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David Byrne's foldable Montague mountain bike has been stolen. The avid city biker rode in the 5 Boro Bike Tour last year, commenting: "The organizers close the FDR drive, the BQE, the Belt Parkway and the Verrazano-Narrows bridge on one side — so we get the thrill of riding in the middle of the street, not having to stop at red lights and no worries of the ubiquitous jaywalking peds on suicide missions."
This past weekend however, after a shorter ride, he had locked his bike up outside of the IFC Center only to find it missing upon his return, an all too familiar city tale. That stretch of 6th Avenue isn't looking to good lately, with a Talking Heads bike theft, lesbians beating up straight men and rats running rampant.
The Papermag blog reports:
"David Byrne is many things -- musician, artist, lecturer, blogger -- but most endearingly he's an avid city bicyclist. The vision that lingers most from Miami's Basel Art Fair was that of Byrne making the rounds on his bicycle. So you can imagine how I felt when I heard the news that his bike was stolen over the weekend right in front of the IFC theater! "If anyone sees a bike with both a Che sticker and one for the MOST space telescope that's mine," says Byrne who's already back on the streets sporting a new two wheeler as he goes around organizing an Alternative Transportation Music Festival for Oct. 6 at Town Hall."
Of course, Byrne can afford a new bike - but this one seemed pretty personal to him. What we want to know is...what's this about an Byrne-curated Alternative Transportation Music Festival?
Photo via Abreck's flickr.
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First the Circus guy's mini bike, now this.
Oh, the inhumanity...
Having had four bikes stolen over the last two years, I'm glad to know I'm in good company.
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
to last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers
ain't got no headphones
ain't got no records to play
...or a bike to ride.
--Life During Wartime
I guess he's now a Walking Head.
anony- *groan*
I had my bike stolen on my birthday this february. 5 days later I see it at a deli on 8th street. I go home to make sure I have the reciept and file a police report with the serial number. I flag down some cops to retrieve my bike. The cops are worthless!!!! They look at the bike and the serial number but it's been filed off so they say they can't take the bike back even though I also have a piece of paper with my name and address inside the handlebar and it's the same make and model as my 2006 model bike. I mean, even if it's filed off that should be suspicous in itself. But they say they can't take the bike and leave me with the gang of bike thieves. I just went ballistic and told the deli guys that I would write to all the Bike organizitions and newspapers that they stole or bought stolen bikes and they returned my bike to me. Lesson 1. If your bike gets stolen, it's a mexican. Young groups of mexican hoodlums have been stealing bikes with power tools and vans. My bike was locked with 3 locks worth 150 dollars and could only be opened with power tools. The only people desperate enough to steal bikes are illegal immigrant mexicans who put up with the hassle of stealing 100-500 dollar bikes with 300 dollar labor. Seriously, it doesn't make sense to put all that effort to steal a expensive bike and sell it for 50-100 bucks to a deli. lesson 2: if your bike gets stolen just peruse the delis in your neighborhood. The bikes are always taped up, raped and reconfigured but if you know your bike then you know your bike. My bike was camouflaged six thousand ways but I still knew it was my bike. I think the bike stealing system is this: Delivery guy makes delivery, delivery guy sees nice bike with lock and calls his fellow mexican brother/robber to get the bike. Bike thieve steals bike and sells it to deli. I guarantee david byrne's bike is stolen by a mexican delivery guy.
Bike Sherlock Holmes: that totally sucks, but I wouldn't just narrow it down to Mexicans - I'm sure there are thieves from all walks of life.
In other news, David Byrne should be protecting that talented noggin of his by wearing a helmet.
Gwin stole my thunfer (ok, so it isn't thunder). He should be wearing a helmet. There's really no excuse not to.
He once biked past me on 13th St. at Broadway and I wanted to yell, "Hey David Byrne, wear a helmet!" I realized too late though, after he'd passed me and I realized it was him (wait, is that David Byrne?).
"There's really no excuse not to."
Umm, how about: it costs money, it's another thing to keep track of, it's another thing to clean, cyclings not that dangerous, they're unlikely to help against serious accidents with cars.
More importantly, do you use the same sort of "really no excuse not to" logic with other sorts of actions that could potentially protect you from a very rare danger. Like helmets in cars and when walking across the street, every possible vaccination, rubber soled shoes when it's slippery out, sunscreen *always*, etc, etc etc.
"Always wear helmet when cycling" is simplistic "pro-safety" nonsense. It's actually anti-cycling.
gwin:
he usually does wear a helmet. i saw him pull up to the ifc like a week ago wearing a goofy bright yellow helmet. only reason i noticed was because he almost mowed down the two girls with great racks that i was ogling (maybe he was too?).
yeah he wears a yellow helmet-- i ran into him in Chelsea 2 weeks ago, toting the thing around galleries. poor guy...damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Gwin: Yeah a crackhead might try to steal your tail light and anybody with a cable cutter or steal plank can cut a cheap lock but if you have like a kryptonite New york or Onguard heavy duty chain lock that's 150 dollars and you need to creep up in a van at 4 in the morning and use power tools on the locks that would take a half hour in the middle of winter when the temperature is 10 degrees while the bike is on a snow bank (meaning you would have to shovel out the snow around it) while sweating the cops while doing it (which is what happened to my bike) then the thieves are definitely mexican. I don't understand the logistics of it. The labor would cost me 300 dollars in itself if I hired someone to steal my bike. It doesn't make sense that people would steal a bicycle as it's not that great of a reward as they sell them for 100 bucks to delis. I guarantee if I saw them do it I would put a hammer to their head so the risk is much greater.
great video of David Byrne here:
www.streetfilms.org/archives/ta-rides-with-penalosa-david-byrne/
jt: ummm, I think David Byrne has the money to buy a helmet. And cycling IS that dangerous -- or are you not a regular reader of this site...? Some of those fatalities could've been avoided had the cyclists been wearing helmets.
I absolutely hate wearing one, but I do it anyway because it's stupid not to, given all the careless drivers out there.
Thanks to all the others who report that he does usually wear a helmet - that's good to know!
A grown man with a "Che" sticker on his bike?!
Yah; if that dude hadn't gotten so totally lucky with his old band, he'd be cleaning toilets for a living.
Bike Sherlock holmes- explain to me why Mexicans are the only ethnicity with access to power tools. Anyone with power tools and desperate for money could steal a bike. Being Mexican, or any other minority has nothing to do with it. People of any race or age can be in desperate need of money. It's a real shame that in this day and age people are still spouting such racist remarks.
15 anon: the mexicans are the ones who are stealing bikes! It's not me to say why they are, they just are. Maybe cause they are desperate and that's the only thing they can do or they get off on stealing bikes. The truth is that the organize bike thieves are mexicans. I'm not saying all mexicans steal bikes. I'm saying that if it's stolen with power tools in the middle of the night, and it's taped up and at a deli, it was a mexican who did it. ANd I'm 100% right.
bummer...
theft is such an invasion
the stealing of a bicycle is beyond the theft of most of our possessions
as the bicycle often becomes an extension of ourselves
I hope David Byrne has people to aid in the grieving process
-zilla
www.gwadzilla.blogspot.com
(a bicycle blog)
I have reworked the lyrics of PSYCHO KILLER to aid David Byrne in the grieving process
www.gwadzilla.blogspot.com
bike thieves suck!
worse than any other thieve
JT always spouts that ridiculous "Why don't you wear a helmet walking down the street" nonsense in all the biking helmet posts. You would think being a CAT-level cyclist, he would know better. It's simple risk analysis, but JT continues to make ludicrous analogies.
fine under: i don't give a shit.
it sucks, sure, and it's happened to a lot of us. but c'mon, gothamist!
I normally wear a helmet on my bike.
One day after work, I was just riding around with a kid on my street after putting most of my things in the house (my helmet included), and he cut in front of me. I flipped over the handlebar, hit my head, had a seizure and sustained a grade 3 concussion. I couldn't run/bike for nearly a year.
I am fine now, but a year of dizziness and disorientation is NOT worth it. Like, ever.
take the train. 2 dollars. or move to amsterdam --you can bike around with other white people all day. and think you are a rebel. or cool.
Sadly one can no longer safely lock up a bike, no matter how formidable the chain or lock may be, and expect it to be there upon returning. The thieves are too well tooled up and too quick. I've found even leaving a bike locked up for short spates, idiots will try to deface them or scratch them in some way. My rule is that if I can't take it into my destination, I leave it home. A sad commentary on where the city is going. I am not at all surprised by the insinuation that deliverymen are stealing them. At some venues in the Village, the delivery bikes have that "hot" look, i.e. freshly painted, with identifying features scratched out.