Cycling in New Orleans - Parking

While walking down Canal Street and the surrounding areas, I snapped a few photos of bike parking in New Orleans. At least in this area, traditional inverted U racks are available. It also seems common to lock a bike up to a street sign, as well, sometimes even within sight of unoccupied racks.

At first glance, the manhole cover looks like the rear wheel, but in fact, it is missing.

You have to figure out how to use this machine to park a car.

The next three photos show the same bike at various levels of zoom. Check out the SMART car, and then finally, the stickers and weird chain locking the bike. What's that ball-thing near the rear wheel?

In summary, it appears to be easy to park a bike in New Orleans.