The New York Avenue bicycle thief caught - and released

At the beginning of October, I caught a young boy in the act of stealing a bicycle wheel at the New York Avenue Metro station. Last night, I helped police finally catch him. But he wasn't arrested.

Jaime and I were taking a quick walking tour of NoMa with ANC 6C04 commissioner Tony Goodman when we saw the boy ride his bike past us. An extra bicycle wheel was hanging from the handlebars. I recognized him immediately, and called 911 to report what we saw. The police arrived a couple minutes later, took a report, and promised to check the area where we saw the boy going to see what they could find.

Ten minutes later, we were at the corner of 1st and M NE, in front of the CVS, when we saw the boy bike past us again. Jaime saw a police cruiser coming south on 1st Street, and I flagged them down. The police asked me to jump in, and we headed the wrong way down M Street toward North Capitol, where the boy was headed.

At the corner of M and North Capitol, we caught up to him. The officer driving the car chirped the siren, and pulled to the curb when the boy started biking faster. Both officers (from the 1st District) got out of the car and started questioning the boy about the wheel we had seen him carrying minutes earlier.

He denied knowing anything about it. The officers talked to him for a few minutes until a gentleman showed up. It turned out this was the boy's father. More questioning eventually led the boy to admit that the wheel was in his room in their house. His father sent him home to bring it back to the police.

It turns out the boy was 13. The police didn't arrest him, and I don't know what his father did or said after we drove away. I hope that he realizes what he's been doing is wrong, and I hope (at least) he really knows he's being watched now.

Remember, keep using a cable lock and a u-lock when you park at the New York Avenue Metro station. Don't leave a wheel unlocked where this boy, or anyone else for that matter, could walk away with it and take it home.

Crossposted at Greater Greater Washington.

The New York Avenue bicycle thief caught in the act

Last night, after stopping at the grocery store on my way home, I came face-to-face with the New York Avenue Metro station bicycle thief. I suppose the odds of it happening were somewhat high, since I spend so much time biking to and from the station, but I never would have expected our interaction to happen the way it did...

I alighted from a Glenmont-bound red line train just after 6:30 p.m., and left the station to walk to the Harris Teeter down the block. After getting a couple things at the store, I walked back to the station to get my bicycle. I stopped at the newspaper boxes near the station's M Street entrance, grabbed a paper, and began walking to the other entrance where my bicycle was parked.

When I was about 100 feet from the bike racks, I realized one of the bikes was moving like it was being jerked back and forth. The front of the bike was obscured by one of the station's concrete support pylons, so I couldn't see why this was happening. The person who was shaking the bike to see if it was locked up stepped into view, and started removing the rear wheel from the bike. It took me a moment to realize what was happening, but only a moment until I knew that I was witnessing a bicycle theft in action.

What surprised me was that the thief was a kid. He couldn't have been more than 10 years old.

I walked right up to him and asked him matter-of-factly, "What are you doing?" The kid replied that he needed a rear wheel for his other bike. He claimed this bike was his, and that the lock was broken, keeping him from taking the whole bike home. I called him out on his story, but he insisted the bike was his and that his dad had bought it for him at "the bike shop down the street."

"What street? What bike shop?" I demanded.

"Over there, by Safeway," he said. The only bike shop that came close to fitting that description is BicycleSPACE in Mt. Vernon Triangle. They don't sell the bike pictured above, though. I wanted him to tell me what brand his bike was, and he turned his head to look at the bike.

"No way!" I shouted, putting the paper in front of his face. "You can't look at the bike to answer that. You don't have a clue, and that isn't your bike."

At this point, we stared at each other for a second. It felt like five minutes. Part of me wanted to grab the wheel, yell at the kid, and tell him to get the hell out of there. But some rational part of me thought he'd give up the game and leave. That didn't happen.

He insisted again that this was his bike, and said, "I even have a lock like this," while pointing at the bike's lock. Of course, he should have said the lock was his lock, not like his lock. At this point, a good interrogation might have gotten him to trip up and really contradict himself, but he's a kid! We stared at each other again, and I asked, "You're absolutely sure you're telling me the truth?" He nodded and started to walk away with the rear wheel.

I knew that if I touched the kid, even in an attempt to detain him for the police, I'd probably end up being charged with assault. I did pull out my phone to call the police. He knew exactly what I was doing, and started to run. While I was on the phone with the operator, I hurriedly unlocked my own bike, intending to follow him and figure out where he lived.

I got the bike unlocked, ended the 911 call (with the operator telling me there wasn't much they could do), and took off in the direction the boy had run. When I reached M Street, I asked a woman there if she had seen a boy with a bicycle wheel running by. She directed me towards Harris Teeter. When I got there, I asked the same question to some people standing there, and they pointed towards North Capitol Street.

As I moved down the unit block of M Street NE, I saw him crossing North Capitol Street and turning down the alley behind the Sibley Plaza Apartments (the large apartment building on the southwest corner of M and North Capitol). By the time I got there, he was gone. Again, I asked people who were sitting and standing around if they had seen the kid. All responded with a negative.

I biked through the plaza and parking lot between the apartments and the Sursum Corda cooperative, looking for a sign of the boy. Finding nothing, I went back to the station and talked to the station manager, letting him know what I saw. He mentioned that he'd like to start parking his bicycle at the station, and would love to see whoever is stealing bikes get caught. He also said that it's likely that police would only arrest someone if they saw them in the act, or if someone could make a positive identification of the perpetrator.

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So, in the end, I have no idea if this kid is responsible for every bike theft and vandalization at the New York Avenue station, but I know this one was his doing. I spent a couple minutes looking at his face, though. I know exactly what he looks like. The police have my phone number, and if they wanted to pick up a couple 10-year-olds from around the area and ask me to choose one, and if they were to investigate this crime and identify suspects, I'm sure I could give a positive identification.

The broader question here, of course, is why are little kids stealing bike parts? What can be done to stop this behavior? I have my doubts that punitive action against their parents would alleviate the situation.

To address bicycle crime, Metro PD should take it seriously

WMATA is trying to fight bicycle crime, the Examiner reported last week, and theft has declined somewhat this year. My experience with an a vandalized bike shows a few ways they can continue to improve.

On Thursday, September 22, on my way home from work and a community meeting, I stopped to pick up my bicycle at the New York Avenue Metro station. Nearby was another bicycle, with many of its parts missing, shown at right.

Crime needs to be reported, otherwise the police have no idea where they need to focus their attention. But when I called the Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD), the dispatcher told me that he couldn't take a report since I wasn't the bicycle owner.

I informed him that I had been able to do so before, and had called in multiple bicycles that had been similarly vandalized at that station. He promptly hung up on me.

The following Monday, while retrieving my bicycle after a day of work and community meetings, I ran into an MTPD officer at the station. He saw me approaching the bicycle racks and asked, "Is your bike still there?"

Sure, it was meant to be a joke to lighten the mood, but given the knowledge I have of what has been happening at the station and my most recent interaction with the MTPD dispatch, I didn't find it particularly funny. I told him, "Mine's fine, but I can't say the same for this guy," while pointing at the frame that remained locked up, sans wheels and gears, next to my bike.

The officer came over to look at it. He thought that the bike might have been stolen, locked up by a thief, and then vandalized by someone else. I told him about my attempt to call the crime in, and how the dispatcher rebuffed my plea for help. He mentioned that a sticker could be put on the bike (as in the photo below), then told me to have a good evening.

It's worth noting that the bicycle frame in the first photo was removed by Wednesday evening, but the one in the photo above has been there for weeks.

In the Examiner article, Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn blames the victims of these crimes for allowing their bikes to be stolen and vandalized. "Many buy expensive bikes but buy inexpensive locks," he says, and while personal observation tells me that there certainly are bicycles that haven't been properly secured at the Metro station, there is also a lack of seriousness on the part of Taborn's force regarding crime.

If the attitude from the top of the MTPD is dismissive of bicycle-related crime, it's not surprising to see the rest of the force serving beneath him being apathetic about it as well. That's a real shame, and it's something that I hope will change. Blaming the victim and not accepting help from civilians when it's offered will keep MTPD from being as effective as it could be.

Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.

More New York Avenue Metro station bike thefts

Over the course of the last 5 days, I've seen 4 bicycles with parts stolen at both entrances to the New York Avenue/Florida Avenue/Gallaudet University Metro station. As always, we document this to encourage people to be vigilant when parking their bicycles here. The station remains a risky place to leave one's bicycle.

Here was the bike parking situation at the northern entrance to the station yesterday morning. Looks orderly, right?

Unfortunately, there were two bicycles that had stolen parts (wheels, derailleurs, etc.) because they were poorly secured. Construction of the newest phase of the Constitution Square buildings has made the area less visible from the street and station entrance. This makes it easier for would-be bicycle thieves to do their dirty work.

In the interest of education, here are all the bikes at the racks yesterday morning. Let's see which ones did a good job locking up and which ones did not.

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The above bike has a u-lock through the frame and rear wheel, with a cable lock looping through the front wheel and around the inverted U bike rack.

The second bike only has a u-lock connecting the frame to the bike rack. The front wheel has been stolen, and the rear wheel is probably going to be taken next.

The third bike has a u-lock connecting the frame to the bike rack, and two cables securing the wheels. Not quite as secure as the first bike, but still quite good.

The fourth bike is an example of what will probably happen to the second one. Both wheels and the saddle have been stolen because the lock only secured the frame to the rack.

This bike only has the frame connected to the rack. The sticker on the bike says "This machine kills fascists," but it won't be able to do so if it continues to be locked up poorly like this.

This bike has both wheels secured with individual cable locks, and the frame locked to the rack. I'd probably run the rear cable through the u-lock, but this appears pretty secure.

This bike has a heavy chain lock securing the frame and rear wheel to the rack. The front wheel is vulnerable, though.

Finally, the last bike. 'Secured' with a u-lock on the frame only. Another candidate to come home at the end of the day to an unhappy surprise.

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Over the course of the last year, I've noticed more cyclists doing a better job of locking up their rides. Clearly I'm not the only person who sees that there are problems with security at the New York Avenue station, but there is still much that could be done to make things better. When the construction is done, more pedestrian traffic could help discourage those who would vandalize bikes. The biggest help, though, would be for WMATA to implement a bike garage inside the turnstiles at this station.

DC turns blind eye to developer's potential sign infractions

Since Douglas Development acquired the Uline Arena, the company has added three large signs to the side of the building, strategically placed to catch the eyeballs of those on passing Metro, MARC, and Amtrak trains.

A look at DC's signage rules suggests these advertisements may not be legal. But they also may be profitable, and Douglas Development owes the city quite a bit in property taxes.

Is the city ignoring the offense for its own gain?

In 2009, years of effort to remove three billboards at the corner of New Jersey Avenue and P Street NW came to an end when the billboards were cut down with a welding torch. The event marked the conclusion of a long campaign by the residents of Shaw to remove what they saw as blight from a neighborhood street corner.

One of the lasting results of that fight was that it made DC residents aware of the list of "special signs" permitted by the District. The "Special Signs Inventory," maintained by DCRA, lists 32 authorized large-scale advertisements that aren't technically billboards, according to DC regulations, located on the sides of buildings.

The Uline Arena signs are not on that list. There has been a Douglas Development sign on the side of the building for as long as I can remember, surely to entice interested parties to inquire about available space in the building. Last year, when Carmine's opened in the Penn Quarter neighborhood, a large advertisement for the Italian restaurant appeared on the side of the arena, as well. A sign advertising FroZenYo turned up within the last couple weeks.

That's 3 large "special signs" located on the building. Is this legal? I contacted Douglas Development to ask them about the regulatory process required to place these signs, but did not receive a call back. If they reply, I'll be sure to post an update.

The signs aren't on the city's official list, so they certainly appear to flout the rules. However, as Michael Neibauer noted two weeks ago, Douglas Development carries a sizable property tax debt to the city. Perhaps DC doesn't mind looking the other way if this helps bring Douglas Development income that can be used to settle the tab.

Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.

Good News! WMATA station managers are paying attention...

...to their cars.

(Not the car that was parked at the
New York Avenue station last night,
but it was there recently.)

That's the story I got last night at the New York Avenue Station. As is often the case, a car was parked in front of the bike racks there. It's a story I've brought up before. I saw a Metro Transit Police car parked outside of the station as well, so I thought I'd ask the officer if they knew what the rules were regarding vehicles parking on the sidewalk on WMATA property. The officer wasn't in the car, so I walked into the station and found him in the manager's kiosk.

I asked if anyone there knew who owned the car that was parked in front of the bike racks, and the manager-on-duty said it was hers. I began to explain to her that cars parking in front of the bike racks has the effect of shielding them from view of the public and makes it easier for criminals to steal the bikes. She cut in and asked if I was having a hard time removing my bike from the rack. I replied that I was not, but it was still a safety issue.

Her reply was that she's always watching her car, and I shouldn't worry because she's "being vigilant about that," so she'd notice if someone was near the bikes.

I inquired whether WMATA provides parking for workers who need to drive to the station. She said, "Not at this location."

Two observations came from this night. The first: WMATA needs to procure parking for the station managers who need to arrive before the first train and drive home after the last train departs. Now that Constitution Square [PDF] (home to Harris Teeter, restaurants, a bank, and a large underground parking garage) is open next door, it shouldn't be difficult for the transit agency to gain access to a couple guaranteed parking spaces for these station managers.

The second more troubling observation didn't come to me until later. If this station manager is spending her time "being vigilant" about watching her car, is she actually doing her job? Shouldn't that effort go towards paying attention to the needs of customers and keeping an eye on the safety and security of the station itself?

PSA: Bike parking at NY Ave. Station is not safe—avoid if possible

Three bikes: two vandalized, one attempted.

Examine the photograph at the right. Is it an art installation, or is it vandalized private property? If you guessed the latter, you're right.

These are the bike racks near the northern entrance to the New York Avenue/Florida Avenue/Gallaudet University metro station. I've written before about bicycle parking at this station, and I've noted that bicycles get stolen (or at least have parts stolen off them) with alarming frequency here.

On my way home from work Tuesday, I found that someone had attempted to steal my bicycle. I had a rear wheel stolen here in the spring, and since then I've taken the time to make sure that my front and rear wheels are locked, in addition to the bicycle frame. This time, they got far enough to remove the rear axle before realizing they weren't going to be able to get anything of value. The axle was left on the ground, and the the wheel had been pulled from the frame, but the U-lock prevented its removal.

Previously, I had asked the station manager how to get abandoned bicycle frames removed. I also asked whether there was any regular patrol of this area, which is somewhat hidden from sight. To say that he was unhelpful would be too kind and diplomatic. My experience with metro station managers leads me to believe that many of them serve little more purpose than filling the empty space inside a reflective vest.

Earlier this month, when parts were stolen from the bike on the left, I reported it to the Metro Transit Police. Nothing happened. This time, I called again and complained about the lack of action, noted a clear pattern, and asked that something be done. I finally saw some action on Wednesday morning.

First two images: removal notice from MTPD. The third is from DDOT.

The Metro Transit Police placed the orange notice on the latest vandalized bike. It is now considered abandoned property and will be removed by the end of next week. The other bike has a removal notice from DDOT. I'm not sure why there are two different agencies responding to the same situation, but I'll be happy to see these bikes removed. Leaving them there is a prime example of broken windows theory. Thieves can see that the area is not cared for, which does nothing to discourage criminal behavior.

Metro vehicles serve as a virtual wall,
shielding criminals from the eyes of the public.

The fact remains that this is currently a dangerous place to park a bicycle. To the best of my knowledge, there are no regular patrols here. The bike racks are out of the sight of most foot traffic—you can't really see them from the cafe and coffee shop around the corner. The biggest problem is that Metro employees still park their cars on the sidewalk, creating a wall that hides criminal activity.

Until Metro gets on the ball and actually enforces common-sense rules, like requiring its employees to park cars in real parking spaces, this isn't a smart place to park a bicycle. If you are going to park here, ABSOLUTELY make sure you use both a cable lock and a U-lock AT THE MINIMUM to secure your bike. Lock up your seat and remove any accessories. There is a professional bike thief at work here, and he knows that he can act with impunity (the thefts I've seen have all happened sometime between noon and 6 pm—broad daylight).

Is the owner coming back for this bicycle?

Take a look at this bike. It's missing its handlebars, seat, front wheel, brake and shifting cables, front- and rear-brakes, and chain, while the back wheel has been stomped into a useless mess. It sure doesn't appear to be wanted by anyone at this point.

This is at the New York Avenue Metro station, where the bike racks are not up to code anyway, and they often fill up. Parking is at a premium here, but this mangled used-to-be-a-bike has been here for a couple weeks now.

Wednesday evening, I spoke with a station manager, asking if he knew what to do to get the bike removed. First, he told me that he, as a station manager, has nothing to do with the bike racks (they are on WMATA property—whose job is it to "manage" them?). He said I should find a member of the Metro Transit Police Department to speak with. As I walked away, he claimed that, no matter what, if the frame is locked to the rack, WMATA will consider the bike "in use," and they won't be able to touch it.

That's clearly ridiculous. The lock should be cut and the frame should be donated to a group like Phoenix Bikes or someone else who can turn this into something useful again.

I put a call in to the MTPD as I left the station, and was told that an officer would stop by to assess the situation. As of Thursday morning, nothing has happened. We'll see how long this takes to be removed.

Parking is a mess at the New York Avenue Metro station

The bicycle parking at the New York Avenue Metro station is substandard, and every day automobiles are spread all around the pedestrian areas.

I take the Red Line to and from work every day, entering the system at the New York Avenue Metro station. I bike there from our house in Trinidad, parking my bicycle at the racks near the northern entrance to the station. Those racks, as well as the small plaza they are located on, should be a safe place to park a bicycle, but in my experience, they've proven to be anything but.

The area around the station is currently a massive construction zone. Constitution Square, an enormous mixed-use building with over 2.5 million square feet of office, retail, and residential space is nearing completion on the block bordered by M, N, and 1st Streets NE and the Metro station. The angle of the Metro tracks in relation to the city's street grid creates the equivalent of a pocket park here. You can see it on this map. This plaza contains a sculpture of a leaf of the state tree of DC, the scarlet oak. Once all the surrounding construction is complete, it has the potential of being a nice little gathering place.

Currently, though, that's not possible. Why? Because construction crews park their personal vehicles in the plaza, WMATA employees (including station managers) use it as a private parking lot, and workers at the ATF building across the street park their motorcycles there.

Motorcycles blocking bicycle parking.

More motorcycles blocking bicycles (as you can see, it's often the same ones).


A minivan block the bike racks on Monday morning.


Turns out that minivan belongs to station manager Dana Buckner.


Ms. Buckner had moved her van away from the bikes, but still on the plaza, by Monday evening.

Aside from the inability to safely get to the bicycle racks in the morning, there is the problem of the location of the racks themselves. They were installed too close to the wall to properly lock a bicycle.

The pertinent code is located here:

2119.5     An aisle five feet (5 ft.) in width shall be provided between rows of bicycle parking spaces and the perimeter of the area devoted to bicycle parking.

As you can see in the photo below, the racks are just over one foot from the wall. There isn't enough room to properly lock up a bicycle without turning the front wheel to the side.

Example of a bicycle with enough space to park properly (Photo: Greg Nissen).

When the construction next to the station is complete, some of these parking issues should resolve themselves. There's still no reason that a plan couldn't have been in place already to ensure that people like WMATA employees (who will continue to be here every day once the construction is complete) don't park their cars where cars don't belong.

The bicycle parking is another issue that could be solved easily, but it would likely involve finding the right contact within WMATA's vast bureaucracy, and I don't know who that person would be.

Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.