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DOT Is Not GOD: It Is Possible To Get Citi Bike Racks Removed
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jul 29, 2013
Modified Jul 30, 2013
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Lauren Evans/Gothamist
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jul 29, 2013
Modified Jul 30, 2013
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For months, residents of several Manhattan neighborhoods have been trying to unshackle themselves and their domiciles from the ruinous hand of Citi Bike, whose bulky racks have done everything from block EMS workers to destroy open spaces, forcing attractive naked people to pose outside in protest.
Despite several lawsuits petitioning the rack's removal in some neighborhoods, the Post today posits that when it comes to Citi Bike rack-placement, the DOT is God, and it's not like you can just sue God to get rid of a meddlesome bike rack, amirite?
"Locations for the bike-share program 'are beyond the scope of judicial review,' and the DOT’s power is an 'unquestioned government function,' reports the tabloid, information it apparently gleaned from city attorney Mary O’Sullivan regarding a lawsuit filed by a "Chelsea co-op."
That didn't seem right, so we emailed the city attorney's office ourselves, and received the following response:
The Post report skews the City's legal position, which was that the selection of Bike Share station sites was completely proper and within the City's legal authority. There are currently three pending lawsuits that challenge the 330 Bike Share stations. DOT has modified or relocated a number of bike stations for specific technical reasons.
As one voice of reason memorably said during a public forum in May: "It's important to remember that although these stations are going in now, the process isn't over. These stations aren't there to stay. We can still take public input—they're very modular, very easy to move. Obviously as more public input comes in and more people have a say, it will be refined."
Some tabloids, though, would have you believe that the stations are bored into the ground, Sword in the Stone-style, and will remain fixed in place until humans have ceased to walk the Earth. This is absurd. The racks will be removed if there is a clear reason for their removal—we can only assume that reason will require slightly more substance than "Ewwwwww! It looks bad!"
Tagged
citi bike
lawsuit
Lauren Evans
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