Bike Seizure at Hudson River Park Explained

On Saturday, it appeared that the Parks Department had instructed Doe Fund workers to cut the locks and confiscate perhaps a dozen bikes that were locked near the West Side bike path. Today we have an explanation from Hudson River Park spokesman for David Katz, but first a quick lesson on the distinction between city-run parks and places like Hudson River Park. Get out your pad and pencil!

Katz tells us that the Hudson River Park's "Parks Enforcement Patrol" (Go PEP!) is different from regular city Parks police; they are trained by city parks but are contracted by Hudson River Park, which is a public benefit corporation, a partnership between the city and state. "We're governed by a 13-member board of directors and operate on the premise that we're financially self-sufficient," says Katz. "So all the funds to support the staff and maintenance comes through income generated with rents and donations." Now, about those bike seizures, in Katz's words:

On Saturday a Parks Enforcement Patrol officer saw ten bikes chained to the "sea wall," which is what we call the fence that separates the walking path from the river. The officer went around to all the immediate areas asking patrons if the bikes belonged to them. None of them claimed them or knew who they belonged to. That was about 5 p.m. At that point the officer notified the operations desk to see if a permit was issued or if there was a special event or allowed in some way. At the command desk they checked and saw there were no permits or special events. At that point they took pictures of the area, and then cut the locks, as they would do with any unclaimed property in violation of park rules.

Katz tells us that at every major entrance to the park there is a Welcome to Hudson River Park sign that has the "topline rules." Ever read them? Neither have we. But apparently one of the rules says that securing bikes to objects other than bike racks is prohibited. "So these folks were definitely were in violation of that," Katz says. "And there were empty bike racks right by where these bikes were locked. We have more bike racks in this park than most." The good news is all the bikes were reclaimed. The bad news is that everyone got summonses.

"All ten bikes have been claimed and all the owners were issued Environmental Control Board summonses," according to Katz. "It's a fifty dollar summons with a default of $200 if it's unpaid in 30 days. It turns out all the cyclists were on the Queen of Hearts Party boat, which leaves from the north side of Pier 40." We asked Katz about maybe putting up more signs making it clear that locking to the "sea wall" is a no-no, but Katz told us they're satisfied with the number of "Welcome to Hudson River Park" rules signs, which are posted at every entrance. However, he says, "We are going to talk with the Queen of Hearts owner and the other party boat owners to let them know about the rules."

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

By John Del Signore in News on August 18, 2010 4:33 PM

Comments [rss]

Parkview

I was out fishing on the end of Pier 40 on Saturday and watched those hapless summonees float by on the Queen of Hearts. (Side note: That thing is unbelievably packed, and you could still hear the bass when it was rounding the tip of Manhattan.) It was my first time dropping a line out there, so I read the signs carefully about where I could put my bike. They're clear about not locking to anything other than bike racks, but periodically, there are things that looks sort of like bike racks lashed to the railings. Otherwise, there are no bike racks actually on the pier...that I could find anyway. For any of you urban anglers, I caught a 20lb striper using clams. I'll be back out there in no time.

robingee

Jesus Christ on a cracker, is this REALLY important, to cut bike locks and take bikes away? There is nothing else they can spend their time on? Leave the damn bikes alone. It's just a way to make money from fines. Retarded. What a stupid system. Taking bikes = easy money. Catching real law violaters = actual WORK.

Pete

So if your car gets towed, and your property is damaged in the process of the tow, you're able to sue for compensation for the damaged caused by the city/towing company.

What's to keep all these bike riders from suing for replacement locks?

Because if I got a $50 fine on top of a destroyed $100 lock, I'd be thinking small claims court right about now.

robingee

Yeah I think Politburo's right, there is really no recourse. Like when the TSA breaks a luggage lock to inspect your bag at random. It sucks.

Politburo

You can't really make a car analogy here, because you typically don't chain cars to things. It is possible to tow a car without damaging it. It is not possible to remove an illegally parked bike without damaging the lock. You don't get reimbursed because the government had to destroy your property to correct your illegal behavior.

Nothing is to stop them from suing, but I'd imagine they'll have a hard time winning.

asakasan

There is a ticket and a fine for damn near everything in NYC, it's just whether NYPD or ECB enforces the code. If all codes were enforced all the time, the cops would have time for nothing else. This stinks of either NYC revenue mining, or some sort of revenge backstory. I'm leaning towards revenue mining. I got a ticket from sanitation the other day for not getting out of a street sweeper's way fast enough. Was the sanitation guy right? I suppose. Did I pay the ticket? Right away. Have I moved my car for the sweeper without any problems before? MANY TIMES. Sometimes there's just a ticket quota to fill and revenue numbers to meet, and sorry, sucks to be you (or in the case of my ticket, me). Cost of living in the city, I guess.

Stevennnn

Who says owning a bicycle is not cheap?

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

I remember when in Copenhagen you could leave your bike just about anywhere...not much happened because of it. civilzation didnt collapse. everyone was quite happy, people liked and respect the police, the city, each other...it was beautiful.

IMO, NYC has a lot of growing up to do.

thefacts

"IMO, NYC has a lot of growing up to do."

For sure. In Copenhagen, the cyclists don't run red light, go the wrong way in bike lanes, and don't speed on the sidewalk. That is why pedestrians, cyclists and the police there were "quite happy".

Indeed, NYC cyclists have a lot of growing up to do.

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

for sure. the mindset of the entire society cops, cyclists and everyone in between is lets face it, more evolved.

its a shock to see cyclists waiting at red lights there when there are no cars around...yet its makes sense when you realize that it means you can bike around knowing everyone is following the same rules.

It'll never be the same here, but IMO we could learn a lot from me those Vikings.

Såkandulæredet

Yep I lived in CPH for half a year, they follow all the rules there, bikers stop at red lights always, they hand-signal for a turn, all bikes must have proper lights for the night, no barreling through intersections, no high and mighty cyclist attitude, etc etc. After I came back to NYC and my Danish friends came to visit, they saw all the bike scofflaws here and they were like, "what are they doing, they have to stop, why are they going the wrong way on the road, I don't get it, ååååårrrrr for helvede!!!

Potty Boy

Yep. I travel to Montreal regularly. People there don't jaywalk (very rarely) and I was stuck in traffic with 2 motorcycles around me. They both stayed in their lanes and crawled along with the rest of traffic. Simply more respectful than hurried.

MT

You have to admit that actually sounds fairly reasonable.

VanessaNYC

I'm pro-bike and yet, yes, it still sounds reasonable.

jaycjay

Yep, if that's all true -- most importantly that they actually did walk around the area and ask people if they bikes belonged to them -- it does seem reasonable. What are the chances that NYPD would ever do something like that?

If one of those had been my bike, I'd look at it like I do any parking or traffic tickets I've gotten over the years: I took a chance (or didn't pay enough attention to whether there are special rules), got caught, pay up.

mocanlagunas

"And there were empty bike racks right by where these bikes were locked."

It's like seeing trash all over the place and there are trashcans nearby... I hate people...

valeriob

The good news is that everyone got summonses
there i fixed it.

henricus

If I'm driving a car, I'm always careful to check the signage to make sure it will be there when I get back. Same should go for cyclists. Ignorance of the law is not a viable defense (especially if you just choose not to look at them).

Madly Hatting

There is a "command desk" and an "operations desk". How big is this office?

Kojak

'The bad news is that everyone got summonses.'

lol suckers.

eric l

And didn't anyone notice the point about how the park must be "self-sufficient", in other words, they need to CREATE things to FINE people for to create more FUNDING?

That wasn't enough of a clue? You probably think the NYPD writes 9 million parking tickets a year NOT for revenue but because it really prevents expired meters. (But then how is it that they write 9 million every single year? Evidently it doesn't work as a deterrent.)

valeriob

"embarassing and ILLEGAL scandal."
Illegal how? Scandal, oooooh!

"I should include that 99% of the time"
No. No you shouldn't include anything. At all. Ever.

"But then how is it that they write 9 million every single year? Evidently it doesn't work as a deterrent."
It's like you wake up and fail every morning. They write 9 million tickets because they find 9 million idiots breaking the law. It's not supposed to be a deterrent, it's an idiot tax.

eric l

I should include that 99% of the time when the govt said some explanation of their treating people badly, their argument later proved to be FALSE.

Just sayin'.

eric l

If you look at all these comments you'll notice that almost everyone took the word of a govt employee who was responding to a potentially embarassing and ILLEGAL scandal.

His explanation clears him and so you all trusted that. Blindly.

That pretty much sums up why our govt gets more corrupt everyday, now, doesn't it?

Well then why not trust ALL lies by people in power. (It's not like power automatically corrupts, correct?)