Noted

Dave on 7th notes that Citibank has apparently moved the Jacob Riis Houses a few avenues to the west...

The only post today about Citi Bikes, most likely

Only because this has been a recurring theme in the comments here in various posts about Citi Bikes (namely branding and what Citi is getting out of this) ... a reader shared this link to a Digiday article titled Citi Gets Serious Brand Mileage From Citi Bike.

Excerpt!

Just over two months into the Citi Bike program, it seems like the $41 million dollar six-year sponsorship is on its way to paying off. Citi Bike is, in many ways, the definition of branded utility.

“So far, everything is pointing in an extremely positive direction, more than I would have expected,” said Elyssa Gray, head of creative for North America marketing at Citi. “The way that the city has embraced the program is truly remarkable.”

According to Gray, Citi got involved with the bike-share program because the bank felt that the program was consistent with what the Citi brand stands for: progress and helping people achieve goals.

“Citi’s home base is here in New York, and we want to make sure that people who live in New York City feel the value that Citi is bringing to this community of ours through this green initiative,” she said.

Read the whole article here.

Docking blues: Doing the 'checking-all-of-the-Citi Bike-stations dance'

During the past week, we've heard some grumbling from Citi Bike users who say that they continue to have problems finding an open space to dock their bikes at night in the East Village. The people we talked to say that they are fans of the program, but are growing frustrated by the distribution problems.

The Times reported yesterday on the program's "tricky juggling act" to "remove bikes from fully occupied stations, and to refill stations before the supply runs dry."

Meanwhile, there are stories of riders on the phone with Citi Bike reps, trekking from Astor Place to Avenue C and back to Astor Place in search of empty docking stations.

We walked around Wednesday night and found six full docking stations... and watched people ride by looking for a place to park. (Maybe this leads to some abandonment issues?)

We asked a few East Village residents to share their experiences... the following quotes are from residents who are fully supportive of the bike-share program. (For now, anyway...)

From a resident who lives on Avenue A and East Sixth Street:

"The availability just follows the rhythms of the day — in the mornings during the rush to go to work there are no bikes, and after work there are no [parking spots] because everyone has brought them back.

When I first decided to use the bikes to ride to the train, I was late to work a few days because I searched a few stations around me, and couldn't find any bikes. Evenings have the exact opposite problem; on Monday evening, I checked 6th and B, 7th and A, then finally caught someone pulling out at St. Mark's and 1st and rushed to get into the spot.

I wasn't the only one slowly riding around in circles waiting for a free spot; I noticed at least 2 other riders that I kept intersecting. Somehow, weekends aren't that much better. On Saturday, I was late to meet a friend because I spent time again doing the checking-all-of-the-Citi Bike-stations dance. On a Saturday afternoon!

So, unfortunately, I think I might need to shift my thinking around the bikes as something that I can use when the opportunity arises, versus a reliable, regular transportation method.

I think our neighborhood really needs additional stations. I originally imagined a huge boost to the quality of life in the area, but it's not quite there yet."

And this is from Matt:

"There have been a few signs of improvement recently, but not being able to find/dock a bike is still a frustrating issue. It used to be that if I left for work after 8:35 a.m., I knew not to expect to get a bike at my usual rack at 13th and A. Now it's less predictable — some days there might be a half-full rack, others all the bikes might have the red light on, and other's it'll be completely empty even if I'm early.

Same thing happens at night – if I leave work after a certain hour, I prepare myself for a trip around the East Village looking for a spot. Monday was a new record, when it took me 7 docks to find an open slot (13th and A, 10th and A, 14th and B, 12th and D, 9th and C, 5th and C, and 6th and B, until finally catching someone leaving at 7th and A). I think the most frustrating thing about those joyrides is that the app consistently says that openings are available at those docks.

I love the idea of Citi Bikes and still think they're the most exciting thing to happen to the city in a long time, but I hope they can pull this together."

Today in photos of unlocked, possibly abandoned Citi Bikes

A reader says that this unlocked Citi Bike has been parked here along East Eighth Street all morning... Maybe it's a trap?

[Updated] About last night's CB3 Citi Bikes public meeting

As noted earlier, Community Board 3's Transportation Committee met last night to hear concerns about the Citi Bike program. We haven't heard about the meeting... or seen any write-ups about what might have transpired... Here's a tweet from Stephen Miller, a reporter from StreetsBlog...

CB 3 committee booked IS 131 auditorium to handle the big crowd for the #CitiBike gripe session. 25 people showed up. pic.twitter.com/feIYrhrAKU

— Stephen Miller (@miller_stephen) July 16, 2013

... and later...

All of the speakers so far have been very supportive of bike-share. One wanted to ensure station moved for construction is put back after.

— Stephen Miller (@miller_stephen) July 16, 2013

He tweeted that he didn't stay the whole time... so maybe the full-blown outrage came later...

Updated 3:40

Ah, The Lo-Down has just filed a report on the meeting... A passage:

Linda Martella said she, too “likes the idea” of the program– just not in front of her store. Martella, owner of Veniero’s Pastry on East 11th Street, said the street is already narrow, and the Citi Bikes across the street took over seven parking spaces and impedes the flow of traffic, especially when there are delivery trucks on the commercial street.

“We are especially concerned with the holiday time when [customers] come to pick up their orders,” Martella said. “We now have lost these parking spaces, making it difficult for the customers to carry these orders out.”

Read the post here.

BoweryBoogie also has a recap of the meeting here.

Your chance to bitch about Citi Bikes tonight

Back in May, before the launch of the Citi Bikes program, Community Board 3 announced that it would be holding a public meeting in July to hear any concerns ... Anyway, that meeting is tonight.

Here is the original message that we posted on May 10:

Bike Share will launch May 27. Issues that must be dealt with immediately, such as a blocked driveway or loading zone, should be emailed to the community board office (info@cb3manhattan.org) and we will work with DOT to have these sites inspected immediately.

There are other concerns regarding placement of installations or size of installations, or the number of installations in close proximity to each other. We are asking people to wait until bike share is in operation for a month to see what works and what doesn’t. What installations are not being used to capacity? What installations do not accommodate the number of bikes needed?

The Community Board 3 Transportation Committee will meet on Tuesday, July 16 to hear concerns. DOT will attend the meeting to note these concerns and address or inspect and follow up.

The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at I.S. 131, 100 Hester St.

And sorry about the short notice on the reminder... we just remembered ourselves via The Lo-Down's reminder this morning ...

Sunday morning Citi Bike docking station observation

Around 8:45... no available bikes on East Third Street at First Avenue (above) and all but one bike ready for action on East Second Street at Avenue B...

The Citi Bike stationary workout is for real

Lame parodies aside, people are apparently using Citi Bikes for a stationary workout... Jose Garcia saw this woman going through a vigorous session the other day on East 10th Street outside Tompkins Square Park...

Per Jose: "She was taking breaks, had a towel to wipe her brow and a bottle of liquid to hydrate. She was enjoying herself."

And no membership or credit card necessary.

About Shiti Bikes and Citi Bikes

You probably heard about the outbreak of "Shiti Bike" stickers around the city in the last 48 hours or so... EVG reader Brad212 spotted these on East Ninth Street and Avenue C yesterday morning ...



A "Shitibike" website launched on Sunday... where you can download your very own stickers... there's also the month-old Shiti bike Facebook page that announces it is "Reclaiming NYC streets from corporate appropriation of Bike culture."

Meanwhile, a reader pointed us to this info graphic at Mayor Bloomberg's website from last week ... which provides a statistical report card of Citi Bike's first month of operation...

Citi Bike docking station 'just around the corner' is now apparently an amenity in the East Village

There's a new listing for an apartment over on East Fifth Street and Avenue B... Here's the copy:

Wing Two Bedroom apartment located at 543 East 5th Street in the haert [sic] of the East Village.

Apartment features two bedrooms, separate kitchen and tile bath. Locatde [sic] steps to all the great bars, restaurants and shopping of this great neighborhood. Citi Bike station just around the corner.

True, the docking station is around the corner on East Sixth Street and Avenue B — on the other side of the street from Sunny & Annie's. However, given that the East Village has 23 docking stations, it seems as if many apartments have one right around the corner. Is this a feature worth mentioning?

Vandal(s) place glue-like substance on Citi Bike seats along East 10th Street

EVG reader Andrew G. passes along these photos this morning ... noting that someone placed a "glue-like substance" on Citi Bike seats parked on East 10th Street next to Tompkins Square Park.

And artfully so from the look of the swirl...



Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Someone befouled this Citi Bikes docking station with a large piece of dog poop; plus signs

Citi Bike photo of the day

It's actually from Saturday... EVG reader Brion Bonkowski took this on Third Avenue at East Ninth Street... certainly not the first time this has likely happened...



... just the first time that we happened to see it.

So, does this mean we need a Citi Bikes program for kids too?

I can't really think of a headline for this

EVG reader John came across this mini photo shoot this morning on East Sixth Street at Avenue B...

Noted

Seemed inevitable that someone would do something like this... Shawn Chittle spotted this on Avenue A today...

Noted

A humor bit titled "SoulCycle for the Homeless" via The Crosby Press ... filmed on East Seventh Street at Avenue A...

Oh dear

St. Mark's Place earlier today.

Updated:

Oh, a reader emailed to say that this is happening at other docking stations... is this a thing now? Or is this a way for Citi Bike to let people know not to use this particular bike? (I have no idea.. just asking...)

Updated:

Apparently I need to start reading Wired. They reported yesterday:

If a bike is suffering from mechanical issues, courteous riders have begun turning the seat around to face the wrong way, a signal to other Citi Bike users to avoid that particular bicycle. There is a built-in wrench button on the bike racks that alerts Citi Bike that maintenance is needed, but turning the seat around is a nice way to give rushed riders a quick heads-up to skip that bike and grab the next one.

Today in The Wall Street Journal not liking Citi Bikes

Well, this piece is actually from the paper's weekend edition... in which reporter Anne Kadet bought a 24-hour access pass... She wasn't a big fan:

The trip home was worse. Upon docking in the East Village to avoid overtime charges, I discovered the station's kiosk screen was cracked; it wouldn't give me another bike. The station at First Avenue and Third was down. The kiosk at Houston and Allen wouldn't read my card.

That's when it started pouring. I cursed the system: "I hate Citi Bike! I hate Citi Bike! I hate Citi Bike!"

The nice lady who answered the Citi Bike hotline was sympathetic, but couldn't direct me to a functional station. Finally, after trying one last kiosk, I gave up and took the F train home.

I hate to say it, but if Citi Bike were NASA, there'd be a lot of dead astronauts. Of the 10 trips I took, eight had significant snafus. Yes, the system's launch was initially delayed due to software issues; perhaps they should have delayed a bit longer.

The whole article is here ... though you may need a subscription to access it... A few weeks back, Wall Street Journal editorial board member Dorothy Rabinowitz ripped Mayor Bloomberg and the entire bike-share program. Ripped it good.

And now, a post about Citi Bikes

Item!

EVG regular Pinhead spotted this attempt at Citi Yuks over on Sixth Avenue and 18th Street...



Item!

EVG reader lukeavC spotted this trash piled up on a docking station on Fifteenth Street and Five Avenue...



Item!

DNAinfo published an article yesterday titled "East Village's Citi Bike Stations Are Often Empty."

True!

Per the article:

If you want to ride a Citi Bike in Alphabet City, you'd better get up early.

Stations around Tompkins Square Park and along Avenues C and D are emptying by 8 a.m. — and they're staying that way through much of the day, Citi Bike data shows.

A rainy afternoon look at a Citi Bikes docking station

First, we promise not to post about a docking station every day.

Meanwhile! EVG reader Dan Scheffey noted the docking station on East 10th Street along Tompkins Square Park this afternoon ... one bike remaining on a shitty rainy day...

Several people have told us that this docking station has been a little buggy (or, "wildly dysfunction," as one person put it) ... For instance, on Saturday, when you tried to return a bike, the green light would not go on signaling that it was locked into the rack.

One Citi Bike user thought that he had safely locked his rental back in place here ... only to learn later that someone took it for a 7-hour joyride.

Random Sunday afternoon Citi Bike docking station check

Zero bikes available at East 13th Street and Avenue A ... and two on East Ninth Street at Avenue C....