Way to promote alternative transportation, NY!
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On the evening of May 30, 2007, Ninth Precinct cops, led by Ninth Precinct Lieutenant Robert Corcoran, executed “Operation: Bike Raid” on East Sixth Street, between First and Second Avenues.
As cops with special metal cutting saws chewed through locks and chains on bikes locked to parking meters and streets signs, Sixth Street resident Robert Carnevale confronted them, having received a call from his girlfriend outside his apartment building. Carnevale quickly rang buzzers in buildings on his block to warn his neighbors that their bikes were being taken and then returned to the scene of the crime, taking photos of cops loading the dozen or so bikes they had just stolen into two unmarked dark blue vans with paneling over the side windows. (These vans can be seen regularly parked outside the Ninth Precinct on East Fifth Street.)
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March 17, 2009 at 07:38
Suzannah B. Troy
I am sure most New Yorkers promote bicycle use but not cluttering the sidewalks irresponsible with bicycles. There are bike racks and more have been added in the East Village but what the coverage of this incident does not link to is a letter in The Villager by a man defending the Lt. because he was the one that made the complaint. I had made a complaint as well because a neighbor would lock his bike to the scaffolding by a fire hydrant in front our building when we had a bike room in the basement and the luxury of an elevator. If you are going to park on the street have some respect for rescue workers, people loading and unloading, senior citizens and handicapped people as well as signs posted by the community including small businesses asking to please not lock your bicycles to their fences, etc. I love bicycling because it is great for your health and Mother Earth but you can see from the photos the clutter of bicycles was out of hand and many in the community felt enough is enough.