Man who fixed bicycles on the street shut down

Kevin Mullins reaches an agreement with officers from the 50th Precinct over his business

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The man known for fixing and donating his adult and children bicycles to people near Manhattan College agreed to stop his on-street operation after he struck an agreement with police.

Kevin Mullins, who was once a parking space nuisance for neighbor Jessie Adair on Manhattan College Parkway and West 242nd Street, will no longer offer his service there. The retired Shop Rite employee is now shut down for good.

“The 50th Precinct was able to gain voluntary compliance from the individual who owned the bikes and they were removed,” a spokesperson for the New York Police Department said. 

“The community lost,” Mullins said.

However, his journey is not over as he will continue selling bikes but online through applications. He is optimistic residents who have been in contact with him will reach out for bicycle repairs or interests in donations.

The battle between Mullins and Adair led to calls to the city’s sanitation department and the 50th Precinct. Prior to the recent shutdown, both had paid Mullins a visit.

“Our reps visited the site during cleaning operations last month, said Belinda Mager, a spokeswoman for the city’s sanitation department. “At the time, there were no obstructions hindering our broom access.”

Mager continued to tell The Riverdale Press that a sanitation department chief spoke to a person they believed to be the Mullins and told him to keep the bicycles off the street during alternate side of the street parking. And he agreed.

“DSNY will continue to monitor the location to ensure continued compliance with the street cleaning regulations,” Mager said.

The fine for ignoring those rules is $65. However, this is for vehicles with valid license plates and registration stickers. The sanitation department’s enforcement division cannot ticket a bicycle with no information.

But police are able to give summons to cyclists if they ride on the sidewalk. The Press did not receive feedback from the police department or the DOT regarding cyclist summons for bicycles “parked” on the street.

Mullins requested a bike rack from the CityRack program.

Those racks are managed by the DOT and are meant for short-term use.

People might be familiar with these silver round poles that are found on public streets.

CityRack “discourages bike parking on mailboxes, parking meters, tress and other side walk structures,” DOT said on its bicyclist website.

Adair said that the DOT are not allowed to cut a chain off a bicycle no matter where it is located, as it is private property.

“It is not fair for drivers,” Adair said. “When they look for parking they think they see a spot and then they curse when it’s bikes! You can’t put anything in the streets of New York they belong to every citizen to park.”

bicycles, KEVIN MULLINS, 50th precinct, Jessie Adair, Belinda Mager