Correcting Thursday’s MTA Bike Seizure Correction

montreal.jpg
Quick, easy, inexpensive on-street bike parking in Montreal. Why not Williamsburg, Brooklyn?

On Wednesday we posted Aaron Curran’s video of MTA workers seizing bicycles parked against the Bedford Avenue subway station stair railing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

On Thursday we posted a clarification noting that the subway station stair railing at Bedford Ave. and N.7th St. has a clearly marked sign stating, "Any property attached to these railings will be removed."

Aaron Curran, however, tells me that the MTA workers were not clipping bikes from the N.7th Street subway entrance. His video was, in fact, shot at the Driggs Avenue entrance. Curran says that there is no warning sign on that particular subway stairwell.

Conclusions:

  1. It’s obnoxious to lock your bike to subway stair railings. You clog the sidewalk, often at its narrowest spot, and your handlebars can poke through the stair railings and hit people on the head as the walk up and down the stairs.
  2. DOT: Come on, people! What is taking so long with installing on-street bike parking in Williamsburg? While we’re waiting for new sidewalk extensions to be designed, funded and built, why not just bolt some bike racks into the asphalt, stripe a box around it and see how that works? We might just find that the installation of on-street bike parking doesn’t have to be a years-long, construction project.
  3. If the MTA or any other government agency is going to be seizing commuters’ bike, they need to do a better job of posting rules, giving people fair warning and letting them know where their property has been taken.
  4. Streetsblog reporters need to get off their tushes and do their own original reporting to avoid confusion as per above.

OK, I think everyone has now been properly chastised. Back to work.

  • mfs

    Sorry, he’s wrong, I saw the sign this morning on the south side of the Driggs entrance.

  • OK. Then the only thing that we’ve got right for sure is point #4 — I need to burn a little shoe leather and have a look for myself before I write another word about it.

  • i’d say you’re right on point 2 as well.

    what’s the big deal with installing the bike parking? montreal’s version doesn’t even have those tiny speed bumps around it like in portland (which another s’blog reader found aesthetically displeasing anyway), just a little bit of paint!

  • The original video clearly states that the bikes were removed from North 7th and Driggs. There should have been no confusion. And the post never stated that the bikes were removed from Bedford and North 7th, so there should have been no need for an apology. I never stated that there were no warnings on the entrance at the north side of Driggs and North 7th. What I said, was that the photo used in the “MTA: Not Stealing Bikes…” post, was not from that particular entrance, because the green bike was blocking the sign on the north side entrance of Driggs and N. 7th. The green bike is now gone.

    But this is all besides the point, which is that, due to the actions of the police and now the MTA, we have been made aware that we may only park our bikes at official bike parking areas. The city needs to be made aware that there isn’t enough.

  • E Gore Stravinsky

    Will your bike be safe from errant drivers who could easily mow down a plethora of bicycles parked on the street in one fell swoop?

    Yes as an interim measure on-street parking like the example shown in Montreal could exist here in NYC. But it should be considered a short-term solution only and should not be used as an excuse not to install curb extensions.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Now the MTA is Stealing Bikes in Williamsburg

By Aaron Naparstek |
Back in July, New York City’s Department of Transportation built sidewalk extensions and bike racks on a few automobile parking spaces-worth of street space near the Bedford Avenue subway stop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was the first time ever that on-street car parking had been replaced by bike parking in New York City. The Bedford […]

MTA: Not Stealing Bikes. Just Following the Rules.

By Aaron Naparstek |
The MTA has been taking a lot of flack following yesterday’s dust-up over MTA workers seizing bicycles locked to the Bedford Avenue subway station stairwell railing in Williamsburg. Perhaps the wrong transportation agency is taking the hit on this one. A camera phone-toting tipster sends along the above photo. It shows that, not only does […]

Small Step for Pedestrians & Cyclists; Giant Leap for NYC

By Aaron Naparstek |
The Department of Transportation’s recently announced streetscape renovation at the Bedford Avenue L subway station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn marks the first time ever in New York City that car parking spaces have been removed to make way for bicycle parking. Since breaking the news of this development on Monday, Streetsblog has learned more about the project. DOT’s plan […]