Most Dangerous For Bikers: Potholes or Vehicles?

Animal New York takes issue with Matthew Long, the firefighter hospitalized for almost six months after being injured during the transit strike and finally went home with much fanfare last week. Long was injured while biking to his stationhouse and a private bus (chartered by Bear Stearns for its employees) hit him; he is now suing the Transport Workers Union as well as Bear Stearns, and the van company. Animal New York says Long should be "discussing just how dangerous the streets of NYC are when it comes to cycling" instead, noting that Long admitted he doesn't usually bike in the city. Animal New York has photographs of the road where Long was hit - a stretch of East 52nd Street riddled with potholes. Hmm, maybe Long will have a case against the City of New York and the Department of Transportation as well?

Here are cycling maps of the city from Transportation Alternatives. And something Gothamist didn't realize until later is that Long's father is Michael Long, the head of the NY State Conservative Party. (Room 8 pointed out a political connection between Matthew Long's case and a bill a Westchester politician proposed.)

Photograph from Animal New York

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By Jen Chung in News on May 31, 2006 1:12 PM

Comments [rss]

Kristen

Why do people feel bad for the TWU when they are the reason Matt Long was biking to work that day, and they are the reason the bus was on the street that day? Go ahead and focus on your "biking causes" and let Matt focus on recovering from an accident that would not have occured had Roger Toussaint broken the law.

Interlard

No. No. No.

Michael Long is the real name of Michael Knight. He's a lone crusader in a dangerous world of potholes and a-holes behind the wheels of busses.

Matthew is just carrying on his father's legacy. Unfortunately he has to bike to work, because dad still uses the talking car.

timbnyc

They also have maps of bike crashes. Apprently they happen even when there isn't a strike.

http://www.transalt.org/crashmaps/manhattan.html#b

Gwinny

I think the TWU are assholes, and yet I don't think it's fair that Long is suing them simply because he had to bike to work during the strike. I mean, I don't know the details of the accident - maybe he should be suing the bus company for negligence - but including the TWU in the suit is total right-wing partisanship.

A side note: that street doesn't look that bad at all to me -- I've definitely been on WAY worse on my bike.

A_B

This suddenly makes too much sense. As an avid biker in the City and with great sympathy for Matthew Long for his injuries, I couldn't put my head around why he had so much bile reserved for the TWU. The causality between his injury and the strike was pretty tenuous.

If I got hit by a bus, I'd be focused on the driver and the idiots that hired him.

Yet, when I saw him speak or read interviews with him, he seemed to lay all of the blame at the feet of the TWU. The driver and Bear Stearns only were mentioned in passing.

Why not criticize the DMV for giving the driver a license? Or, as the OP notes, the city for lousy street maintenance? It didn't make any sense on its face.

Now, to find out that his father is the head of the New York State Conservative party, it all makes perfect sense.

deeverysamebiker

Thank you,

he should focus on biking causes not sue the TWU,

frigging firefigher families, what is it about them?

take responsibility, Please.

that's all I ask.