Last time we checked in with Terry Lynch, executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, he was very upset about abandonded bicylces and the way they impeded downtown congregations from clustering.
Nearly a dozen old bicycles are currently locked to poles, meters and trees in Northwest, said Terry Lynch
Well it seems he made a list of over 100 bikes and gave it to the DPW, which took that list and impounded around 50 of them.
There was just one little hiccup of a glitch: Some of the bikes that were sent to the heap belonged to living cyclists.
The process is supposed to protect rightful owners: the Department of Transportation first tags a bike, giving the owner 10 days to move it or call and make a claim. If no one intervenes, the Department of Public Works removes the bike.
Lynch says he copied DPW employees when he sent his list to the Department of Transportation. According to Jim Sebastian, the DDOT’s bicycle program manager, DPW officials must have thought the list was already approved and snapped into action. So far, just two of the heretofore abandoned bicycles have been claimed; one was successfully rescued from the dump.
That's right, the dump. That's where abandoned bikes are taken. I wonder if Bikes for the World or these guys would gladly take them.
Jake's livery-stable garage is a tangle of bikes: a so-called tall bike composed of three frames welded into a stack, which Jake swears he can ride, despite the saddle five feet off the ground; a tall bike of two frames welded with the bottom one upside-down; a bike with an extra steering head under the seat post, allowing the rear wheel to sneak up beside the rider; and three Anormal bikes that have so far been spared the hacksaw.
A lot of the entries on that list are just locks, no bikes - I wonder how many of them get used at night, or other times when Lynch isn't around?
Posted by: ohmypolarbear | June 15, 2007 at 12:26 PM
There's a lot of cars parked on my block that really get in the way when I cycle to work. It's amazing how much space those cars take up! I'd like to call and have those sent to the dump too. No need to notify anybody, just send them to the dump. Just imagine how much space youd have on your block without all those cars taking up space!
Posted by: Lee Watkins | June 18, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Lee, you bring up a good point. Motor-vehicle parking is too cheap and easy! Low-cost and free parking carries great "invisible" costs to society:
http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=072
Posted by: Nancy | June 18, 2007 at 07:20 PM
NYC had a major issue a few weeks back with some of the same stuff
but
the owners of the bikes showed up trying to clain the bikes as it happened
and guess what
the cops were total assholes!
Posted by: gwadzilla | June 21, 2007 at 02:48 PM