Is Someone Stealing "Ghost Bike" Memorials And Selling Them On Craigslist?

(Heather Feldman)

A tipster spotted this "for sale" post (see below) on Craigslist, from someone claiming to have removed over two dozen white bikes that were locked up around town. The ad, which offers 30 of the bikes for $3,200, does not explicitly acknowledge that these bikes are memorials to cyclists killed in accidents. So it seems whoever posted it is pretending to be astonishingly oblivious—most of the memorials have a small plaque with the name of the biker who was killed, so it's hard to imagine anyone not understanding their purpose. On the other hand, the ad could be some sort of trolling fake Craigslist post meant to outrage the cyclist community. Either way, it's pretty despicable.

Multiple emails sent to the email associated with the posting were not returned. We contacted Leah Todd, one of the organizers of the Ghost Bike memorials, to see if she knows anything about a rash of Ghost Bike thefts, and we'll update when we hear back. Two years ago, when a Ghost Bike memorial for Solange Raulston went missing, Todd told us, "On occasion the city will remove a memorial if it's in a park or blocking street facilities, like lighting. If there are complaints, say from a business, it might be removed, too. It varies depending on the locals."

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

By John Del Signore in News on January 30, 2012 5:27 PM

Comments [rss]

Kama Rupa

I literally saw some hipster kid (sorry, I don't know of a better discription) who was riding a ghost bike very slowly down 2nd ave going the wrong way. I was under the impression that, not knowing better he just bought it from someone on the street.

imadick

are ghost bikes really functional? i bet painting over the gears and chain would really fuck it up

gambalore

The chains are usually removed. Sometimes the pedals are as well. And it's not as though they're using top of the line new bikes to build the memorials.

christiNYCa

I saw a guy riding a ghost bike, all white, in Gramercy, around Peter Cooper Village this month. It happened too fast to snap a photo, but it was obviously a ghost bike. Or maybe I saw a ghost!

tsol

The Ghost Bike on the brooklyn side of the Williamsburg bridge is being dismantled piece by piece.

ann0yed

That's a joke dope. The missing ghost bikes were most likely removed by the city.

Emmily_Litella

Maybe Iris Weinshal is still out there trying to make a difference on the streets.

La Raffy

Sick!

Tom Sganga

Trololol

drew_o

At least half a dozen ghost bikes in my home-away-from-NYC here in the Southwest. So I suspect there are much more than 30 nationwide.

Ian Brett Cooper

30 ghost bikes would probably be pretty much all the ghost bikes currently in the entire US, since the cycling death rate is by no means high, and only a very few deaths are marked by a ghost bike - and the city or state usually removes those quite soon. This is obviously some sad person with a sick sense of humor who thinks cycling is a lot more dangerous than it really is.

I call troll.

RAMCG

I'm not sure where you live, but is it possibly not NYC? The "city" doesn't remove ghost bikes unless they're ill-maintained, and there are more than 30, easily. In fact, here's a list of all the ghost bikes that have been put up:
http://ghostbikes.org/ghostbik...
If you're interested in how they're maintained or built then you should read that website, but I've seen some (such as Liz Padilla's) have been maintained for half a decade without removal.

grumpy_city_face

what a waste of perfectly good bikes.

Jim Idol

You are a waste of a perfectly good person

Rocknrope

The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.

Udon Lipsmack

Most def a joke. Kinda funny, but not worth the effort of stirring people up too badly. Unless this was for someone specifically that would like this brand of humor, I would have told "X" person to veto this "joke", as it is limited at best. If it's real................nah.......this is not real.
...and it's not THAT funny as a joke for all to see. Seriously.

KINGOFNYHACKS

Dont feed the trolls.

jarret kerr

I'll take the whole lot!

Fronko

Classy! Making fun of people who died and the memorials left by people who cared about them.

nicemarmot

For what it's worth, all the ghost bikes near my apartment have disappeared over the past few months. I had assumed the city removed them, but I could be wrong.

edgie168

even dead people need to ride bikes

Synonymous

Has to be fake. I'm sure that the roommates would have been angry/suspicious well before 30 bicycles ended up inside the house.

However, I do happen to have a bridge for sale, if anyone is interested.