What are CitiBikes doing here?

To the Editor:

I was driving down my avenue this morning and when I reached the intersection at W. 234 Street & Tibbett Avenue and I saw that a CitiBike rack had been installed at the southwest corner. There were about 20 bays along a solar power panel atop a pole.

My immediate & only reaction was to curse and ask rhetorically what is this doing in the heart of a quiet neighborhood made up mostly of private one- and two-family homes.

There is no commercial activity in the heart of this neighborhood, but the City, nonetheless, saw fit to permit this CitiBike invasion. It makes no sense and can only disturb and inconvenience the good residents who already contribute so much to the City in revenue and responsibility. Absurd is the word — the only word.

How did this happen? Who signed off on it? Who benefits? 

I’m quite sure that it was an innocent misstep to “ announce “ this addition to the neighborhood after Election Day and not before. Such are the vagaries of life.

These racks belong on a commercial strip or on a thoroughfare like Broadway. It makes no sense to plant one of these racks where they did. Again, the word is absurd.

Where were our elected and appointed officials during this process & decision. What did their voices sound like?

This neighborhood is already contending with another absurdity: Namely, they have to deal with the prospect of a Charter School being proposed for a side street on the footprint of a former single-family home. Also we’ve just learned that our convenient RITE-AID is about to close no doubt due to the high rate of theft.

Is it too much of us to ask those aforementioned electeds and appointees to not only be proactive but also to be as attentive and concerned as their constituents after Election Day. 

Sadly, We should be dubious. We are reminded of the old saying: “The Dog Barks & The Caravan Moves On....”

JAMES DALTON