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June 24, 2009
Allowing Tenant's Bikes?
For all you landlords out there - do you permit tenants who own bikes to lock them to your stair railing or gate? Or is it the tenant's problem to find a sign or public post to lock the bike? Just wondering what people generally allow.
Comments
We're a two family, and we allow out trenants to store their three bikes inside in the lower hallway. We have a friend who stores a bike under our stoop.
Posted by: parkslopemom at June 23, 2009 5:57 PM
park slope mom: is the lower hallway part of your apartment, or a public hallway? the bikes don't impede access at all?
Posted by: AEPE at June 23, 2009 6:17 PM
By law, virtually all storage in hallways of multiple dwellings is considered a fire hazard, obstruction and violation of building code. This is even true for hallway doormats, which may be combustible or result in a door being blocked open or closed. Even though not combustible, bikes are considered to obstruct passage and diminish required minimum width of hallway. We don't allow storage of locked bikes; we do allow temporary (not round-the-clock) storage of bikes in a generally unused area of lower hallway. For FDNY's basic brochure, see: http://www.fdnyfirezone.org/download/apartment_fire_safety-en.pdf
Posted by: vinca at June 23, 2009 6:59 PM
I wouldn't. It'll damage your gates. And other people will take it as an invitation to lock their bikes to your gate, which they'll probably be less careful about doing than your tenants. The biggest problem there, of course, is that bikes end up abandoned and you have to cut them off. Or if you don't have bolt cutters, leave them to rust indefinitely.
Posted by: bkrules at June 23, 2009 7:25 PM
make'm trudge it up 5 flights into their apartment - hell that's what i used to do (and i'm still bitter!) LOL
Posted by: bowl of dicks at June 23, 2009 7:30 PM
AEPE: No, they don't block access. It's the lower hallway (garden level) of our 2 family house - we have a bike rack along one side of the wall (the pole type that you hang bikes on) and they do not block passageway to the door or to the stairway. The bikes are not locked. The tenants live on the garden level.
If you are worried about blocking the hallway - perhaps you have room under your stoop?
Posted by: parkslopemom at June 23, 2009 8:55 PM
I don't allow people to chain bikes outside or to leave them in the hallway. One tenant has hers in storage around the corner. The other alternative is to bring it into the apartment. I don't want stuff in hallways or outside. I always make people remove things from the hallway. Hey, it's all laid out in advance. The upside is that the place looks nice and is clear of stuff.
Posted by: donatella at June 23, 2009 9:18 PM
We let our tenants lock the bikes on the front gate.
We like it and think we would like to be treated the same when we were renting.
We think bikes are part of city life and also like our tenants to be happy in general.
Posted by: emil at June 23, 2009 9:23 PM
The usual anti-tenant stuff. Funny I don't know any landlords like vinca and donatella.
What do you think, OP? Do YOU think it will block access? Use common sense and treat your tenants well.
Posted by: cmu at June 23, 2009 10:22 PM
CMU, always the smug "defender" of tenants—except when he actually has to live by such things as lead abatement, handing out mandated notices and actually renting to tenants with children. Then he writes about the ills of helicopter parents, and discreetly deselects all families from his list of potential renters. CMU, the last time I returned from a bike ride (only 10 miles, earlier today), I didn't find it hard to carry my bike up 2 flights. You should try it sometime. And even if not the bike ride, at least get off your high horse.
Posted by: vinca at June 23, 2009 10:44 PM
Although vinca is correct, I would allow mine to have them in the garden level hallway. They don't have bikes so its not an issue. i would also encourage them to store them under the stoop but I would never let them be chained to the front gates.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 24, 2009 8:17 AM
I let my tenants do it. Zero problems.
"It'll damage your gates. " - wrong. More likely the bike will get damaged than your fence. (Why anyone chain a bike to a gate is beyond me anyway....)
Other people will take it as an invitation to lock their bikes to your gate, which they'll probably be less careful about doing than your tenants." - wrong again. And even if they did, did you ever think about maybe asking them not to if it's such a big deal.
Much better they have bikes than take up all the parking spaces on the block.
Posted by: slopenick at June 24, 2009 8:45 AM
Yes I would allow my tenant to lock their bike to the front gate - I don't see a problem with that at all. We have a rather spacious front yard though and the bike would be inside the yard.
good luck
Posted by: gemini10 at June 24, 2009 8:58 AM
Uh, CMU, first of all the hallway is not even an option as I live on the garden level so there is no "public" hallway to speak of. If you re-read my question, I'm asking whether landlords permit their tenants to chain bikes to gates or stair rails. The hallway bit just intrigued me, as I have never seen bikes stored there.
Posted by: AEPE at June 24, 2009 10:10 AM
Sort answer? No, tenants sign a lease rider spelling out that fact that all their belongings are to be stored in their unit, no where else.
Longer answer? Fire code issues make hallway storage a non-starter. Personally I like the hallways clean and clear so even if the fire code allowed it, I wouldn't.
#2, chained to the stair rails? Abosltuly not. Our banisters are original, turn of the century, wood bansiters, dowls, etc. Even if bikes were allowed in the hallway I most certainly would not allow tme to be chained to the rails (but if your rails are metal....?)
My tenants rent an apartment, that is where their stuff goes, in the apartment. It is clearly spelled out in the lease so if someone rents from me they know the deal. I lay out up front the fact that the building is clean, tidy, and all things (including my own items) are left in the unit, not in common areas.
Posted by: christopher at June 24, 2009 11:05 AM
I've been tenant and owner and I support cycling in the city so I let my tenants park their bikes outside and in the hallway. The difference between myself and many posters is that I like bikes and have 4 of my own. Now cars are a different matter-I would never rent to a car owner....
Posted by: jib at June 24, 2009 11:25 AM
If it's a legal apartment, your tenant should be able to own a car. If you're one of the many homeoowners who out of choice or necessity must make an illegal basement apartment and your tenant takes up valuable parking spots for legal owners/renter your neighbors will hate you and hopefully call the 311 on your slum-lord ass.
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at June 24, 2009 11:40 AM
christopher: "wood bansiters, dowls, etc" No surprise you don't want these imaginary objects damaged.
JFB, I think the car owner comment was a joke, get it?
Posted by: cmu at June 24, 2009 11:58 AM
I'd rather have tenants locking bikes up outside rather then schlepping them through the apartment. Might damage floors/walls.
My landlord lets me chain mine up outside, but won't let me store it in the public hallway (for the fire code reasons mentioned by vinca above)
I can see how some people might consider this an eyesore.
If your worried about damage to your gate - insist your tenant uses a chain with a cloth protective sleeve around it.
Posted by: dirty_hipster at June 24, 2009 12:00 PM
dirty hipster is right...carrying a bike up a narrow brownstone staircase can be tricky and your walls are bound to get marks all over them, plus it sucks having that ten-speed as part of your living room decor. I guess I wouldn't want a bunch of bikes chained to the front of my house either. We've usually always kept our bikes in the basement of places we've lived so I don't know what the solution is for you. I would ask them nicely if they could chain it to a sign nearby.
Posted by: boofer at June 24, 2009 12:32 PM
We just had this issue come up with our landlord. My husband stores his bike on the balcony during the winter but come summer he started to use it and left it chained up on the railing of the stoop (our private entrance). Our landlords went CRAAAAZY and got into an argument about how it is not allowed and because they wanted to put flowers on the stoop (yes, it was one of their main arguments). They finally agreed that they would rather let us mark up the walls with the bike than leave it out during the weekends and nights (Oh the horror of a bicycle!). We tried storing it inside but the ingress/egress was difficult so we just nicely asked the neighbors next door who now lets my husband store his bike on their railing. In the end, our landlords are able to put the precious flowers on the stoop, which, of course, coordinates much nicer with the crumbling and cracking stairs than a bicycle.
Posted by: mbt48 at June 24, 2009 1:09 PM
christopher: "wood bansiters, dowls, etc" No surprise you don't want these imaginary objects damaged.
Posted by: cmu at June 24, 2009 11:58 AM
Yes, typing/spelling issues abound today.
Spellling aside, you get my point.
Posted by: christopher at June 24, 2009 1:17 PM
"'It'll damage your gates. ' - wrong. More likely the bike will get damaged than your fence."
You say that with a lot of certainty. Have you seen a fence after bikes have been chained to it for a year? Because I have. Paint gets chipped off and the exposed metal rusts. Also detailing often gets bent or occasionally knocked off. Is it irreparable? No. But it is something to fix, and it's not free especially if you need a metal guy to repair detailing.
And the idea of asking strangers to please not damage things or to abandon their bikes is pointless. Are you going to be outside, acting as bike valet? No. When you turn your gate into a bike rack, people will treat it like a bike rack.
Posted by: bkrules at June 24, 2009 1:19 PM
Many years ago I had chained my bike to the outside of the area gate. Someone sawed through 2 parts of the gate to get to it. The cuts were clean so it was easy to weld back, but its a risk.
Posted by: lifer at June 24, 2009 1:25 PM
If you're gunna make them lug it to their apartment, then STFU when you have nicks and bumps in your stairway hallways. You can't have it both ways.
Posted by: MAT at June 24, 2009 2:00 PM
My landlord lets me put my bike on his gate, in front of his garden level apt door (!) and over the original railings in his (nicely restored) turn of the century house, and I really like him because of it. Bottom line, if he didn't for whatever seemingly valid reason above (without at least trying to find something that would accomodate both of us) I'd think he was a dick.
Your tenants are humans like you, and you should be able to talk to them about your concerns and see if you can both figure out a way to make you both happy. Don't be a tyrant.
Posted by: amt230 at June 24, 2009 2:47 PM
Got it CMU.The "slumlord" reference wasn't to you either by the way, it was for illegal LL.
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at June 24, 2009 4:01 PM
@ mbt48,Flowers on a cracking stoop help beautify the entire neighborhood. It's time for you bums to buy a home and stop insulting your landlord on a brownstoner.
-Cheers
Posted by: lurks at June 24, 2009 4:25 PM
I don't get the entitlement attitude. Your bike, your responsibility. Grow up.
I too make it clear to prospective tenants that the hall is not part of the apartment and nothing is to be stored there.
I was a tenant with a bike for 10 years. I rode it almost daily and carried it up and down 2 flights to my apartment where it was parked outside my bedroom door. And I didn't bang up the hall walls doing it - it was my responsibility to make sure I didn't. It never would have occurred to me to ask my landlord to allow me to chain it to the fence or park it in the downstairs hall.
Posted by: jfss at June 24, 2009 7:18 PM
Re CMU's comment about me (and Vinca) i.e. he doesn't know any landlords like us. So what. It's my house. I want it a certain way and don't want shit in the halls. I explain it to people up front. I take fantastic care of the house. The tenants are the beneficiaries of a straightforward relationship and a well maintained building. And before you make me some kind of fascist, I should share with you that these are very happy tenants who tell me how much they love it here.
Posted by: donatella at June 24, 2009 7:45 PM
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