I rent an apartment on the upper west side. Recently the management has instituted the rule that no bicycles can be taken up in the elevator and the tenants are instead to use the new "bike room". This is frustrating for a myriad of reasons not the least of which being that its constantly blocked by various crap the building is moving around. It really probably doesn't bother anyone else in the building as I'm sure no one else uses their bike as their primary mode of transportation. In fact I've scarcely seen any of the bikes used since I've been using the storage room. I've recently read that they've passed some bill in an effort to help nyc go green that will require commercial buildings to allow anyone to bring their bike with them inside. Perhaps there is something equivalent on the books for residential buildings. Honestly I feel ridiculous not being able to bring my bike into my house to work on, stare at, etc. If anyone has any experience with this type of thing that could help me out or just knows about this particular aspect of the law in new york city please respond in this forum or if u can tell me something super useful you can email me at bruceleesdad@gmail.com. This might be preferable since I'll be posting in a bunch of places. I'd love nothing more than to tell these people to **** themselves without inccurring legal complications. Thank you.

This is bad... Hope you find some kind of law against it.
I guess you can carry it up 11 flights of stairs, or move to a more sensible place.

I dont see how management is breaking the law since it is a privately-owned building, though perhaps there is some obscure renters right that is being violated. Outside of an expensive attorney and civil case, good luck finding any third party that will defend such a right if one does in fact exist.

In the meantime, continue to use the elevator with your bike. If anyone says anything, ignore them until your lease is up. That is assuming you do not have door security watching your every move. And if that's the case, time to sublease your apartment and move somewhere less stupid. Or you could contact the management and plead your case for the rule to be reversed. But if I were in your shoes, I'd just break the rule if possible.

it looks like post modern structualism has messed around with your beautiful lifestyle... darn it.i was thinking about a police officer who used to stop me alot when i used to go the wrong way up a one way road on my fixie during courier work in Sydney. after a while, i got sick of playing cat and mouse, and asked some lawyer friends to check it out. all i had to do was quickoff my front wheel and walk up the street, and he couldnt say nuffin'. what defines a bike from a frame? or a wheel from a bike?just my useless 2c anyway..

Is there a service elevator you can use?

sometimes security hassles me about bringing my bike up so ill be keeping an eye on what you find. luckily, someone on the ground floor lets me keep my bike in their apartment and gave me a key!

How much money do you have invested in your bike? If no one else in the building uses their bikes as transportation as you do (especially considering the others hardly move), I'm sure what your bike's worth is much higher than the other tenants keeping bikes in the 'bike room'.
Like psirue said, keep using the elevator until someone says something. Then, if someone from management should address you, use how much money your bike is worth and that you don't feel comfortable leaving it in a community bike storage area as your leverage. I know I wouldn't comply with that.

Trance - was removing your wheel and walking really easier than riding up another street?

i just don't understand how a management company can ban tenants from bringing their property into their space.

check www.transalt.org - email somebody there to get some good information. they are your advocates.

My thoughts exactly. I understand that what a tenant can keep in an apartment is subjective but it's not like you're keeping a propane grill in your living room (which would obviously be a hazard as well as against code) and moving it up and down the elevator on a daily basis. A bike isn't any sort of safety hazard.

A bit extreme but I can imagine an old guy who wheels around an oxygen tank to aid breathing being told "Sorry, sir. That's not allowed in the elevator. We have a room you can store that in right here".

I can see them saying a bike in the elevator is a nuisance to the other tenants and a possible hazard (utter nonsense, but they could say that). they would then tell you to bring the bike up the stairs, instead. Obviously, they cant tell you that bikes are not allowed in your apartment -- that's ridiculous -- they can, however, say that bikes are not allowed in the elevator.

I think his point was that removing the front wheel meant it's no longer a "bicycle", and thus not subject to the law that says "no bicycles going the wrong way on a 1-way street".

Not easier, but legaler.

No if he was REALLY awesome he would have removed his front wheel and then just wheelied up the one-way street. Bet the law doesn't say anything about unicycles!

Ohhhhh...........
I was looking at the 'removing one wheel and walking' thing literally, but only from one side. That actually does make sense.

BTW - I would say carrying a bike up the stairs would be more of a nuisance to other tenants and more of a hazard.

Is it dirty wheels rolling on the carpet or bumping walls they don't want? What have they told you about the how/why of the policy?

The policy in our office is that the tires shouldn't touch anything. I carry my bike in and leave it upsidedown somewhere out of the way.

If it's too far to carry up the stairs, and there's security watching you when you come in, carry it up the first flight of stairs and then catch the elevator from there where they can't see you. Just hope your fellow tenants don't rat you out. You could also talk to the other tenants about how you feel, and see if you can get them to sign a petition.

Good call.

I thought NYC was passing an ordinance against this?

I hope there is major backlash against this uptight policy!
Unacceptable!