Countdown to Citi Bikes bike share in the East Village

The Citi Bikes bike share program will officially launch on Monday for the 8,000 or so people who bought the annual membership in the City. (We saw on Twitter that at least one East Village resident received her membership card in the mail.) For everyone else, weekly and daily passes go on sale June 2.

Ahead of this, Citi Bike officials were checking out the docking stations to make sure each rack works here on East 13th Street and Avenue A, as EVG reader Gary pointed out...



This was the docking station that someone festooned with dog poop and colorful signs last week. In fact, this post (briefly) served as the backdrop for Greg Mocker's report on Citi Bikes Sunday night on WPIX ...



Here's the segment. (Thanks to Shawn Chittle for this.)

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Meanwhile ... several readers noted that someone placed MasterCard stickers on the docking stations on East Second Street at Avenue B... and East Sixth Street at Avenue B... Seventh Street and Avenue A... initially we thought this might be some act of tomfoolery, though that's not the case... The program is funded jointly by Citibank and Mastercard, who paid $41 million and $6.5 million, respectively, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.





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Finally, as a refresher. For accurate (probably) information on how Citi Bikes work... here is the official information on pricing ... and here are FAQs.

Percy's Tavern owner cleans off poop-smeared Citi Bikes docking station on East 13th Street

Earlier, we noted that someone smacked a large piece of dog poop on the Citi Bikes docking station on East 13th Street and Avenue A. This angered Larry Watson, the owner of Percy's Tavern on 13th and A.

"I think this behavior is disgusting! As a dog owner, I hate when people don't bother to clean up after their dogs in their own neighborhood ... but this a childish," he told us. "Whether you agree with the bikes or not, protest or support it in an adult form. I cleaned it off!"

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

EVG reader Sam shares this with us today from over on East 13th Street at Avenue A... someone left a sign painted in blood red that reads: "TO THE MAYor REMOVE All "CiTi BiKES" BoycoTT CiTy BAnK." The other homemade sign reads: "CitiBank is responsible for all CitiBikes To be put in here. Stop Them Call 311 To Complain." There is a signature on that sign, though it's tough to make out the name.



Oh, and someone put a large piece of dog poop on the first docking station in the row...



Larry Watson, owner of Percy's Tavern on the corner, cleaned off the poop this afternoon. Read that here.

Citi keeping the docking stations graffiti free

Say this about the bike share program — Citi crews (assuming?) seem to quickly respond to docking stations in need, like here on East Fifth Street and Avenue C...

Saturday!


[Bobby Lebrini]

Tuesday!


[Steven Matthews]

Reader mailbag: Is it legal to park next to a docking station before the Citi Bikes arrive?

This weekend, several readers sent us photos of vehicles parked next to the new docking station on East Sixth Street at Avenue B...


[EVG reader Mark]


[Dave on 7th]


[EVG reader John]

The actual Citi Bikes will likely arrive on or just before the expected May 27 launch date... Once the bikes arrive, parking next to a docking station won't be possible. (Well, we'll see.)

Anyway, a reader, who wanted to be clear that he wasn't complaining about Citi Bikes, simply asked if it is legal to park next to an unoccupied docking station. Because he has a car, temporarily, and it can be tough to find a place to park around here. (And why would he have a car? To make it easier to visit his mother who's in a nursing home in a place not convenient to public transportation.)

There aren't street signs pointing to any offense by parking next to the docking station ... Along here, there's just the alternate side parking sign ...



Anyone know? Is this a parking offense that deserves a ticket?

Noted

East Fifth Street at Avenue C. Will it be a long hot summer for the docking stations?

Photo by Bobby Lebrini

Bike share launches May 27; CB3 asks residents to take wait-and-see approach

City officials announced yesterday that the Citi Bikes program will officially launch on May 27. However, the first week of service is only for the 8,000 or so people who bought the annual membership. For all you car-loving, tourist-hating residents everyone else, weekly and daily passes go on sale June 2.

Here's part of the official message:

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and NYC Bike Share today announced that Citi Bike will launch for annual members on Monday, May 27, as the 6,000-bike, 330-station system brings New York’s newest and most affordable transportation option to parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Annual members who sign up by May 17 will receive their Citi Bike electronic keys in time to enjoy exclusive use of the system starting Memorial Day before the system opens to daily and weekly members on June 2. The initial service area includes Manhattan below 59th Street and the neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and parts of Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. Citi Bike operates without City subsidy and the $95 annual membership equals about 25 cents a day for the kind of unlimited short trips that bike share is designed for.

“Now’s the time for New Yorkers to sign up for their own keys to the city,” said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “More than eight thousand annual members have already signed up to get a head start on the newest way to get around, and the excitement continues to build as we count down the days to launch.”

Annual memberships providing unlimited rides of 45 minutes or less are available at citibikenyc.com. Bike share will extend the reach of the city’s transportation network, providing easier, faster access to destinations farther from transit stops. Starting June 2, daily memberships will be available for $9.95 a day or $25 a week, granting those members unlimited rides of 30 minutes or less at no additional cost for the duration of their membership period.

Meanwhile, yesterday, in anticipation of all this... we received the following message from the folks at Community Board 3:

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. Please check the CB 3 website for the meeting location or sign up to receive monthly agendas (join cb 3’s mail list on website).

And as a refresher. Here is the official information on pricing ... and here are FAQs.

First Citi Bikes docking station casualty*

An EVG reader noted early last evening that someone (or something) broke/smashed (accidentally or otherwise) the glass on the Citi Bikes docking station that arrived a day earlier on East Sixth Street at Avenue B...



A worker in an unmarked van was on the scene replacing what needed to be, uh, replaced, per the reader.

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* As far as we know. We heard that a truck ran into a docking station on East 11th Street, but never saw any photographic evidence to support this claim.

Citi Bikes docking station arrives this morning on East 14th Street and Stuy Town

EVG reader Brett notes that the docking stations arrived this morning around 10...



... here on East 14th Street... just east of Avenue B and adjacent to Stuy Town...



Bike docking stations also arrived this morning on East Sixth Street ... on the south side of the street near Avenue B...


[Photo by Sally Davies]

Citi Bikes docking stations Week in Grieview

[St. Mark's Place]

The Citi Bikes docking stations arrived in the neighborhood this past week, as you probably noticed... We did.

Our 12 posts on the topic fielded 277 comments, covering everything from the Fall of Rome, Nazi Germany, 9/11 and the Mayan Apocalypse.

These two had the most comments:

Reader mailbag: Have you read the Citi Bikes Rental Agreement? (49 comments)

And!

Here's another docking station for St. Mark's Place (49 comments)

Any thoughts on why this is such a divisive topic?

Reader mailbag: Have you read the Citi Bikes Rental Agreement?

[Via @danielleintheev]

An email from a reader. First, he is all (mostly!) for the bike-share program and is planning to purchase an annual pass.

Disclaimer: "I hate Citibank and it's super gross to be advertising for them."

But! "...the utility of it is really fantastic."

So. The reader was reading through the Rental Agreement that you have to agree to for the membership.

"There are a couple of things there that are pretty weird to me. First of all — and I was expecting this — they've thought of the fact that people are probably going to want to cover up the Citibank logos with something else, either to avoid being a tool to advertise Citibank or advertise something of their own."

Makes sense!

"Section 5 Prohibited Acts."

You must not dismantle, write on, or otherwise modify or deface a Citi Bike bicycle or any part of a Citi Bike bicycle in any way. You must not write on, peel, or otherwise modify or deface any sticker on a Citi Bike bicycle in any way. You must not use a Citi Bike bicycle for any advertising or similar commercial purpose. This rule does not apply to the use of the seat height adjustment feature on Citi Bike bicycles."

Reader: "Now I don't know if that prohibits my idea of using some non-destructive floppy magnet material to just cover up the logos while I'm riding, but it sounds like it could. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

And!

"Section 21 Waivers."
...
For good and valuable consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged, You do hereby knowingly, voluntarily, and irrevocably: (1) give Your full and unconditional consent to NYCBS and its affiliates, successors, and assigns to use at any time and from time to time, without any restriction, Your appearance and voice in photographs, videos, and other recordings, on all websites and for all press, promotional, advertising, publicity, and other commercial purposes, including all formats and media, whether now known or hereafter devised, throughout the world and in perpetuity; (2) grant to NYCBS and its affiliates, successors, and assigns (a) the right to photograph, videotape, and otherwise record Your appearance and voice, at any time and from time to time, (b) all rights, copyrights, title, and interests in the results of such photographs, videos, and other recordings, as a work for hire for copyright purposes, and (c) the right to use, reproduce, exhibit, distribute, transmit, alter, and exploit, at any time and from time to time and as NYCBS may decide in its sole discretion, the photographs, videos, and other recordings, or any component thereof, and all related merchandising, promotions, advertising, and publicity; and (3) waive, release, and discharge all Released Persons from all Claims that You have or may have for any libel, defamation, invasion of privacy, right of publicity, infringement of copyright, or violation of any right granted by You in this paragraph."

"Is that even legal???"

Thoughts? Just legal mumbo-jumbo?

Citi Bikes docking station now alongside Tompkins Square Park on East 10th Street

[Photo via @TYJK]

Oops. Sorry. I originally wrote that this was inside the Park. Nevermind!

Seems like this is better spot for a docking station... alongside the Park on East 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B? And for people upset about these things taking up parking spots... not really an issue here.

Here's another Citi Bikes docking station for St. Mark's Place

This morning, Shawn Chittle spotted workers installing the Citi Bikes docking station on the north side of St. Mark's Place ... just east of Second Avenue...







Early Monday morning, workers installed the docking stations on the same side of St. Mark's closer to First Avenue.

Per Citi Bikes:

• North side of St. Mark's Place near Second Avenue
This station will have 39 docks and is located in a no-parking area of the street.

• North side of St. Mark's Place near First Avenue
This station will have 31 docks and is located in a no-parking area of the street.

So 70 docks total for the block. (Perhaps we can now call this stretch Citi Bikes Place?)

And if the FDNY seemed annoyed by one docking station on this block... wait until they see this...

Reader report: Citi Bikes to arrive at the end of the month

[Photo on East 4th Street by @LinzaPinz]

As you may have noticed, Citi Bikes docking stations have been arriving here fastly and furiously the last 72 hours... during the docking station installation on East 13th Street yesterday, a supervisor type handing out flyers told EVG reader Gary the following (paraphrased):

He said that bikes will be in the end of May ... and that it is a 1-year pilot program for Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. If it is successful, then it will roll out in the rest of the city.

Meanwhile, check out the Citi Bike site for how it all works here ... and their FAQs.

[Updated] And here is the Citi Bikes docking station on East 13th Street at Avenue A

On the south side of the street just east of the Avenue... photos via EVG reader Gary.





Now just 49,764 Citi Bikes post remain for the week...

Updated 3:03

Final product, via @danielleintheev ...

Citi Bikes docking station arrives on East Seventh Street at Avenue A

Happening this afternoon...





At some point we'll recap how many have been dropped off. Find the map here showing the bike share locations.

And these photos are courtesy of Michael Sullivan, who along with his business partner Aaron Thorp, recently opened WINESHOP at 438 E. Ninth St. (Previously the brief home of Cigkoftem, the Turkish vegetarian fast-food chain...)

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...and another reader submitted shot from the corner... via Craig S.

Uh-oh — FDNY discovers the Citi Bikes docking stations

This afternoon at the new Citi Bikes docking station on St. Mark's Place just west of First Avenue... Per Jose Garcia: "The fire department just discovered that the new Citi Bikes are smack dab in the middle of the firelane. They seemed very unhappy."

Citi Share docking stations arrive on St. Mark's Place at 1 a.m., quickly tagged

EVG regular Stephen Popkin notes that the Citi Bikes docking stations arrived on the north side of St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue (in front of the former Holiday Cocktail Lounge) ... around 1 a.m. (Per Stephen's estimation, the installers were working quietly...)



Plans called for 31 docks here in a no-parking area of the street.

Updated:

Well, later, someone felt compelled to write RAMEN on the docking station...



...and another angle via Shawn Chittle...



Meanwhile! On East Fifth Street at Avenue C... EVG reader Mish noted that workers installed the docking station here around 11 p.m.



Per Mish: "We're already taxed as it is parking wise, and the street is a dead end. Really failing to see the logic in this choice of location. I'm not sure they realize how much of an adverse effect this is going to have on commuters in the neighborhood."

Breaking: Citi Bikes docking station arrives on East Ninth Street and Avenue C

They ... are... everywhere... now... can't keep ... up.. with ... all ... the ... docking.. stations... arriving...

Thanks to to EVG reader Greg for this shot.

Updated:

Ah! Per @TYJK, the docking station is now parked on the north side of East Ninth Street... across from 9th Street Espresso...



And whatever happened to the bike guy here...? Also! Probably would have still been room for the Mystery Camper...

Updated:



Another shot of the final product via Bobby Williams...

[Updated] Here is your East Fourth Street Citi Bikes docking station

Dropped in fresh this afternoon on the south side of the street ... just a little west of Second Avenue, as these photos by EVG reader John Iz show...







Who's next?

Updated:

Derek Berg passed along a few more photos from East Fourth Street...