New York - The city that never sleeps has been kept on edge this summer by hundreds of bicycle wheels showing up unannounced chained to telephone posts, street lights and bicycle racks.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg says it is a mystery how the bicycle tires arrived on city streets and became chained to city property.
"Initially we just found a few and nobody claimed them. Numbers gradually increased until we had to take notice of the phenomenon."
"At first we thought it may be linked to crop circles in an urban setting but we ruled that out as the wheels are obviously man-made."
The mayor also denies that the wheels are part of his Public Art Project that he has initiated.
"If this is meant as a joke we can't see the humour in it. Someone must be pretty well-off to pull a prank like this in a city this big."
"We reckon some of these bicycle wheels are pretty expensive. My Scientoligist advisors have concluded this is meant to be a donation some time soon in the future."
"Just when we thought we had trouble keeping ahead of controlling crime something like this happens."
"Someone is truly kind out there."
"We have put a full-page ad in the New York Times asking the phantom philantropist to release the keys to unlock these wheels so we may donate them to needy children."
