Please THIS IS NOT A BIKE RACK

But it's *not* a bike rack, just as trees aren't bike racks either.

I'm probably in the minority here (and I'm a bike rider), but I don't blame the person for not wanting someone to lock their bike there. This person is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the area between the sidewalk and street even if it's the city's "right of way."

It amazes me how bored, uptight and petty some people are. The person that did this should pack up and move to the suburbs where they can enjoy the solitude that they don't realize they are yearning for.

Colonel Sanders?

This is near the house of the infamous "friend of Bidwell park" so if he doesn't want people using the public space across from his house, he definitely wouldn't want individuals using the public space near his property.

Its on private property, so the owner has every right to not want a bike on his/her lawn! The City should move the sign to the other side of the street were the park is.

I saw that last week and a bike was there and park of the bike was actually on the driveway. I would have ran my car into it on purpose!

That's Bruce Sander's House and "His" Sign (it's directly across from his house). Don't upset him or he'll get real mad and complain about you!

Is he even legal; to post a sign like that on a public road sign? That looks pretty official and permanent; not sure what the city would want anyone to bolt an auxiliary sign to whatever post they want if they have a gripe. I wonder what the ruling is that would be if someone was to mention it to, say, the streets dept?

I'm not a spiteful guy, but a sign like that almost makes me want to park my bike there specifically. I wouldn't be suprised if others do it too.

It's interesting how some people that are so concerned with being "good neighbors" seem to so angrily oppose a crazy idea like actually being friendly with the people who share their neighborhood.

Isn't it illegal to post a sign on city property? This guy has no issues nit picking and wasting the city's time, why not do the same?

As far as I know, the city right of way usually includes most of the front yard up towards the house. Not just the island between sidewalk and curb. At least that is what most property surveys I have seen suggest.

I'd be amazed if this illegally placed sign stays in place for more than 24 hours.

The PUBLIC right of way typically entends from the center line of a road in a specified distence to either side, depending on the pavement width and therefore type of road. In a lot of tertiary roads on side streets the total right of way width is 50-66 feet often with a 28 or 30 pavement/roadway width. So at 28 feet of pavement, that leaves the right off way outside the roadway at 11 to 19 feet on each side, which typically extends to the house side of the sidewalk, ie the city owns the sidewalk but maintenance (shoveling) is the homeowners requirement but replacement (in most places) is not. The right of way is that wide to accomodate PUBLIC usage, such as sign, utilities, etc. without requiring the approval of the homeowner.

So in this case, that sign is certainly a City of Buffalo sign in the PUBLIC right of way but it is not a public sign to affix your own permanent signs too.

Whoever this guy is has certainly overstepped his boundaries.

This man is a tool, but we're beating a dead horse here-he's already been roundly criticized here and on fb for arguing that the parkway is only to drive along and look at, not for recreation. Ring his bell and say "hi" if you're at tonight's Bidwell concert.

Two words: Bruce Sanders. This guy is just dying for attention and to cause a stir. It's like a younger brother pestering his sister just because he's bored.

Get a sudoku book, Bruce.

Maybe since tons of people ride their bikes to bidwell parkway (awful, isn't it?) and there are no bike racks to be found... and now they can't chain up to a public sign either.... They should find the nearest little sapling to anchor their ride...

What is legally allowed to be tied to city owned signs? I wonder what the actual parameters are: are bikes allowed to be tied to any city sign? Dogs? Could I leave my bike locked to this sign indefintely?

It would be kind of hard to mow that section of lawn with a bike chained to it.

The unfortunate fact is that SOME bicyclists are just as inconsiderate as SOME drivers and SOME pedestrians. There is a plague of people who think that they are more important than anyone else (and attaching a private sign to a public pole counts, too)

I think this is a case of two wrongs not making a right. Just a shame that there are so many inconsiderate single-wrongs that feed the rest of them.

I notice that sign all the time when I walk along Bidwell Pkwy. I am very surprised that the city hasn't gone after the property owner who tacked up this sign on public right of way. However, I would never consider parking my bike there because it is not convenient to anything. There are enough bike racks along nearby Elmwood. This is a non issue to me.

What I would do, were I more bent out of shape about this, is I would find a metal sign producer on the web, and print up 6-8 more signs to obviously label the sign post. Something like "Please, this is not a ham sandwich" or "Please, this is not a particle accelerator."

The city should demo one of the homes on Bidwell so they can provide enough bike parking.

For people who allegedly spend so much time in this neighborhood utilizing the parkways, you sure aren't very observant. That sign has been hanging there for months, at the very least. It was certainly there the last time BRO went on a crusade over this particular property owner. Leave the guy alone.

It is also possible he has the city's permission for the sign, by the way. Ever notice the oh-so-official "STOP" sign in front of Chef's for the drive-thru? Pretty sure that isn't official either...

Then move to East Amherst, Lancaster or Clarence where "walkable/sustainable communities" are of the same language as Farsi or Icelandic.....

We live in a city WITH PEOPLE and BIKES.
You live in a community where people use bikes to be more "green" and healthy. Dont like it? Move.

Duh.

And - who cares about the damn ROW and that little patch of unsustainable turf? Who cares!?!?

So petty. I cant belive I wasted the 2 minutes to respond to this! But, hope it helps.

I saw the sign to Newell, and if I had my cut saw, I would have removed it for the fun of it and mounted it on their porch!

Well if people are using it as a bike rack enough times for someone to get upset enough to make a sign, it probably is saying something about the availability of bike parking then...

attention, buffalo business owners! you can get a free bike rack by applying here:

http://www.city-buffalo.com/Home/CityServices/BicyclePedestrianAdvisoryBoard/CommercialDistrictBikeRackProgram

I am completely amazed by the sheer number of people on this website who feel they can tell others where to locate their business, how to maintain their property, etc. And yet, in this instance, you have a property owner who is trying his best to maintain his property. He doesn't want his front yard turned into a damn parking lot. Sure, the city owns the small patch of grass between the sidewalk and street, but, let's face it, we are the ones left to take care of it. We should have some say in it, especially more than some random guy who shouldn't be wearing bicycle shorts. If that's not the case, then the bicyclists should mow everyone's lawns. Sound ridiculous? So does your bitching and complaining.

Please
THIS IS
NOT A
COMMENT

What was really annoying was a few months back there was a temporary sign next to it advertising the company that had painted his house. Bikes: bad, pimping services: good.

Isn't there a similar sign on Tracy Street (just off S. Elmwood) where the homeowner is actually reserving the parking spot on the street in front of his/her house? How does this fly?

Ceci n'est pas une pipe.

Bruce Sanders is an artist. His surrealist work "The Treachery of a Bike Rack" takes an object commonly used as a bike rack, and labels it as otherwise.

His work challenges observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality.

Put it in the Albright where it belongs.

I would love to bolt on another sign that says:

Please
Do Not Hang
Signs on this
Post

Deaner & Jesse made the key point about this:
Deanerppx>"It would be kind of hard to mow that section of lawn with a bike chained to it."
Jesse>"We're not just 'left' to take care of the space between sidewalk and street, it's ours to maintain legally… "

If the city legally obligates homeowners to cut these little strips of grass even if there's a traffic sign post, it doesn't seem reasonable for the city to also legally allow other people to lock bikes (or moped, or motorcycles…?) on them any time they feel like it for as long as they feel like. If this homeowner happens to be a jerk (like some who attack him on here also sound like jerks), it shouldn't make any difference.

Consider for instance homeowners who have need for somebody else to cut their lawns - a relative or hired service - and if when they arrive to do it, somebody's bike is locked onto there.

If it isn't already illegal for people to park bikes on those kinds of places, the Common Council should make it illegal - either that or stop requiring homeowners to maintaing the lawn if there's a sign post.

Speaking of which…
QE>"it's still fair game for cyclists to use street sign poles to lock up their bikes as far as I know"
… why didn't QE verify the legality of bike parking in front of houses either way before publicly implying it is legal? A call to either 311 or full-time year-round council member LoCurto's office should be able to answer, along with whether hanging a sign is allowed or was authorized. Yeah, blogging is usually more hobby than profession, but when deciding to publicly call out the guy as this post did, it might be nice to find out what the rule is and include that info.

I believe that the city ordinances forbid locking bikes to sign posts. You could look it up.

LOL 52 posts on this fairly unimportant topic. As I've learned from other websites, the holy trinity for page views is: Bicycling, Hipsters, and Animal Rights (Right Wing villainy, wherever it occurs, also draws the big numbers).