Follow The Money!

If we learned anything from that broken-windows repair scheme on Staten Island, it’s that we shouldn’t be too quick to rule out the bike stores:

Someone’s been taking out the bikes in Riverside Park. The weapon: carpet tacks, sprinkled on the path with malicious, tire-bursting intent. Most reports of tack trouble come from the section of the greenway between 137th and 145th Streets, behind Riverbank State Park, but cyclists have reported tacks as far north as the George Washington Bridge at 181st. But it’s not clear that the attacks were limited to uptown — one victim told Ravin he didn’t notice his flat until he returned to Christopher Street from a ride up to Inwood.

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In the meantime, bike shops and cyclists alike are facing a quandary. “I hate it!” says Ozzie Perez, owner of Tread Bike Shop in Inwood. “Financially, it’s been great for us — we fixed more than 100 flats — but now people don’t want to go on the greenway uptown.”