Your Bike Has Been Stolen By The NYPD In The Name Of National Security
Only they see no reason to inform you of that. You're just supposed to...guess!
Oh, and it was just...borrowed...removed...really.
And never mind notifying you that you shouldn't park it on 7th and 53rd because the goofy guy known as the Vice President was coming to glad-hand New York's biggest Nanny, Mayor Bloomberg.
The video of the doorman, Richard Martinez, who took Steven Arthur's bike into safekeeping:
From John Del Signore at Gothamist:
As Martinez explains, he told police and the Secret Service that although he didn't know the bike owner (Arthur) personally, he's seen him lock the bike there frequently and knows what he looks like. So they let him take the bike based on his promise to return it to its rightful owner. Hey, he looks trustworthy! Done and done."This is crazy," Arthur says. "The NYPD said three bicycles had been taken to their precinct the day before. When I arrived that morning just before 9 a.m, there was no NYPD, no tent, and no fencing on 53rd Street, so I thought I was cleared. The doormen said the fencing only went up around 4:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. that afternoon when I was still in the office."
An officer who answered the phone at the Midtown North precinct declined to comment, and the NYPD press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The "contact" page on the Vice President's website doesn't work.
via @notjessewalker
This is silly. The frame on that particular bicycle couldn't hold enough explosive to do any real harm to anyone. Now, I suppose the tires could, but couldn't you just run an explosives sniffer over the bike and only then move it?
spqr2008 at September 27, 2013 6:06 AM
Well, I disagree with spqr2008 in part, albeit I agree it might not hold enough to be capable of doing damage for more than a couple of hundred feet.
But. Just how much more expense would be involved in having the officers tasked with removing "vehicles" also having some sort of notice which could be affixed nearby and include contact info? Plastic placards bought in bulk and issued on need, with a bit of peel-and-stick adhesive such as on many postage stamps, stating that if your bike/car has disappeared call xxx-xxxx line to either report stolen and/or if removed by police?
John A at September 27, 2013 12:19 PM
This is just fake security becuase they are just grabbing bikes, not testing them, were I looking to do damage knowing they arent testing shit I set up hunnderds of bikes each packed with explosives and wait until the cops had collected them all into one truck and then detonate them all as said truck moved thru a sensitive area.
Why risk delivering a bomb yourself when the moronic cops will do it for you all while never even checking to see if there are any explosives?
lujlp at September 27, 2013 1:19 PM
Golly, I thought Uncle Joe was in favor of bicycles. But keeping the streets safe for Democracy means clearing bikes off the street. No wonder he despairs. He can't see the progress we're making.
Canvasback at September 27, 2013 6:20 PM
Why isn't anyone removing parking meters?
Radwaste at September 27, 2013 8:57 PM
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