You may recall that back in April, City Councilman Peter Vallone sent a letter to NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly seeking an explanation for the NYPD's unannounced seizure of dozens of bicycles on Houston Street along President Obama's motorcade route. Lo and behold, Kelly has responded, and even more shocking, the top cop has admitted that the whole thing was handled sloppily.
Vallone had asked Kelly: "Why did this occur? How often does this occur? What alternatives were considered but not used? What type of notice was given to the community? When and where were the bikes available for retrieval? Was this action based on any specific threat?" In his response, Kelly wrote:
While I believe that it was appropriate to remove the bicycles as a security precaution, I acknowledge that more could have been done to notify members of the community in advance that this action would be taken. While signs warning that vehicles would be towed off of Houston Street were posted several days in advance, the signs did not specify that bicycles would be removed as well. I also believe that more could been done to provide specific instructions on how confiscated bicycles could be reclaimed.
In the letter, Kelly also explained that the bikes were confiscated because bicycles and motorcycles have been used as "vehicle borne improvised explosive devices throughout much of the world." Video later surfaced showing cops sawing through locks and nonchalantly loading the bikes in a pile on the back of a truck, seemingly without much concern that they might blow themselves up. And bike owners had a hard time figuring out how to reclaim their bikes; we placed multiple phone calls to the local precincts before we found out when and where owners could get them, and the information was conflicting.
We've scanned a copy of Kelly's letter below:
