bicyclists are calling on the NYPD to stop harassing people riding bicycles after they say police went on a raid last week.

The non-profit organization Time's Up says officers were videotaped Thursday night sawing off bike locks and arresting bystanders on East 6th Street between First and Second Avenues.

Witnesses say without warning, officers cut the locks off about 50 bikes and then let people walk off with them without showing proof of ownership. They say police also took away some of the bikes in an unmarked van.

One witness, who was videotaping the scene, was arrested after he asked one of the officers for his name and badge number. Another woman was also arrested after questioning the officers.

"I guess I started asking too many questions and I got placed under arrest for disorderly conduct and spent 20 hours down in central booking,” said arrested bicycle owner Robert Carnivale.

“What happened that night is simply unacceptable and unlawful behavior by the New York City police department. It demonstrates, unfortunately, a continued, ongoing pattern of hostility and harassment of New York City cyclists,” said civil rights attorney Norman Siegel.

Time's Up and the cyclists are now requesting a meeting with the commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct. They also want to know how the NYPD plans to return the bikes, and is demanding charges be dropped against those arrested.

The NYPD says some bikes were returned to their owners at the scene, while others were returned at the precinct if the rider could prove that they were the owner.

They also say there were two arrests; one for disorderly conduct, the other for a misdemeanor drug charge.

http://blip.tv/file/252942/

http://www.onnyturf.com/wiki/

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=70390

CBS News had some cell phone video and NY 1 is running a story on their website

From http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=70390

Local Bicyclists Want Charges Dropped From Alleged Sweep Last Week

June 04, 2007

A city environmental group and local bicyclists are calling on the NYPD to stop harassing people riding bicycles after they say police went on a raid last week.

The non-profit organization Time's Up says officers were videotaped Thursday night sawing off bike locks and arresting bystanders on East 6th Street between First and Second Avenues.

Witnesses say without warning, officers cut the locks off about 50 bikes and then let people walk off with them without showing proof of ownership. They say police also took away some of the bikes in an unmarked van.

One witness, who was videotaping the scene, was arrested after he asked one of the officers for his name and badge number. Another woman was also arrested after questioning the officers.

"I guess I started asking too many questions and I got placed under arrest for disorderly conduct and spent 20 hours down in central booking,” said arrested bicycle owner Robert Carnivale.

“What happened that night is simply unacceptable and unlawful behavior by the New York City police department. It demonstrates, unfortunately, a continued, ongoing pattern of hostility and harassment of New York City cyclists,” said civil rights attorney Norman Siegel.

Time's Up and the cyclists are now requesting a meeting with the commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct. They also want to know how the NYPD plans to return the bikes, and is demanding charges be dropped against those arrested.

The NYPD says some bikes were returned to their owners at the scene, while others were returned at the precinct if the rider could prove that they were the owner.

They also say there were two arrests; one for disorderly conduct, the other for a misdemeanor drug charge.

Holy sheiße! I assume this is the guy in the blip.tv clip (http://blip.tv/file/252942/). Obviously, the part where he presumably pisses off the cop isn't on film, but wtf? Papers, please? So, any lawyers out there? What is the law on providing ID on demand? And what is the law about requesting the name of a cop? And what is the law about filming police actions like this?

Back during the drug crack-downs in our local parks police started a new "rule." While carrying ID in't required by law, Police could detain individuals until they verified their identity. Times-Up had Norman Seigel, formerly of the New York Civil Liverties Union, at the news conference so if these cyclists were detained illegally I'm sure we'll hear about it.

Cops are supposed to wear name badges and recording events on a public street pretty much falls within First Ammendment rights. Of course we've whittled away at the First Ammendment quite a bit in recent years.

"Every day I mail myself a copy of the constitution with the hopes that the government will open it up and read it" - Bill Maher

I still can't wrap my head around the stupidity of what a PR nightmare this will be for them.

I live in NYC and remember reading something about asking for a cop's badge # several years ago. I forget what the context was, but in any event the story said that you could ask a police officer for their badge # and they were required to give you an opportunity to take out pen and paper to write it down before they left.

Right. But unless a camerphone's rolling, don't expect not to be sited for "disorderly conduct" in return. And I guess even if the cameraphone's rolling....

I watched the video, and wondered why the arrested guy didn't just bolt before the plainclothes cop decided to arrest him. The cop didn't look like he could run all that fast. Doughnuts much? ;)

Somebody in Advocacy forum suggested the same thing. The drawback: that guy would definitely torture you if he caught you.