(image via: Eyeweekly)
So what does one do with thousands of bicycles? Igor Kenk’s record-setting collection have sparked myriad theories, ranging from the obvious: that he was planning to resell them all eventually in his used bicycle shop, to the eccentric: that he was saving them to melt them down during the next spike in scrap metal prices or was hording them for the eventual energy apocalypse.
(Images via The New York Times and The National Post)
Igor’s operation alone might explain most of Toronto’s reputation for being the capital of bike theft in North America. His shop was so filled with bicycles that police had to take out second floor windows and lower the bikes out them. Clearly this collection has been growing for a very long time. His shop even had a reputation as the place to go to buy back your stolen bike – but no one knew for sure that he was the one stealing them. Rumor has it he was waiting for a big energy crisis where the world as we know it would come to an end and he could make a killing reselling the rest.
(Image via: Photoshop Talent)
Over ten thousand frustrated bicycle theft victims have perused Igor’s reclaimed collection of stolen goods but only a few hundred bicycles have been returned. He is now facing dozens of counts relating to the thefts alone, but the story doesn’t end there: raids on Igor Kenk’s house and myriad storage places revealed crack, cocaine and pounds of marijuana … as well as a stolen bronze statue of a centaur and snake in the heat of battle. How that fits in is anyone’s guess.
So how hard is it, really, to steal a bike in a public downtown place like Toronto? Well, two brothers – using their own bike and tools – set out to find out just that in the heart of New York City. Starting small they use a bolt cutters in Union Square but by the end they are using power tools and full protective gear to steal (their own) bikes in broad daylight – all without being stopped.There is one concerned citizen throughout the whole film however … Hector, who stops to offer his advice on potentially better tools to speed up the operation.

