‘We can’t stay here’
BY BEN VERDE
A cooperatively owned bike
shop in Bedford-Stuyvesant’s
Restoration Plaza is looking
to move after a string of burglaries
they say the plaza’s security
did nothing to prevent.
The Bed-Stuy Bike Shop, a
Transport Workers Union-affi
liated shop which has occupied
a storefront in the plaza
between Fulton and Herkimer
Streets since 2019, has
been robbed three separate
times this fall — twice in the
span of 24 hours by the same
perp, leaving its worker-owners
exasperated and looking
for a new location.
“We defi nitely don’t feel
that we can stay here anymore,”
said co-owner John
Paredes. “We don’t really
trust the security presence
that is here. In both instances,
just from the footage,
it just seems like they weren’t
here.”
According to Paredes, the
fi rst robbery occurred on Oct.
28 at around 3 am, when a thief
smashed open the glass pane
door and made off with fi ve
bikes over the course of an
hour before security guards
eventually chased them off.
Hours later, after cops had
set up a crime scene, Paredes
said the same thief snuck back
in in a different set of clothes
and managed to make off with
two more bikes.
The co-owners fault the
plaza’s security for not being
present enough.
“It’s upsetting that we’ve
been failed by these services
that everyone contributes towards,”
COURIER LIFE, D 24 ECEMBER 10-16, 2021
said co-owner Briton
Malcomson.
Management at Restoration
Plaza did not respond to a
message seeking comment.
The perp was eventually
arrested, the co-owners said,
and some of the stolen bikes
were recovered but damaged.
The group wasn’t interested
in pressing charges, focusing
instead on being made whole
through insurance claims.
Most of the stolen bikes belonged
to customers who were
having their rides serviced.
“Some of the bikes we get in
are 30, 40, 50 years old, they’re
not easily replaceable,” said
Malcomson. “It’s not fun trying
to explain to customers.”
They also worry about the
damage to their reputation
of reliability the thefts could
cause.
“We’ve been reliable, everyday
we say we’re going to
be open we’re here surveying
the community trying to help
people get their bikes fi xed,”
Malcomson said. “The last
thing we want is that reputation
to be affected.”
On Thanksgiving Day, the
shop was robbed again — this
time in broad daylight. Coowners
Co-owners John Paredes, Briton Malcomson, and David Kellman of the
Bed-Stuy Bike Shop. Photo by Ben Verde
say two men tossed
another brick through the recently
replaced glass pane at
around 1 pm on Nov. 25 and
made off with two bikes. Neither
of the two most recent
crooks have been arrested and
the bikes have not been recovered.
The shop has remained
closed since the second breakin,
as the co-owners say they
no longer feel comfortable
keeping bikes in the shop
overnight. They’re currently
running an online fundraiser
to pay for relocation costs as
they search for a new space.
The co-owners say they
plan on staying within Bedford
Stuyvesant, where they
have built a strong customer
base over the last two years,
especially as bicycling has
surged in popularity amid the
pandemic.
“We love being in Bed-Stuy
and in this area, we love our
newly formed but strong customer
base,” said Malcomson.
Bed-Stuy Bike Shop owners now eyeing
relocation after string of burglaries