NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The bike rental wars at Central Park have gotten ugly.
While Bike Rent NYC is the park's only licensed bike rental provider -- it also provides guided bike tours of the park -- solicitors for off-site bike rental locations are trying to move in on Bike Rent NYC's turf and they've descended upon the Columbus Circle entrance to the park.
In doing so, those soliciting for off-site vendors have become abusive toward Bike Rent NYC staffers.
The off-site solicitors are driven by the fact that they work for cash commissions.
The abuse became so prevalent, that BikeRent NYC last summer began requiring its employees to wear body cameras.
"I’ve gotten verbally harassed, sexually harassed, physically harassed," employee Amanda Jacobs told 1010 WINS. "I’ve had people expose themselves to me, and someone actually pulled down their pants and grabbed their thing."
She added, "When a customer says no to their face and comes to us they’ll completely lose it not just on us but on the customer as well, they curse them out I’ve seen them thrown things at customers, it’s crazy."
Fellow employee Candace Shear echoed Jacobs: "It makes work kind of unbearable," Shear said. "You want to come into a stress-free workplace, but that’s not possible if there’s people constantly screaming and arguing over petty things like getting customers."
Shear also recounted how her manager was assaulted once: "They pushed him spat on him, fist-fighting with each other. The cops were called and came over to me to ask me a couple of questions -- of course I was going to answer them. The solicitors got mad that I was talking to the cops about the situation and they started screaming, throwing chairs, trying to hit me, it was crazy."
Candace Bermudez, another employee, told 1010 WINS, "What they’ve done where they take out their – the men – because it’s mostly men out there – they would take out their private parts and show us their rear-end."
The abuse has prompted several employees to quit, and some have even obtained orders of protection against the chronic offenders.
The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation told 1010 WINS it is aware of the harassment and has stepped up enforcement against off-site vendors, but the acts of violence fall under the NYPD's jurisdiction.
"Unfortunately this is an issue that has spanned several years, and multiple vendors," the Department of Parks and Recreation said in a statement to 1010 WINS. "Parks Enforcement (PEP) takes the issue very seriously, and we meet regularly with Bike Rent NYC and Officers from the local Central Park precinct. Most recently, we met with them in June 2018 on this topic."
NYPD spokeswoman Sergeant Jessica McRorie told 1010 WINS the NYPD is working to better the situation.
"The Police Department will continue to monitor and maintain a presence at Columbus Circle, and will take enforcement action as necessary," she said. "In 2018 there were 30 summonses issued in vicinity of Columbus Circle for unlawfully soliciting customers."
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who represents that district, has also chimed in on the issue: "Bike Rent NYC workers help New Yorkers and tourists alike get the most out of our beautiful city, and it is unacceptable these workers are subject to harassment and violence," he said. "I will continue working with my colleagues in the Council, the NYPD and the Parks Department to ensure Bike Rent NYC workers are safe."
Bike Rent NYC spokesperson Mergen Saryyev said in a statement, "Our employees and the community have suffered for long enough. We are thankful for the NYPD and the Parks Department for all that they do in order to patrol the area. However, the illicit bicycle vendors come back year after year. We hope that with the help of new legislation, our employees, local residents and tourists may enjoy the Park free of harassment."
The Department of Parks and Recreation said it has upped enforcement during the day, when off-site vendors are more prevalent -- and abusive.
"Bike Rent NYC identified that the majority of the offenses are happening between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., so we’ve ramped up our patrols during that time," the department said. "We’ve also worked with concessionaires to raise their profile in the area in an effort to direct customers toward them. We’ve allowed Bike Rent NYC to install signage indicating that they are the only permitted bike rental company in the park, install flags around their kiosk, and place greeters in the area to broaden their outreach and engage with customers."
In 2018, PEP issued 13 summonses for soliciting bike rentals without a permit in the Columbus Circle area, the department said. In order to issue these summonses, PEP must witness a transaction on Central Park's grounds, so if a vendor takes a customer across the street, it cannot take any enforcement measures."
The issue doesn't sit well with the West 50s Neighborhood Association.
"The bike situation is out of control and it’s hurting everybody: the legitimate bike rental business people and the people who want to rent bikes," said David Achelis, who represents the group. "They all suffer from the illegal rentals."