Northeast - Bike stolen from an unlikely place!

So my super gave me a key to the boiler room because the landlord (who doesn't come around often) was complaining about my bike being locked up outside in front of my upper east side apt. I have pinhead skewers on the wheels, seat post, saddle, and fork and filled up my stem bolts and RD bolt with solder after it got vandalized for the handlebars a couple times. overall I don't sweat it if parts get stolen, because it was a build from mostly nashbar parts and no individual part is all that expensive. so i I went away for the weekend and decided since I'd be gone for 3 days, I should put it back in the boiler room. That was friday morning at 9am. I go down there this morning to get it out and go to work and bike is gone! Talked to my super, he says he went in there to do the recycling and doesn't recall if he saw the bike in there at the time or not. There are some very shady people that live in the basement apartment that are definately suspect but ultimately i'm out a really nice commuting bike.

I have renters insurance but they screwed me over once before so I'm dreading having to call them but I don't think I have much choice. Any new yorkers ever place a claim for a bike on renters insurance? got any advice for me?

My only experience with renters insurance was a time my car, parked in a municipal parking garage with my ski's and luggage in the back, was broken into and the contents taken. You will need to file a police report, and provide receipts for the missing bike if possible. And you might find that your deductible is pretty steep. In my case it was 10% of my coverage. It would probably be easier if you had a bill from a shop for a complete bike, rather than a list of parts for your build.

heres a pic if you see it, let me know!
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ivqSRjgHnFw/TZMujXoq5pI/AAAAAAAAAmY/bAkf5XulmXU/s912/IMAG0690.jpg

My only experience with renters insurance was a time my car, parked in a municipal parking garage with my ski's and luggage in the back, was broken into and the contents taken. You will need to file a police report, and provide receipts for the missing bike if possible. And you might find that your deductible is pretty steep. In my case it was 10% of my coverage. It would probably be easier if you had a bill from a shop for a complete bike, rather than a list of parts for your build.
Hey Dendawg, how are ya? I do know I have a $500 deductible on my policy. I'm thinking about the issue of the receipts now because I built it custom and sourced so much stuff online that it's going to be a pain to get all the receipts together but I may just try to get the bikeshop to create some kind of estimated value statement.

It's a PIA but definitely get the police report filed, as it takes a while to get the copy from them.
I've been ok but overworked. Trying to head out to at least Alpine, maybe Piermont this morning. Haven't done a long ride in a month and that was only 37 flat miles while I was on vacation.

It's a PIA but definitely get the police report filed, as it takes a while to get the copy from them.
I've been ok but overworked. Trying to head out to at least Alpine, maybe Piermont this morning. Haven't done a long ride in a month and that was only 37 flat miles while I was on vacation.
if i wasn't dealing with this crap I would join you. I've been getting a good amount of ride and have my fitness back. still mad I wasn't able to do gran fondo but looking forward to the NYC century and escape new york next month

if i wasn't dealing with this crap I would join you. I've been getting a good amount of ride and have my fitness back. still mad I wasn't able to do gran fondo but looking forward to the NYC century and escape new york next month

I'm back to Tue and or Wed off after next Sunday so I won't be doing either of those rides. We did sign up for the Bike Club of Philadelphia's fall foliage weekend in October since we're not making the trek to Indiana for the Hilly Hundred this year.

Wait...your landlord needlessly complained about your bike locked up outside, so it was stolen from inside the building?

If you arn't getting such a good deal on rent that the savings equate the cost of the bike, and it were me, I'd tell my landlord I were leaving at the end of the lease and that this is why - his building is more full of thieves than a New York street.

You might also request that the locks be changed on the building, or that the land lord to ask the super to check the tennant's apartments for your bike. In a perfect world.

You might also request that the locks be changed on the building, or that the land lord to ask the super to check the tennant's apartments for your bike. In a perfect world.

we have a suspicion of someone but they have a well known drug habit. The super feels really bad because he had gone in the room on friday and saw the bike there and then got into an argument with the suspected tenant about how they dispose of their trash. He thinks he was in such a huff when he finished that he neglected to make sure the boiler room door was locked.

My landlord does kind of suck and believe me, I'd love to be in a true doorman building with a bikeroom or just a low floor so that I could bring my bike into my apt easily. I'm in a 5th floor walkup with very narrow hallways and this bike is a touring frame with racks an stuff like that plus it's a 60cm frame so the bike is really big. I leave very early am for work and I don't want to be wacking my wheels against neighbors doors at 5am everyday.

IT sucks but i'm hoping that the renters insurance does the right thing. I'm just worried because it's such a custom build. it would be a lot easier if I just had a receipt for an off the rack bike I bought.

Bummer dude, hope it somehow turns up and back into your possession.

If its any consolation moto, you seem to be taking it really well...If it comes to it, can you lock it up to a part of the boiler-pipes or something?

I usually think people who get bikes stolen didn't take every necessary precaution, but you defiantly had really really bad luck.

If its any consolation moto, you seem to be taking it really well...If it comes to it, can you lock it up to a part of the boiler-pipes or something?

I usually think people who get bikes stolen didn't take every necessary precaution, but you defiantly had really really bad luck.

i would have been better off leaving it outside. might have gotten my handlebars stolen again but I'm sure they wouldn't have cut through my 13lb kryptonite chain nor would they have taken the time to hacksaw my pinhead skewers off of the bike. I could definately have locked it up inside the boiler room but I left it unlocked just in case it was in my supers way, he could move it.

I went to the police station, they werent totally disinterested, the fact that we are dealing with not only grand larceny but potentially Breaking and Entering makes them a bit more attentive to me. they are supposed to get back to me tomorrow as is the insurance company.

Sorry about your bike. I saw your post on Craigs yesterday, I'm keeping my eyes open. I got my bike stolen last week also. It does suck, even if the bike is just a $200 mutt like mine. Hope you can unravel the mystery.
I was on Craigslist trying to find something affordable to replace my stolen ride.

Joe
nyc

i would have been better off leaving it outside. might have gotten my handlebars stolen again but I'm sure they wouldn't have cut through my 13lb kryptonite chain nor would they have taken the time to hacksaw my pinhead skewers off of the bike. I could definately have locked it up inside the boiler room but I left it unlocked just in case it was in my supers way, he could move it.

I went to the police station, they werent totally disinterested, the fact that we are dealing with not only grand larceny but potentially Breaking and Entering makes them a bit more attentive to me. they are supposed to get back to me tomorrow as is the insurance company.

The police stations really, really enable the theives. I've got alot of my war stories on various posts. filling parts in with soldier sounds McGiveriffic! Thats what irks me...you spent so much time on a bike, all for nothing.

well the tomorrow in "we'll get back to you tomorrow" has come and gone and I looked at the incident information slip that they gave me that says "Your matter has been assigned the following number (s)" and the Complaint # box is checked off but they didn't write in a complaint number! One detective took all the paperwork that I brought (pics of the bike, copies of some of the receipts, etc) but he didn't take the actual complaint form from the desk officer. So annoying. I don't expect to get my bike back and as each day goes by it's more likely that i's been chopped up for parts since it had pinhead skewers all over it they are gonna have to at the very least bust those off somehow. Ijust want them to go talk to my super to get his testimony in the report and go knock on the downstairs neighbors door who we suspect was involved and then get me my copy of the report for insurance purposes.

I went to the police station, they werent totally disinterested, the fact that we are dealing with not only grand larceny but potentially Breaking and Entering makes them a bit more attentive to me. they are supposed to get back to me tomorrow as is the insurance company.

In New York State (http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article155.htm), it's only grand larceny (a felony) if the value of the item is over $1000. Otherwise, it's petty theft (misdemeanor).

When my bike was stolen from 125th ST in Harlem, I lucked out and had 9 police officers respond. Unfortunately, when the case was assigned a detective (the value of the bike was >$1000, therefore a felony and required to be assigned a detective), the detective assigned (Detective Heidi Carnevali of the NYPD 28th precinct) was less than helpful. She didn't even bother looking at the security tapes of the crime.

In New York State (http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article155.htm), it's only grand larceny (a felony) if the value of the item is over $1000. Otherwise, it's petty theft (misdemeanor).

When my bike was stolen from 125th ST in Harlem, I lucked out and had 9 police officers respond. Unfortunately, when the case was assigned a detective (the value of the bike was >$1000, therefore a felony and required to be assigned a detective), the detective assigned (Detective Heidi Carnevali of the NYPD 28th precinct) was less than helpful. She didn't even bother looking at the security tapes of the crime.

they are considering mine grand larceny and a detective walked by and the desk officer called him over. the detective seemed nice enough and said he would get back to me but alas, still no contact from him.

Try stopping in with a box of Joe and some donuts and see how the level of service improves.

"Bike stolen from an unlikely place! " - It is a myth that bikes are more secure indoors than outdoors. Those 'bike storage rooms' are regular targets for bike thieves.

Sorry to hear what happened.

My bike gets parked in my apartment.

Sorry to hear what happened.

My bike gets parked in my apartment.

my racing bike does too. it's not feasible to bring my commuter up and down 5 flights of stairs 5 times a day so it gets locked outside normally. wish i locked it outside, worst that would have happened is I would have gotten my bars and Deraileur stolen

my racing bike does too. it's not feasible to bring my commuter up and down 5 flights of stairs 5 times a day so it gets locked outside normally. wish i locked it outside, worst that would have happened is I would have gotten my bars and Deraileur stolen

how about locking your commuter outside during the day and when you are finished with it, bring it back upstairs overnight?

how about locking your commuter outside during the day and when you are finished with it, bring it back upstairs overnight?

i leave as early as 5 am, I don't like wacking my rear wheel into my neighbors doors at that hour so it's really a pain in the ass keeping it inside. next apt is absolutelygoing to be a low floor or a doorman building

i leave as early as 5 am, I don't like wacking my rear wheel into my neighbors doors at that hour so it's really a pain in the ass keeping it inside. next apt is absolutelygoing to be a low floor or a doorman building

i hear ya man, i live in the 3rd floor of my walk-up and i'm always careful not to hit anything while moving my bike. It sucks that you have to deal with ass-hole thieves and the lesser of two evils in parking outside and getting parts stolen. i hope everything works out.

UPDATE: Liberty Mutual has come through for me and I should have a check in my hands from my renters insurance by the end of the week. Plan is to buy a new road bike and then sell my current roadie to finance the new commuter bike.

I was pleasantly surprised at how helpful my agent was, I thoroughly expected them to try to screw me and they were simple and easy and this was despite hurricane irene and what I'm sure was an influx of claims coming in to them. My renters policy is about $130 for the year, I highly recommend it.

That's wonderful. Do you get back the full price of your stolen bike?

That's wonderful. Do you get back the full price of your stolen bike?

i have a $500 deductible but the bike was built up piecemeal so it cost a pretty penny to put together just how I wanted it. I just had to show them all the receipts for everything. this time around i'm not going to build totally from scratch, i'm buying the steel nashbar touring bike and then going to do some slight mods to it just because it will get me back on the road faster.

Happy for you. Now you have learned a lesson. Never leave your newly built bike unlocked. :)

realized i haven't updated this thread. Got a hold of the ins company last friday and was told that things were being processed and a check would be issues. Got my check in the mail yesterday! Time to go bike shopping!

I can sympathize with your apartment dilemma. I don't live that far from you..... right over the river in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint area of Brooklyn..... Bike Central. I, too, live a few flights up in a very narrow hallwayed RailRod (floor-thru) apartment. I presently have 4 bikes, one of which I'm determined (very reluctantly) to leave locked up in front of my building, in order to avoid the necessity of dragging a bike up & down the stairs whenever I want/need to take a jaunt. Mine also has Pinhead Skewers on the wheels & seat post, along with a Kryptonite chain/lock & a Kryptonite U-lock. The first night left outside resulted in the loss of my tire valve cap lights..... anything not nailed down, even so cheap ($5 for the pair) an item! I'm definitely not happy about the situation, but I'm trying to just dismiss it in my mind as already stolen, surprised & relieved each morning when it turns out not to be so (so far). Pretty pathetic, but that's life in The Big Apple.
P.S. - I'm also worried that the extra security I've placed on my bike might work against me, as I've heard of (& seen) bikes whose tires were slashed, wheels kicked in, etc. by frustrated thieves trying to "teach the owner a lesson" for securing his bike in so thorough a manner as to prevent it's theft.

yep, I worry about that too, but so far I've had good luck I like to think that I live in a pretty nice neighborhood (83rd and East end) where any ridiculous behavior like that would be noticed by someone. I have my bike locked along a wrought iron gate that blocks the stairs to my basement. I park it with the disc brake against the gate so as to not make it visible but this made my RD visible and that got stolen once. Fortunately, they'ev never vandalized it in anger. it's also parked directly below the first floor and basement apartments windows though there is a known drug user/dealer in my basement and I'm confident the vandals are people that know them that come in the middle of the night to buy whatever they are selling out of there. landlord can't get the guy out, he's been there since the early 80's. I'm looking into my options for a wireless camera to aim there as well.

Happy for you. Now you have learned a lesson. Never leave your newly built bike unlocked. :)

bike wasn't unlocked, it was in a locked boiler room. it wasn't locked inside the boiler room because I thought my super may need to move it to get at something. someone either broke into the boiler room or the super said he may have accidentally left it unlocked. oh well. new commuter is on the way and I'm also getting a new road bike out of the settlement.

even so cheap ($5 for the pair) an item!
I've heard of (& seen) bikes whose tires were slashed, wheels kicked in, etc. by frustrated thieves trying to "teach the owner a lesson" for securing his bike in so thorough a manner as to prevent it's theft.

Scumbags want to show what they are capable of.

I think that you were naive to leave your bike outside of your apartment, locked or unlocked.. in that situation. Who knows what happened. I would not trust that super. He probably does this all the time. Talk to others in your building. Also, you should consider this a warning that things get stolen in your building. One of your neighbors is a thief.

Do you have a chain door lock on your door? If you don't, you should. If I had nice things, i would also buy a high quality Medeco or Mul-t-Lock or similar quality lock with mushroom pins..(only) for my door. Not a Schlage or a Kwickset. A good Medeco deadbolt costs over $100. Consider it an investment in your safety.

I don't live in the city right now but I spent most of my life living in them. In some buildings, things can get very strange. I could tell a lot of stories that would not make sense unless you lived in that environment.

Just secure your stuff. Get an alarm that makes a lot of noise. If you have a good job and are gone during the daytime at regular times, you are a target.

In my experience, building managers are often untrustworthy. Not always, but a lot. They get free rent, but they often don't have jobs. they dont get paid, free rent is their pay. So, they do other stuff which may or may not be legit to eat.

A lot of the time they steal, letting themselves into apartments with their master key. There is something called a chain door lock that you can combine with a basic burglar alarm (use double stick tape to attach the sensors) Have it call your cell phone first and then you call the cops.. That will alert you when they try to come in, and stop them from gaining access unless they want to get caught. When you leave, its easy to make everything look the way it did when you moved in. If they say "we need a key to your lock" give them the wrong key, and if they say "thats the wrong key" give them another one.. If you do that and also secure your windows well.. (use long screws to fix most of your windows so they can open for air but not enough to let a person in Strong screws. And get an alarm that will sound, a strobe light, etc.. They will probably trip it once, then give up and rip someone else off instead of you..

If they give you a hard time, ask them how they knew. They wont do that. In a REAL emergency, the chain door lock would be easy to break, without any real damage. But it stops the casual building-manager-related thievery.

Amen.

I actually was going to point this out, but OP said there were shady people living there, so I withdrew my intention. ;)

When I moved to a new place, the lease said we are allowed to change lock or add new locks, as long as we provide a key to the super. But when I talked to the super about planning to replace the lock and giving him a key, the super insisted that I do not change the lock, even if at my own expense. Wonder why.

In the 70s I housesat for a short time in a building in lower mahattan that had been abandoned by its owners because of unpaid taxes and the people who lived there had taken over paying the bills and basically owned it.. It was also the home to a couple who every day rode their folding bikes up to Central park and collected horse dung from the streets around there for compost. They wore exclusively purple, their apartment was decorated entirely in purple tie die, and even their bikes were purple and they wore purple tinted sunglasses.. Their names were Adam and Eve. They published very strange - cryptic - purple - pamphlets.

Behind the building they grew food in a huge growing garden in the shape of a giant Yin Yang symbol. They gave a lot of the food they grew away to the neighborhood people. They ranged all over New York City on their bikes. Everybody called them the "Purple People".

The garden was my view down from my window. The apartment I was staying in was very scuffed up but it had gorgeous hardwood floors, beautiful tilework, and a spectacular view of the East River the other tenement buildings nearby, many of which were abandoned, and "The Garden of Eden" below.

Junkies lived in the building next door, though.. We had electricity, but the building across the air shaft from our apartment did not. I basically had few posessions at the time. Nothing worth stealing. One day when I returned home from whatever I had been doing I found an extension cord plugged in in the outlet in my apartment stretching across to the building next door. I just left it there and everything was left alone and I never had anything stolen. I lived there for a few months while my friend whose apartment it actually was was visiting his girlfriend in Sweden. It was a great location.

Read you last post but can't figure out what you are trying to say here, christ0ph.:rolleyes: Thought you would end with finding your apartment burglarized.

When I moved to a new place, the lease said we are allowed to change lock or add new locks, as long as we provide a key to the super. But when I talked to the super about planning to replace the lock and giving him a key, the super insisted that I do not change the lock, even if at my own expense. Wonder why.

If you get ripped off, what they might say is that maybe an old tenant of that apartment had a copy made and kept it. If they wont let you use your own lock, insist that they swap locks from another apartment.

Otherwise, anybody who has lived in that apartment before you can theoretically just waltz in and nobody will be the wiser.

Also, often they have "master keyed" locks that are keyed so that one key will open all the locks. Then they do have a concern, indeed, its a pain to replace the custom lock if you change it and dont put the original back when you move.

Big buildings often have semi-professional managers who are not as commonly criminals. In order to prevent their having to carry around a large key box they are basically set up as their own locksmith and they have little kits of lock parts and they can create their own master keyed cylinders using whatever code they want, and also cut their own keys on the spot. But even they may go into a new tenants apartment when they are out just out of curiosity. If a lock keeps them out they will do crazy stuff like climbing up a long extension ladder in an air shaft or going up or down a fire escape. They just can be very nosy.

Mechanical keys and locks are really a 19h century technology that has been obsoleted and increasingly, is very insecure. Clearly, the lock and key paradigm is no longer secure. We've all seen the trick in spy movies where someone gets a copy of a key by photographing someone's keys.. Companies now will even cut a key from a photo..

Recently, a research group in San Diego showed what many had long assumed, that someone sitting a hundred feet away using a telephoo lens can photograph you using your key and then re-create your key in 15 minutes - cut one, and have it work the first time.

http://vision.ucsd.edu/~blaxton/sneakey.html (http://vision.ucsd.edu/%7Eblaxton/sneakey.html)

a Dutch group of security experts "Toool" have a web site where they discuss lock security and they have contests in which they see how long it takes to defeat locks. Often very expensive locks are defeatable. Even the aforementioned Medecos.. (although its nontrivial, Ive read)

Just assume that the usual neighborhood crooks would not be that smart, or they most certainly would not be crooks. They would probably work for some government.

Sorry to hear what happened.

My bike gets parked in my apartment.

It's annoying as hell keeping my bike in the hall, but at least it's safer than it would be. Honestly, I should probably lock it to something inside too.

P.S. Glad this worked out for you!

Amen.

I actually was going to point this out, but OP said there were shady people living there, so I withdrew my intention. ;)

When I moved to a new place, the lease said we are allowed to change lock or add new locks, as long as we provide a key to the super. But when I talked to the super about planning to replace the lock and giving him a key, the super insisted that I do not change the lock, even if at my own expense. Wonder why.


ALWAYS change the lock!!! The super is probably just lazy. Tell him the lease says I can, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Wait until next year! I bet they'll raise your premium.

Lock it to somehing solid through the frame and the front wheel if possible.
It's annoying as hell keeping my bike in the hall, but at least it's safer than it would be. Honestly, I should probably lock it to something inside too. Otherwise, I give it two weeks, if you are on a lower floor.

Definitely not on he ground floor. ;)