A Bike Theft in the Time of Twitter - NY Times

A Bike Theft in the Time of Twitter

By J. DAVID GOODMAN

Austin HorseImmediately after his bike was stolen, Austin Horse alerted his followers on Twitter, posting camera-phone images of the bike, including this one.

Austin Horse thought he was just leaving his bike for a second when he ran into the lobby of an office building at 28th Street and Madison Avenue last Tuesday afternoon to make a pickup.

Mr. Horse, a messenger since 2005, expected a quick turnaround — run up to the desk, get the package, get back on the bike — and locking his bright orange track bike would just slow the whole process. “I had it fakie-locked,” he said, describing how he had placed a U-lock through the back wheel without closing it, as a decoy. “Normally, a pickup like that, it takes 30 seconds.”

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