Melrose Housing Authority May Kick Retired Man Out Of His Home For Owning A Bicycle

I don’t have confirmation on this yet, but if this is true its horrific. Bike New England reports:

Wayne Ellis is a retired 70 year old who lives in a senior residence administered by the Melrose (MA) Housing Authority. He has a number of medical problems that are positively affected by regular cycling, including high blood pressure, heart problems, and depression. Wayne owns several vintage racing bikes including a Raleigh Professional, and rides a Lemond Maillot Jaune. The residence facility provides no storage rooms and the one small bike rack is outside and unsecured, so Wayne keeps the bicycles in his apartment, as we all would.

Except that recently the Housing Authority staged a surprise inspection and ordered him to get rid of the bikes or get out. Why? Not because they might start a fire, but supposedly because he might trip over them and fall while trying to exit the building in an emergency. They consider his bikes to be clutter. Wayne no longer owns a car and the bitter directive to dispose of all the bikes or be evicted has him deeply distressed. It appears to Wayne that he has been targeted and that the rules are made up as they go.

Read the rest here.

Does anyone have any other information on this, this sounds like the dumbest thing ever. I would be willing to donate some bicycle hooks to hang the bikes up, or maybe we can get the housing authority to build a little shack for bicycles on the property, but kicking a man out of his home because he wants to ride a bike it totally unacceptable.

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