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Williamsburg Residents Say City Dumped Chained-Up Bicycles In Their Neighborhood

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A neighborhood in Brooklyn says the city has dumped its problem onto their block, chaining dozens of bicycles together and abandoning them in the street.

CBS2's Ali Bauman went to Williamsburg to ask, 'Whose bright idea was this?'

Linked, leaning and surrounded by litter – Bauman counted 28 bikes all locked together by one long chain on North Seventh Street.

"Looks like a mess," one man said.

"Garbage piling up, and it's disgusting," said real estate agent Andy Ovanessian.

Ovanessian told Bauman the city dumped and ditched the two-wheelers right in front of his office months ago, as a temporary solution during construction by the subway entrance down the block.

"We filed complaints and nothing's happened," he said. "No response."

The jeweler across the street tries to keep his gaze down, not wanting to be reminded of all the wasted space.

"You couldn't really park before and you can't really find a parking spot anymore, because of that," Leo Delaziuz said.

He said he tried asking the city when the bikes would be moved back, or at least, away from his store.

"I'm not sure if it was 30 days or 60 or 90, but one of those standard days," he said, adding it's now been "months."

Some of the bikes appear to be abandoned, but plenty look like new and they're trapped in the middle of the mess, Bauman reported.

"If it is someone's bike and they want to take it, they can't get it out," said Ovanessian.

CBS2 showed photos to the Department of Transportation, which only said it's aware of community concerns and is working to address them. The MTA said, "construction requires the temporary removal of street-level bike parking" and "we'll work with DOT on the restoration of bike parking."

But neither agency answered whose idea it was to lock all the bikes together or how long they will be there.

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