Abandoned bikes

May 2, 2011

Rudy Giuliani is often credited with cleaning up New York City and reducing crime by following a “No broken windows” policy, meaning that allowing small levels of vandalism and petty crime leads to more serious crime. The equivalent of “broken windows” have popped up in Battery Park City: abandoned bikes.

Near the newly built West Thames “Tire Swing” Park are bicycle racks. There are now numerous stripped down carcasses of bikes locked to the racks that have not been removed. This area is governed and patrolled by the BPCA’s Parks Enforcement Patrols (PEPs) managed by Tess Huxley of the Parks Conservancy.

Allowing bikes to be scavenged by thieves attracts a criminal element to the residential community. The same thieves now know that the area is a target for other crime.

In addition to the neglect of the bicycle racks, the Parks Conservancy has played a role in the nearby expensive grass sod field being neglected and allowed to deteriorate into a mud field. BatteryPark.TV has previously reported on that issue.

Neither Tess Huxley nor the BPCA replied to our emails. A spokesperson for the DOT said that the bike wrack and sidewalk areas are not under their jurisdiction, but rather under the Parks Conservancy domain.