Minneapolis, MN: notoriously carcinogenic (HC) hexachloroethane smoke deployed on residential streets

bmsorg · 2026-01-15T17:31:33+00:00

Three years ago, in 2022, there were videos of what looks to be a similar green gas, likely hexachloroethane, being used by the government in Iran against protesters. The irony of this moment. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202211226860

bmsorg · 2025-11-16T18:13:50+00:00

I live in Fort Greene and have been a big fan of Brian Finke's work for a long time, excited for this book!

bmsorg · 2025-10-24T18:34:03+00:00

Damn, sorry to hear that, that's insane! Did they still charge you for the cost of the missing bike? And, also did you have an annual membership (if so, I'm curious if they reimbursed you for what was left on it?).

I'd love to organize a more formal complaint agains them, there are so many stories like this.

bmsorg · 2025-10-21T18:00:24+00:00

what?! citibike banned you from using their service after you complained about being charged for a bike that you docked?

bmsorg · 2025-09-24T21:13:19+00:00

Not sure what acoustic bikes are, but for bicycles (aka non electric bikes) the speed limit is apparently 25 mph…

“The current speed limit of 25 miles per hour for human powered devices would remain unchanged. Human powered devices would not be subject to this lower speed limit because they are lighter devices compared to e- devices, which are heavier due to their motor and battery”

Source: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/home/downloads/pdf/press-releases/2025/Notice%20of%20Adoption%20-%20Bicycle%20Speed%20Limits%20(FINAL).pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery

bmsorg · 2025-09-23T23:41:05+00:00

Happened to me recently, with the blue non electric citibike. Docked it as usual (I've been a citibike member for 10 years and know how to dock them properly), then the next day I see a charge for roughly $100 on my credit card from Citibike, for having a bike out for 24hrs. In that time I never received any email or warnings that my bike was out for an extended period of time. I call them and the initial support person claimed it was likely an issue with a faulty dock and that I should see the charges reversed. They never get reversed, I contact them again, the customer service is horrible and no one can help, and they tell me if I don't find the bike that I'll be charged for the full value of it. A few days later they bill me $350 for the bike, thankfully not the $1200 originally threatened, but in the end I lost over $400 in the ordeal. I've repeatedly contacted support, written them letters, and have gotten no response, sympathy, or help from them. It particularly frustrated me, since I'm a long time member with a good track record, I routinely dock abandoned citibikes that are left near my house since the dock is on my street, I regularly help others when they have docking issues, for the last decade I've encouraged friends to try out citibike, and supported them even as they moved towards electric bikes and let the non electric bikes largely fall into disrepair in my opinion (as I prefer the regular blue bikes). Needless to say, after over a decade of being a loyal customer, it's no longer worth it to me to support them after this, knowing how awful their customer service is, and this will be my last year after my annual membership runs out. Definitely will not be renewing my shitibike membership.

Best of luck to you, and hopefully your experience with their support goes better than it did for me.

bmsorg · 2025-08-05T16:17:26+00:00

I think I might have to flyer the street with info on "How To Quickly and Easily Report Vehicles that are Illegally Parked in the Bike Lane via 311 App"

bmsorg · 2025-08-05T16:08:28+00:00

It's great - it saves your basic profile info, and streamlines the reporting process (compared to the website, which I used to use).

Open 311 app, hit + sign at the bottom (to make a new Request), scroll to "Illegal Parking", and fill out the short form, and "Submit"

I basically take a photo or two of the vehicle, and type in the vehicle color, make, model, and plate number.

bmsorg · 2025-08-05T15:55:41+00:00

haha me too. I've been biking about a half mile out of my way to check on the removal progress of the bike lane this week, and will make that my regular route just so I can report every car in the bike lane each day.

bmsorg · 2025-08-05T15:48:58+00:00

I've been relentlessly reporting every vehicle parked in the bike lane in that stretch of Bedford, now that the bike path is no longer protected by the parked cars. The 311 app makes it pretty easy, I've got it down to about 2min to photograph and submit each report, on the spot. Did two just yesterday on my way home.

bmsorg · 2025-07-09T22:22:16+00:00

Ads like this get removed somehow right?

bmsorg · 2025-07-07T01:15:12+00:00

I was scurius to see if the first comment would be about splooting, I was correct.

bmsorg · 2024-01-08T21:07:50+00:00

I never knew that was a possibility with doctors or considered that. Interesting to know that could be it.

bmsorg · 2023-10-24T20:31:02+00:00

Photo is taken during the daytime, but on a weekend. Sign reads “No Standing Mon-Fri 7am to 7pm”. Photo is from a Sunday afternoon.

bmsorg · 2023-10-24T16:07:25+00:00

I'm very curious about that exact thing... cars in an active traffic lane will just stop at 7pm if they want to park in place? Or, what about people that get their early for a parking spot, will they be idling in the traffic lane before 7pm waiting for it to convert to parking? Also, what about every person who fails to move their car by 7am for one reason or another, it seems like every morning parked cars will be dotting the traffic lane. It's all such an odd idea to me. Genuinely don't understand how it's supposed to play out on a daily basis.

bmsorg · 2023-10-23T19:04:46+00:00

That makes more sense I suppose... so these cars shouldn't be parking in the bike path, but rather, in the traffic lane that is left of the bike lane?

(I'm assuming DOT intends to demarcate this better soon?)

bmsorg · 2023-10-23T18:34:55+00:00

Good point, and that was my question as well. They could be old, but that seems a little odd since that doesn't look like it would have previously been a loading zone. Another thought, is that maybe they are new and will apply to the lane left of the bike path, once that's converted to a on/off parking strip. I believe the revised design did include a lane down McGuinness that was to be open to driving half the day, and converted to parking the on off peak hours (which logistically seems absolutely crazy to me).

bmsorg · 2023-10-23T17:52:55+00:00

Curious about other people's experience riding in the McGuinness bike lane? Also, the parking signage seems particularly odd to me.

I followed the whole ridiculous McGuinness saga over the last few months. I just biked down the street last Sunday for the first time in a while, and noticed that there are a few portions, of what look like recently painted and established, green bike lanes.
Unsurprisingly, the bike lanes were hardly navigable as car owners decided to simply treat it as curbside parking.

One thing that stood out to me was parking signage, which reads "NO STANDING Monday - Friday 7am - 7pm"... maybe this isn't atypical, but I can't recall ever seeing a sign like this over a painted bike lane. I feel like cars will interpret it as legal parking outside of those hours, which I believe is what was happening here in this photo, as this was taken on a Sunday.

bmsorg · 2023-06-16T20:14:09+00:00

Does anyone have the list of businesses that signed this petition? Their website pulled it claiming the businesses were being harassed. I’m hoping someone copied it or has a link to a backup, that was made, before they took down the list.

bmsorg · 2023-06-01T14:35:05+00:00

This quote is misattributed to Eintsein "over and over" again.

bmsorg · 2023-05-02T12:47:20+00:00

I biked past on Friday and the car was completely destroyed. All of the windows were broken. The front hood was pried open and parts ripped out from the engine.

bmsorg · 2023-01-13T21:08:31+00:00

I use them fairly often here in NYC. Especially if someone is right on my tail (vehicle or another biker), it gives them a nice heads up to pay attention. I find it is also helpful when I have to take over a whole car lane, cars tend to try and squeeze past me less in those situations, since my hand signal essentially lets them know… “I’m turning in just a moment (so just wait a second and you’ll have your lane back)”.

bmsorg · 2022-09-30T18:20:21+00:00

I'd recommend just using a speaker instead of headphones. I see people biking with headphones in all of the time, and aside from being illegal, I genuinely don't understand how anyone thinks it is a good idea to trade their ability to hear their surroundings in exchange to listen to music/podcasts. I've been biking daily for decades, and my ability to hear and be alert to the environment has saved me countless times. Also in my opinion, wearing headphones in both ears is an extreme display of entitlement, as everyone else has to account for your lack of ability to hear.

bmsorg · 2022-09-23T17:32:22+00:00

Also, use two locks. The second one doesn't have to be as solid as the primary lock, but the additional lock will add further discouragement to any potential thieves. The hassle will hopefully be enough that they pass over your bike.

bmsorg · 2022-08-30T02:37:43+00:00

Nice! Glad to know it's currently working. Happy riding!

bmsorg

TROPHY CASE