NY Sun article about Squid
 

A Messenger with a Message Profile: Kevin Bolger

New York Sun, September 16, 2004

By Daniela Gerson

Some call him "Squid"; others know him simply as the "bike messenger general."

Nearly a decade ago, a dispatcher bestowed the second nickname on Kevin Bolger, the mohawked messenger said. A tattoo on his upper arm depicts such an employer - as a skull demanding that he embarks on another run (he is shown as a defiant "ghost rider").

The "general" moniker stuck and Mr. Bolger, now 32, has taken on the role of an elder statesman in the messenger world, having ridden for 10 companies. He has been a driving force in developing New York's bike messenger culture.

"I started by giving out flyers for events," Mr. Bolger said between food delivery stops in Williamsburg. "I would find the messengers and then I would harass them all to get together and make it happen."

On a recent Wednesday night, his shaggy shock of platinum hair hid under a backwards cap ("I've been rocking this haircut since I was 17"), Mr. Bolger was mobilizing his volunteer team to spread the word about the Bike Messenger World Championships, the weeklong global competition of messenger prowess, which New York will be hosting for the first time next summer.

According to Mr. Bolger's plans, New York City streets will be filled with 1,000 messengers competing in various simulated-delivery races and in other competitions such as "bunny hop" jumping contests, and cargo contests hauling bricks, carpet, and hay bales.

In a press package prepared by Mr. Bolger's wife, Amy, a designer and former messenger, the $500,000 preview budget is laid out, including $3,000 each for tattoo shows and arm-wrestling competitions, and $1,400 for an art show.

Of the more than 1,000 New York messengers, Mr. Bolger said he could probably name about 200 of them. The current tight-knit and active circle of New York bike messengers is a far cry from his start in the business 14 years ago.

"The first couple of years I was out there I knew the people at my company and that was about it. We just passed each other in the streets," Mr. Bolger said.

In the winter of 1992, shortly after Mr. Bolger started his first messenger gig and when he acquired the moniker "Squid" - a nickname from bartending - he got his first glimpse of the potential for building a cohesive community.

He found a leaflet in the spokes of his bike, advertising a memorial at 49th Street and Madison Avenue for a messenger killed on the job. Mr. Bolger decided to show his support.

When he arrived, others had taken over the intersection, dropping their bikes and forming a circle. "Friends had spray-painted the guy's name on the spot where he was killed," Mr. Bolger recalled. "And I remember someone had a 40 and he poured it on the spot."

"The friends of the guy were trying to make people take notice that this guy spent his life out here to keep this city moving. Not too many jobs in the city that people die doing," continued Mr. Bolger, who said he knows of about a dozen messengers killed on the job. The sense of common mission, he said, "made me

want to do this kind of work even more."

A few years later, after a messenger skills competition in Toronto, he "realized there was a community where people took care of each other, and hung out with each other," and he came back determined to create a similar culture in New York.

For the first race he organized, on Halloween in 1995, Mr. Bolger drew up a flyer: "Winner takes all: $5 down, let's see who's the fastest." Thus began his role as the general. "I was giving out orders to all the troops."

Mr. Bolger's brother, a former messenger who introduced him to the trade, warned him against spurring competition, saying messengers racing through the city would result in casualties.

But the Halloween fun ride, which regularly draws about 100 riders from across the East Coast, and the Warrior, April Fool's, and other rides that followed, have so far been miraculously safe. Generally, they start with a manifesto, where each rider is told the route. Along the way, they stop at checkpoints to collect fake

packages or gag gifts - or even bob for apples. It all ends with a party. As a veteran on the street, Mr. Bolger has taken an active role in advocating better working conditions for messengers, whose average career, he said, is less than six months.

"The companies keep getting this fresh meat," Mr. Bolger said. "A lot of these kids don't realize they're working for crappy companies."

"I would love to see before I stop riding a messenger's office in the city that is just for messengers, where a guy can stop and get a cup of coffee or throw his gloves in the dryer for a half hour, because in the winter it gets cold," he said, adding, "And a rating system for the different companies...I think eventually if we did it right we could make the owners accountable."

He may be an old man in the messenger world, but Mr. Bolger has no plans to retire anytime soon. "I love riding my bike. I love the four seasons. I love going into the same buildings. In one day as a messenger in New York you see more of it than most people in Manhattan do in their whole lives. You see thousands and thousands of people, whatever crazy events go on in the city you know about it. You're part of the pulse."

_end_

Does he now deliver food in Williamsburg? I would assume it's something a step above chinese takeout with his storied past...

lol, eager lil kid your talking about a guy who is on a sponsored track team, is an elected leader by a wide wide majority of a workforce relations org with 3000 members in NYC and is currently the man in charge of an upcoming race that has a $500,000.00 budget, one that you'll probably spectate at, though he's a nice guy and would let you race if you asked.

short list,
joint effort w/Lance & the Posties for various charitable stuff(you ever ride in a commercial w/Lance? ;)
featured on Good Morning America, others
Congrats for his groups efforts aiding the immediate aftermath of 9/11 from Giuliani himself
joint effort w/Transalt to educate food delivery bikers, posters and other propaganda (it's in his best interests to educate food delivery riders, since some folk mistake them as messengers)
previously held a council position w/IFBMA
current prez of NYBMA
being in the decade club he's probably passed by the quarter million mile mark on by within the past 2 years
raced europe, japan, and all over this conti

Gets lots of attention, and always uses it to the advantage of his industry and community, even you, not himself.

could squash you on a velodrome
:D

Impressive catalog of accolades, all of which I'm aware of. But nicely barbed and recited.
Did you read the article for a frame of reference for what I said?
"I started by giving out flyers for events," Mr. Bolger said between <<food delivery stops in Williamsburg>>. "I would find the messengers and then I would harass them all to get together and make it happen."

Get it?

Good use of your time bolstering up someone's reputation who doesn't need any help.
But it would've been better spent explaining the above. <<>>

hardly matters, are you going to the race? I'd expect everyone on this forum that can will be there, truly going to be largest fixie (non track although there will likely be track racing) event ever.

Ya know, it is...It's the CMWC first and foremost, but with the number of fixed only events and the number of fixed riders/spectators expected, track/street and both, it'll be the largest fixie event ever. I hadn't thought of that...

Stumprofig, I was wondering the same...

glowingrod, relax. I mean no disrespect to you, nor do I believe Stumprofig meant any to Squid.

right. I generally don't disrespect anybody who rides bikes in the street :). It's a plus in my book.

Well if they both like the guy then :)
He's tops in my book too, Squids one cool cat. So rod you asked but didn't say if you're going to go to the race. Anyone else going? I am.

We talking CMWC'05? Hell yeah! The only question is if I bring my bike down with me.

About the food delivery thing... A lot of NY messengers in the past few years have been making extra money delivering food(and other things...) on the nights and weekends. Ever notice all those track bikes outside Mama's on 3rd st? The money from messengering here just isn't so great anymore from what I've heard(I stopped a couple years ago..), and the cost of living certainly hasn't dropped any, so people have do other things to make ends meet sometimes. Working for a restaurant and getting free food is a nice perk as well.

And hell yeah, everyone who can should definitely come out for CMWC 05, will probably be the biggest ever.

Bostontrevor, take the chinatown bus, it's stupid cheap and they'll let you bring the bike.

Mama's food shop? Is that place still around? Wow, memories...

For real? I've def done a few of the C-town buses in the past but didn't know if they allowed bikes and didn't feel like figuring out. The time I brought it down, I took Greyhound. That'd be sweet if I could bring my bike on a bus that costs less than a bike box! ;)

Just have to convince the wife that she should let me bring the bike. And then decide if I really want to let myself in for the mayhem.

Lucky cat ,

I will be there to support Squid a promise, It is good he is getting his PROPS!

The money stopped being good after Jan 1989 when we got taxed the first time (my Company was the first to do this) and we were no longer doing Indie Contractor stuff.

Those days are gone ,I am happy to around during that time. I will see you there! Come and Support! NYC waited 11 yrs for their turn!

S/F,
CEYA!

Ceya,

I think the money has gotten even worse since 9/11. I worked through the nineties, so all I know about the glory days in the eighties is what I've heard. Sounds like it was nice though.

And definitely represent at CMWC. You bringing that badass Level? One of these days you'll have to let me know how you're hooking up with the Japanese stuff... I had a pretty good source for keirin stuff for a while, but was never able to get a frameset in my size(56-58cm).

BostonTrevor, you can definitely bring your bike on the chintown buses. It's been pretty popular among people from NY,DC, Philly, Boston to get to and from alleycats. As far as I know, no one has been turned away for bringing a bike.

[QUOTE=luckycat]Ceya,

I think the money has gotten even worse since 9/11. I worked through the nineties, so all I know about the glory days in the eighties is what I've heard. Sounds like it was nice though.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS ! I WAS HOPING TO MAKE A SHORT COMEBACK, I WILL SEE HOW IT GOES. SINCE YOU WORKED IN THE 90'S MAYBE WE CROSSED PATHS, I RETIRED IN 97.


And definitely represent at CMWC. You bringing that badass Level? One of these days you'll have to let me know how you're hooking up with the Japanese stuff... I had a pretty good source for keirin stuff for a while, but was never able to get a frameset in my size(56-58cm).


YES IT WILL BE THERE WITH ME , PM INBOUND!

S/F,
CEYA!