Has anyone had success getting the city to remove an abandoned bike?

...because I sure haven't.

There has been a very neglected, obviously abandoned, bike locked to a bicycle rack outside of my workplace for what seems like an eternity (it's been there at least since November '10). I have been calling the city relentlessly since February requesting that it be removed. The last 2 times I've called I was told the request would be marked "urgent" and that they would "get to it as soon as possible." Still nothing. I know the city likes to takes its sweet ol' time with things like this, but c'mon...5 months and counting?

With the summer bicyclists now emerging, parking spots are becoming more and more scarce. I want all the available bike racks I can get! Yes, I also requested (last year) another bike rack to be installed. You can probably guess the outcome of that as well.

What else can I do to free up this spot? I'm not interested in the DIY angle grinder method. Does anyone have any kind of hookup with the city to make this happen?

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Permalink Reply by Laura Blake on July 15, 2011 at 12:38pm

Every abandoned bike is "blocking the way!" They block the way of a legitimate parking spot for the rest of us. They are eyesores. They are unnecessary clutter that need to be removed. End of story.

The city clearly states that it offers this service - City of Chicago Abandoned Bicycles. There is absolutely no reason that this should not have been done already.

Cosmic Charlie said:

I don't think there is much interest in it as long as it isn't blocking the way. There has been a bike at a certain metra station that is obviously abandoned. When they started construction on the area a few weeks ago the bike was tied higher on the railing (as to be out of the way of the construction area) with bailing wire.

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Permalink Reply by Laura Blake on July 18, 2011 at 10:59am

Of course I realize that just taking care of this myself would be much faster. At this point, however, it is a matter of principle. The fact that I've been putting in request after request since February and still not so much as an acknowledgment from the city shows that there is a serious flaw in their system. A flaw that needs to be remedied. There is no reason that anyone should have to put in this much effort to get results. Chopping off that bike myself, even though gratifying, would be saying that its ok for the city to ignore these requests. Its not.

Michael Brosilow said:

Instead of waiting for the city to remove the bike just remove it yourself. You can easily cut through the frame with a hacksaw.

My neighbors were standing around bitching about how long it was taking the city to get around to removing a tree limb that fell in the street during the last storm. I took a saw cut it into manageable pieces & threw it in the trash. Took about 15 minutes. A lot less time & aggravation than dealing with emails and phone calls. DIY

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 18, 2011 at 11:04am

Using the word principle when speaking of government (especially CHICAGO city government) is highly ironic...

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Permalink Reply by Laura Blake on July 18, 2011 at 1:44pm

Thank you for your words of encouragement, Michael. Instead of just giving up on this like most people probably do, I intend to find out what is going wrong with this section of the bike program. Is there no one in charge of handling these requests anymore? Do the reports just get lost in the system? What is it? The reason that I'm not letting this go is to make it easier for everyone else. ...and my own stubbornness.

Michael Brosilow said:

"Since February" At what point do you realize that it ain't gonna happen.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 18, 2011 at 2:34pm

I hope you do get to the bottom of it. I thought at one time there was a web-form to do this an now that link has seemed to disappear. It seems that the city doesn't want to deal with the problem. Perhaps they think that it'll go away on its own?

It is sad because there are a lot of nice parts and frames going to rust sitting around unloved unwanted and other than the rebuild coops I know there must be others who would love to have a crack at some of them too.

Such a waste.

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Permalink Reply by S on July 18, 2011 at 9:04pm

Laura Blake said:

Thank you for your words of encouragement, Michael. Instead of just giving up on this like most people probably do, I intend to find out what is going wrong with this section of the bike program. Is there no one in charge of handling these requests anymore? Do the reports just get lost in the system? What is it? The reason that I'm not letting this go is to make it easier for everyone else. ...and my own stubbornness.

Michael Brosilow said:

Laura, I think the problem is that the city is short staffed and doesn't have enough workers to handle these types of things. Apparently things like the forestry and rodent control programs are understaffed so I'm not surprised that removing abandoned bikes is near the bottom of the list.

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Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on July 19, 2011 at 9:35am

Post the address on here. I'm sure someone will take care of it. :)

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Permalink Reply by Laura Blake on August 1, 2011 at 8:06pm

It just keeps getting better, folks! Upon returning to work today after being gone on vacation, I come to find a MOTORCYCLE chained to the bike rack. Yes, a MOTORCYCLE. My coworkers told me that it had broken down and the owner locked it there a few days ago. How infuriating!!!

I called the police, hoping that they would at least ticket it. So far, nothing has happened. Now the one and only bike rack at my workplace is occupied by an abandoned bike and a potentially abandoned motorcycle. The universe hates me.