City Shuts Down Unlicensed Hell's Kitchen Bike Shop

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — An unlicensed bicycle shop being run out of a Hell's Kitchen garage was shut down by the city earlier this summer, the Department of Buildings said last week.

The department said it began receiving 311 complaints last year about the first-floor garage at 417 West 44th Street, a four-story walkup, being used as a store for bicycles and pedicabs.

City inspectors visited the garage in late September 2019 and confirmed that it housed a commercial bike mechanic and storage facility, according to the DOB. The department issued violations for illegal commercial use of the property as well as an illegal curb that had been built in the sidewalk without permits.

By April of this year, inspectors found that commercial activity had returned — this time, a pedicab food delivery service was being run out of the garage, according to the DOB.

After multiple follow-up inspections, a judge from the city's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings allowed the DOB to close down the garage on Aug. 25 and padlock it shut.

The department will not allow anyone into the space until owners agree to cease the commercial activity, the DOB said.