Suspected bike thief. Anyone else seen this person?
The explosion of bike culture in New York has made Bicycle Habitat a mecca where anything from the $5,000-bikes favored by pros and celebrities to the solid Trek bike for commuting across the Manhattan bridge is available; and its staff, die-hard enthusiasts who are as likely to look like Lower East Side punks as intense athletes (they are often both), its encyclopedic collection of bikes (and New York customers), combined with its ground-floor-loft styling and no-frills street-appearance makes it a bit of a trip into the past, when august independent New York stores were international authorities on their trade. Think of The Strand for books, of B & H Photo for cameras, of J & R Music World for sound equipment, or Paragon Sports for gear. It’s a world that’s rapidly fading, crushed under chain stores and high rent prices, but Bicycle Habitat isn’t going anywhere.