Many Garages Breaking New Law by Turning Away Bikes

bitchcakesny's Flickr

A new law designed to encourage bicycling by requiring parking lots and garages to offer space for bikes is being largely shrugged off. Earlier this month it was noticed that some garages that do accept bikes are charging exorbitant rates and an illegal 18% tax. But a new report suggests that a majority of garage owners are simply refusing to comply with the new law and rejecting cyclists.

The law applies to all lots, but those with fewer than 100 spaces have a two year grace period before they must make room for bikes. But a reporter for the Post recently tried to park a bicycle at 26 Manhattan lots with more than 100 spaces and was turned away over half the time. The city can impose a $500 fine on any garage that turns away cyclists, but some owners seem willing to take that chance. "The city just sent us a letter a month ago—you're my first customer," attendant José Angel at Mercer Parking told the Post. "But it's not enough time to prepare. Every little corner in this garage we are using for cars."

And another garage manager refused to accept the bike because "bikes scratch the cars and cause problems." The new law did not mandate what rates garages could charge for bikes, and some are charging as high as $20 per day or $100 per month, plus the steep 18.375 percent tax. "It's like a car. We charge tax for bikes," said Monir Gackie, an attendant at Murray Park Garage. But a spokesman for the city's Department of Finance confirms that the tax is only supposed to be levied on motor vehicles, so don't pay it or lock your bike elsewhere.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on December 28, 2009 11:45 AM

Comments [rss]

ides_of_march

If there was any sort of demand for this, some garage owner probably would have figured it out by now and making a few bucks. As usual, government bureaucrats who never held a private sector job are telling people how to run their businesses.

Chillinoncentral

How many parking attendants does it take to park a bike in the parking garage?

Answer is 4 - one to kick open the kick stand and three to say "wow, cool"

That was wheely bad, sorry =]

Chuck Schumer's Fat

This law is a joke. Like blocking bike lanes, it will never be enforced. It's just a vanity rule for Bloomberg's portfolio so he can fly off to places like Copenhagen and pretend he's not that evil.

bittycakes

I love that photo, thanks for using it!

eyekantspel

not very surprising-- it's a new law. My guess is that many garage owners aren't even aware of it, and the tax issue is probably more an issue of confusion over tax law than a conspiracy to overcharge bike owners. I doubt many garage owners are cyclists or gothamist readers.

JenChungsBaby

It's stupid to risk a $500 fine if you don't want bikes in your garage. The law doesn't limit what you can charge so just charge bikes $100/day and you won't have to worry about people bringing their bikes there.

jaycjay

You still have spend money to move things around, repaint lines, etc. -- and lose income from space where you could have had cars parked before. Why go through all that if you don't want to have bike parking anyway?

Considering how unlikely it is that the city actually will send anyone around to enforce the law (kind of surprising they even sent out letters, actually) it makes more sense from a business standpoint to just ignore it.

LinkMan

Yeah, but if you charge bikes $100/day, you don't have to repaint anything. Just park the bike in a space you would have used for a car (which you would have charged a lot less than $100/day).

SC

Well, personally, I wouldn't trust a garage with my bike anyways...

Kojak

Yes... this is... terrible...

I am, outraged.

Zzzzzzzzzzz

thefacts

Another fuck-up by Transportation Alternatives and their house whore, DOT Diktator Sadik-Khan.

Welcome to NYC.

Welcome to the Real World.

Welcome to NYC in the Real World in 2010.

Now bike back to Oregon with your skunky Spandex.