Cops Crack Down on Bicycle Rental Companies

Mike Dillingham's Flickr

The real New York Post (not the far superior, global warming hoax edition) is reporting that the NYPD has cracked down on illegal bike rental vendors. Apparently, you need to be licensed to rent out bicycles, but some illicit pedal pushers have been running their businesses from the sidewalks around Central Park.

And that has merchants aghast, because the rogue renters chain their bicycle fleets to scaffolding and street furniture. Monica Blum, president of the Lincoln Square BID, says, "The clutter on the sidewalks has been terrible, and these illegal vendors are giving out bikes without helmets, letting people ride on the sidewalks."

During the past six weeks, police have given summonses to 25 people for illegal storage of bikes and seized 73 bicycles allegedly rented to unsuspecting tourists for as much as $20 an hour. According to the Post, illegal vendor Joel Johnson was "whining" when he told a reporter, "In two months, I have had six bikes confiscated, and I've been arrested twice. There are real criminals out here like drug dealers, but the police come here instead."

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By John Del Signore in News on September 21, 2009 4:00 PM

Comments [rss]

Jason

I and my family, as tourists, love Central Park and NYC. When we come, we like riding around the city. We never rode on sidewalks. So, not all the tourists do that. We rent our bikes from Bike Rental Central Park. I am pretty sure that they are legal.

Jason

I and my family, as tourists, love Central Park and NYC. Biking is a nice way to see around for us. When we come, we rent our bikes from Bike rental Central Park. I am pretty sure they are legal. They gave us helmets and maps. We never ride on the sidewalks. That means that not all tourists ride on sidewalks.

Gwinny

I think renting bikes to tourists in general is a bad idea. they have NO idea what they are doing. Once I was stuck behind 4 tourists riding side by side up Madison Avenue... wtf people??

hunter.blatherer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ffn1uflbs

ides_of_march

"...letting people ride on the sidewalks."

Once you've rented out a bike (or any sort of vehicle for that matter), how is the vendor, legal or illegal, in a position to let or stop the renter from doing anything once they've taken off?

grove

i find these american apparel ads to be very annoying! stripes!

longacre

These guys have sprung up all over the Columbus Circle area this summer, but I don't really think they're bothering anybody. Also, helmets are not legally required for adults, and it's not the vendor's fault if renters ride on the sidewalk.

mocanlagunas

Actually, they were asking for it. Have you seen the hundreds of bikes they had locked to the scaffoldings nearby, it was really amazing!

djwerdna

It's probably a good idea to have some regulation on these guys to limit the number of vendors there are, but more importantly, there could be some sort of liability in case there is some legal issue that arises from use of the bike.