New York City’s “Citi Bike” program was launched on May 27, 2013. The program was named and funded (in large part) by Citigroup, which paid $41 million for a six-year sponsorship. The nickname “shitibikes” was cited on Twitter on May 27, 2013. In late June and early July 2013, the bikes were vandalized by stickers that covered over the “citi bike” name and renamed it a “shiti bike.”
 
Citibank has been nicknamed “Shitibank”/“Shittybank” and Citi Field has been nicknamed “Shiti Field”/“Shitty Field.”
     
 
Wikipedia: Citi Bike
Citi Bike is a privately owned for-profit public bicycle sharing system that serves New York City. It is the largest bike sharing program in the United States.
 
Alta Bicycle Share was selected in September 2011 to develop and operate the system using Montreal’s Bixi technology. The system, which operates without city subsidy, is named for Citigroup, which spent US$41 million to be its lead sponsor for six years.
(...)
Citi Bike finally began operations on May 27, 2013, with 330 stations in Manhattan south of 59th Street and in Brooklyn north of Atlantic Avenue and west of Nostrand Avenue. Officials said the system opened with 6,000 bikes, but six weeks later, the actual number in use appeared to be less than 4,300. On June 16, 2013, riders took 25,119 trips, the largest single-day total for any North American bike-sharing system.
   
citibikenyc.com
A simple, easy way to get the most out of NYC.
1 Unlock
From Any Station
2 Ride
Wherever You Want
3 Return
To Any Station
 
Twitter
Clayton Cubitt‏
@claytoncubitt  
shitibikes, only $35/two hours for the privilege of being a mobile billboard. http://instagram.com/p/Z1j6vmJXsj/
6:27 PM - 27 May 13
 
Twitter
Declan Coulter‏
@CoulterDeclan  
Signed up for ShitiBikes/Mike’s Bikes/whatever Bloomie’s bikeshare program is called. Don’t have a helmet but I may have an old scrum cap.
1:36 PM - 30 May 13
 
New York Shitty 
June 20, 2013
The Word On The Street, Part II: Shiti Bike
(A “shiti bike” sticker is seen—ed.)
From the Williamsburg Bridge.
Props to go out to my travelling companion Queens Crap for spotting this gem.
 
shitibike.com
July 7, 2013
shitibike is here
DOWNLOAD PRINT AND GO!
   
Bowery Boogie
‘Shiti Bike’ Vandals Take Over at Pitt and Rivington
Posted on: July 8th, 2013 by Elie
Swap that “c” with an “sh” …
 
Citi Bike continues its run as magnet for vandalism and thievery, despite the recent 7th Precinct initiative to police the infrastructure. The docking station at Ridge and Rivington just fell victim to the punny street prank already seen in other parts of the city. Shiti Bike. Oh yeah.
   
New York (NY) Observer
Gimme an S! Gimme an H! ‘Shiti Bike’ Stickers Take Over NYC, Twitter
By Rebecca Hiscott 7/08 1:31pm
A simple but effective sticker campaign that replaces the “C” in Citi Bike with an “Sh” to spell… well, you know, has over taken New York’s bike share.
 
And believe it or not, Dorothy Rabinowitz isn’t behind it. The crusade appears to be the work of advocates who are not fond of the “corporate appropriation of bike culture.” The sticker sweep relies on the average Citi Bike-hater to broadcast their outrage by downloading a label from the spare, single-purpose website, shitibike.com, print them on self-adhesive shipping labels and let them rip.
   
EV Grieve
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
About Shiti Bikes and Citi Bikes
You probably heard about the outbreak of “Shiti Bike” stickers around the city in the last 48 hours or so… EVG reader Brad212 spotted these on East Ninth Street and Avenue C yesterday morning ...
 
A “Shitibike” website launched on Sunday… where you can download your very own stickers… there’s also the month-old Shiti bike Facebook page that announces it is “Reclaiming NYC streets from corporate appropriation of Bike culture.”