Street Divisions Returns Atip's Bike, Yousef Ignores Request For Apology

After a series of hard-hitting emails to Street Divisions Deputy Director Hasan Yousef, requesting (1) an apology over Mr. Yousef's decision to prematurely ruin Atip's Memorial, an important and functional form of public art, requesting (2) an apologetic recognition that Mr. Yousef lied to the public about the removal date of the Memorial Bike ,
and (3) requesting Street Divisions return all the items that were prematurely taken away, Yousef has met one of our requests by agreeing to return all of the Memorial Bike items.  

Under Mr. Yousef's direction, Street Division employees have returned all of the items that were present on the north-east corner of the deadly Park Blvd. and University Ave, including locks, flowers, bike, pictures, Atip's wheel, etc. 

We will be handing the bike back to Atip's best friend, Mike, who technically owns the bike. In addition, we will be handing back the other items to Atip's close friends who request them. 

The bike known as the '2nd Ghost Bike' which was put up by members of the public a few days after the premature removal of the original Memorial/Ghost Bike, was removed a few days later. The '2nd Ghost Bike' has been returned as well.  
Though we did not specifically request that this bike be returned
Street Divisions handed it back anyways.

However, instead of cutting the lock of the 2nd Ghost Bike, Street Divisions cut the entire seat tube of the bike's frame in half; thereby ruining the bike and preventing it from ever being ridden again.  

(Note: the seat tube of this previously-rideable bike has been unnecessarily sawed in half. CORRECTION: I originally stated that the 2nd Ghost Bike was locked w/ a cable lock. However, I've been informed that it was locked w/ a U-Lock. Regardless, rather than destroy the lock, Street Divisions destroyed the bike, because it was present at the site for only a few days. One less bike.)

Apparently, if you lock a bike to this public pole and Street Divisions decides that it is somehow associated with Atip, they believe they have the right to destroy your frame and saw the seat tube in half.

We've contacted Street Divisions to learn about the guidelines they use to draw the line which determines whether a bike is subject to removal.  When Mr. Yousef responds, we'll let you know what he says.

Keep in mind that there are no bike racks at either corner of the Park/Uni. intersection. Feasible alternatives are currently non-existent. We're working to change that.  Read the next blogs to learn more.

While we're satisfied w/ Mr. Yousef's decision to return all of the items at Atip's Memorial Site, we're disappointed that he ignored our request for an apology in regards to Street Division's premature removal of the functional form of art.  We're also disappointed that he decided to ignore our request for apologetic recognition that he lied to the public about the removal date of the memorial bike. And we're disappointed that he ignored the motion by the North Park Planning Committee, to improve livability in the area.