Monday, April 28 at 10am: No Available Bikes

End of morning rush and no working CitiBikes at 54th and 9th.  No doubt it will remain this way throughout the day, as CitiBike has no interest in replenishing this station.

Sunday, April 27 at 9:30pm: 1 Broken Bike

Same red-lit bike at W54th St. and 9th.  Since there are no bikes available Sunday night, I'm not expecting any bikes available for the Monday morning commute.

Sunday, April 27 at 2:45pm: 1 CitiBike, Jealously Guarded

Only 1 available CitiBike but it's being guarded by a young woman.  The other bike at the 54th St. and 9th Ave. station is red-lighted.

Saturday, April 26 at 11:50am: 1 Broken Citibike

Nice weather on a Saturday mid-day, but only 1 broken CitiBike at the 54th and 9th station.

Thursday, April 24 at 10am: No CitiBikes at 54th and 9th, 52nd and 9th and 49th St.

Sad, broken bike at 54th and 9th.

Wednesday, April 23 at 10am: A Tour of Empty Stations in Hell's Kitchen

Only 1 broken bike at West 54th St. and 9th Ave.

Ditto West 52nd St. and 9th Ave.

Ditto 49th St. between 8th and 9th Aves.

Of course, a practically full station at 49th St. and Broadway.

Tuesday, April 22 at 10am: 1 Broken CitiBike

I was hopeful after the influx of bikes Sunday afternoon but since Monday, it's been the same as usual - no bikes (or only broken bikes) at this station by the end of the morning commute.  Also: no bikes at 52nd and 9th and 52nd and 8th.  Arrived late for work.

Simple CitiBike Rebalance Solution

This would seem to be a very simple and fast rebalancing solution - taking bikes from full or nearly-full stations along Broadway and moving them 1-2 avenue blocks west to the empty stations in Hell's Kitchen.  It would solve 2 problems at once with a minimum of commute time.  Why hasn't CitiBike figured this out?

Edited to add: this screenshot was taken Monday, April 21 at 9:45am

Monday, April 21 at 9:50am: No Bikes

It looks like the Easter Miracle didn't last to Easter Monday.  No bikes again - why am I not surprised?

Sunday, April 20 at 6pm: Easter Miracle!

A virtually unprecedented sight, but what will it be like for Monday morning's commute?

Sunday, April 20 at 1pm: Happy Easter and No Bikes

Happy Easter!  Or maybe not so happy if you went to West 54th and 9th Ave. hoping to get a CitiBike and take a nice Easter Sunday bike ride around town.

Saturday, April 19 at 10:30am: Two Red Light Specials

What a beautiful day for biking in Hell's Kitchen but unfortunately, there are 2 broken bikes at the West 54th St. and 9th Ave. station.

Proof of Lack of Bikes, Courtesy of Oliver O'Brien

Oliver O'Brien, whose maps and analyses of bike share programs around the world are an invaluable resource, reports on the lack of bikes south of Central Park.

The area near Central Park seems to often end up with empty docking stations, caused perhaps by tourists starting their journeys here, going around Central Park and then downtown. 

and illustrates it here:

green = empty <10% of the time
yellow = 10-15%
red = 15-20%
red pins = empty 20%+ of the time

Friday, April 18 at 10am

1 broken bike.

Thursday, April 17 at 8pm

No bikes.

Thursday, April 17 at 9:50am

No bikes.

Saturday, April 12 at 7:05pm

4 CitiBikes, but three were broken.  1 was available but two friends wanted two working bikes to they left for another station.

In the spring of 2013, I was so excited to see a CitiBike station appear near my apartment.  I joined the bike share program with dreams of being able to bike to work each day.  In the year since the launch of CitiBike, the West 54th St. and 9th Ave. station has remained empty or virtually empty around the clock.  I rarely get to bike to work, or else I'm late for work looking for an available bike (thanks for nothing, CitiBike app). Calling CitiBike doesn't make a difference.  Neither does talking to the rebalancers or the NYC Bike Share employees out on the street.  So here are photos and graphics to illustrate the lack of bikes at this station.  If you are unhappy about the lack of bikes at this station, feel free to send me your photos and I'll post them here.