July - August 2007

Letter to the Editor

It has come to my attention that at the March executive board meeting of the Five Borough Bicycle Club, the Club, they revoked the membership of Glen Goldstein in the Five Borough Bicycle Club.

I seem to remember when the club was formed over seventeen years ago that a clause was put into the by-laws of the club to enable the club to revoke an individual’s membership in the club if their behavior or actions were deemed dangerous or harmful to the club and its members.

What I did not realize was that personal animosity was one of the criteria to revoke an individual’s membership in the club.

From the information I have gathered, some of the members of the executive committee of the Club were displeased with Glen Goldstein and his contract with the club to run the Montauk Century. Later a very serious accusation was leveled at Glen Goldstein for theft from the Club. This accusation was later determined to be untrue. However, to the best of my knowledge, there was never a formal apology from the executive committee to Glen Goldstein for this very serious false accusation.

Instead, due to the ill will that this episode generated on both sides, the situation escalated to the point were there was a law suit, which was settled but at a cost of several thousands of dollars to the Club.

It is sad to see that the bike club that is suppose to be the “friendliest bike club” has come down to revoking membership and spending several thousand of dollars on a lawsuit for a situation that might have been resolved with a formal apology to the falsely accused.

In closing I would say that it is a sad state of affairs that the Five Borough Bicycle Club is in its current situation. I know that if Paul Sullivan were still here today, he would disapprove of the actions of both the executive board and Glen Goldstein, as I do and I am sure that other members of the club do as well.

Sincerely,
Henry Chin
New York, NY