April 2, 2007
Video of the Day: Critical Mass Meets Parade Rules
Last Friday's Critical Mass with the NYPD's new parade rules (groups of 50 or more must apply for permits) certainly got many of you commenting. For those of you who didn't participate in the ride or see it unfold, our videographer Kelly Loudenberg filed this video. She was even riding in the pedicab with City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez!
More coverage from indymedia and the Village Voice.
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I had the "pleasure" of watching the Boston version turn from Harvard Ave onto Brighton Ave and only the most blinder-wearing, agree-with-the-concept people can really bill it as a "peaceful" bike ride. I watched at least 100 bikes run the red-light and turn against a walk sign into pedestrians.
I don't even disagree with the point, but if you want people to listen to you, you're going about it entirely the wrong way.
We did a lot of mass rides in Chicago (still around just not as big) and it actually helped promote bicycle awareness for drivers and the city. One thing that was instituted (partially, I believe, as a result of the mass rides) was dedicated bike lanes and travel routes for cyclists all over the city. This did two things - on the one hand it made it safer for cyclists to ride as driving in the bike lane is illegal and two, it kept cyclists off of the busiest roads and on the dedicatd bike lanes, freeing up needed space for drivers on those routes.
That was Chicago's comprimise. Sadly, it seems like neither the mass people nor the city of new york are willing to do the same. Even though there may be bike lanes in manhattan, they need to be enforced by law if they are going to have any value.
i understand why they're mad, i dont agree with the new law, but do they have to be so fucking annoying?? seriously, the reason people don't really take protesters seriously anymore is because they're all these whiny, upper middle class, overeducated white people with almost no social skills.
If only the police used all those resources to cooperate with Critical Mass and help this legitimately peaceful procession of green friendly transportation, rather than fighting against them. I'm sure the whole outcome of events like this would have came out much better for everyone.
I'm sure it would have cost the tax payer and the police much less for the police to cooperate with Critical Mass rather than knock them off their bikes and disrupt what was supposed to be a nice Friday night bike ride in New York City. We still can do that, right? I guess I can't if I have more than 50 friends...at least in Manhattan.
Weird times we live in these days, huh?
actually, the title of this entry is misleading. in a sense the riders did not really "meet" the new parade rules. NO ONE was charged with the new parade rules. instead, those that were arrested received completely bogus, trumped up charges that the city and the cops devised during the arrestees' incarceration/arraignemnt. the tickets/summonses were bogus as well.
stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid nypd!!!! is this what you want your tax dollars to do????? i didn't think so!
come on out for april's ride to ride or cheer the riders on and tell the city what you think. while it is best if you ride a bike, you do not have to do so. just share in the first amendment right to assemble and speak!
I heard there were only three arrests made on Friday... true?
How is it a peaceful bike ride to clog up streets and hoot and holler trying to make a spectacle?
I think a lot of people would take Critical Mass more seriously if they obeyed traffic laws. If you had several hundred or a few thousand bikers covering say 10 blocks stopping for lights, riding on the right hand side of the street then maybe people would say, "hey look at all those bicyclists that's a viable method of transportation".
Really what CM currently comes off as is a bunch of people who want attention, want to whine and want to act persecuted. I bet a lot of these guys are honestly thrilled by all the attention they are getting from NYPD.
riding a bike on new york city streets is enough to make anyone whiny. its scary. the alleged bike lanes are nothing more than a standing lane for taxis and bike paths stop suddenly leaving you to risk your life on streets with drivers who think you have no right to be on the road.
All the time,money and resources, meanwhile all the illegal guns we hear so much about used to kill innocent civilians and police. What a waste!
instead, those that were arrested received completely bogus, trumped up charges that the city and the cops devised during the arrestees' incarceration/arraignemnt. the tickets/summonses were bogus as well.
If there's a law that says "you have to have reflectors" and you don't have reflectors, the ticket is neither bogus nor trumped-up. Drivers deal with this every day for things like window tint which is enforced when cops feel like it.
If you don't like the fact that we've created a state government that feels the need to regulate everything, sorry... don't vote for incumbents.
the reports are unclear, but word at this point is that there were at least 6 arrests. folks are gradually piecing the information together. there also is an interesting pattern apparently regarding the how long foks were held by the police.
tom, many people are getting tickets for stuff that does not apply. plenty of times tickets are given for not having a light when the cyclist actually has one. also, tom, have you ever heard of targeted law enforcement??? didn't think so 'cuz cars and pedestruans don't get that unless the they are of color and driving a car that looks too nice and/or wearinga hoodie that's too dark and big, etc.
as for incumbents, most riders only vote for the cycling variety or the ones that udnerstand the importance of green transportation. we cannot help it that too many other people vote differently or that idiots like chrissy quinn, who cannot be taken on her word anymore, have turned their backs on their orginal constituency!
White people do the craziest things.
[#7] & [#10] - I agree completely. I've known since I was a young kid that bikes have to follow the same rules as cars. That means stopping at lights, staying to the right, hand signals, lights, reflectors...etc.
CM has probably done more harm than good to the community that wants better bike accessibility. It has turned into some "us against them" mentality that does the cause no good.
[#5] - "come on out for april's ride to ride or cheer the riders on"
What, like a parade?
Bike lanes are useless unless they are physically separated from traffic by concrete barriers or bollards.
Why is it on flikr you see other cities have so much fun at a CM event but for some reason it's all confrontational and tense here in NYC?
The Chicago one in the summer looks fun. The Seattle ones look fun. The Minn ones are beginning to look like NYC.
Oh and forget about the one's in Europe, there's no comparison. Hello Rome!
I think a lot of people would take Critical Mass more seriously if they obeyed traffic laws. If you had several hundred or a few thousand bikers covering say 10 blocks stopping for lights, riding on the right hand side of the street then maybe people would say, "hey look at all those bicyclists that's a viable method of transportation".
No, then you would have a bunch of pissed off motorists because cyclists were taking to long to get out of the area. The best thing for cops to do is to let the cyclists move through as quickly as possible. I live in Atlanta and we have large group training rides almost every day. We have a 200+ rider ride during the winter that goes south of the city. We take a lane and if the first riders get through the light everybody goes. Except for a few "whiny, upper middle class, overeducated white people with almost no social skills" who are driving German or Faux German sedans that want to try and make a point by running you over, everybody is fine with it. We have actually had police come around us, hit the lights, and block cars at intersections for us. The safest and easiest thing to do is to get us through the area.
I wanted to make my first Critical Mass here in Atlanta Friday, but could not get down there in time. From what I understand, the cops also let that ride go and try to get it out of the area. I will be there next month.
Most small towns around Atlanta are very nice to cyclists. If they start to have a problem with some cyclists, most mayors write letters/emails to a few people who post them on the internet on certain blogs and groups.
We did recently have to battle with Cobb County, a GOP stronghold that is a bedroom community to Atlanta. They were trying to hit cyclists with no cruising ordinances, or mandate single file while state law specifies we can ride two abreast. They passed on ordinance for a single file on a 2.5 mile long street, but we believe they will never issue a ticket because we could probably get the law overturned if they did.
Good luck to you cyclists up there!
didn't think so 'cuz cars and pedestruans don't get that unless the they are of color and driving a car that looks too nice and/or wearinga hoodie that's too dark and big, etc.
There's a whole, big, rest-of-the-state out there where people get tickets for this stuff all the time because local law enforcement has nothing better to do. So, sorry, but it's not just people of color. Also, middle-aged white people tend to not to pimp out their vehicles. By extension, they don't get pulled over for it.
Except for a few "whiny, upper middle class, overeducated white people with almost no social skills" who are driving German or Faux German sedans that want to try and make a point by running you over, everybody is fine with it. We have actually had police come around us, hit the lights, and block cars at intersections for us.
Sorry, but Atlanta is not the same as New York City. There are about six streets people are using to try and leave the city and get home from work for their weekend. Add to that a whole lot of people preventing them from doing it, plus standard NYC Friday night foot traffic, and the bikers are creating a dangerous situation for everyone, including the pedestrians they ignore when they blow through walk signs.
When I have a walk sign, I'm going to go. If a car broke my leg at an intersection for blowing through a red-light, the bike people would use it as a talking point for congestion pricing and banning cars. If a cyclist does it, I should have watched out. This is the double-standard the pro-CM people don't get or choose to ignore.
Added to my above post: but only if it's a college student. If it's a delivery biker, those guys should watch where they're going.
Hey, I mentioned this before, but....On Saturday on the West Side bike path by 181st street and the Henry Hudson parkway, what do I see but six NYPD motorcycle cops riding their motorcycles on the bike path. How many tickets do you think they got?
From a fellow New Yorker who rides his bike all over town to the Critical Mass people,
Stop ruining things for people who ride bikes and obey the law! The reason why the idiot police created the law you are protesting is because you get together in a mass of self-righteous arrogance and decide to block traffic. You created the parade rule as much as the cops did. You help enable stupid laws and poor unprofessional behavior by the police by taunting the way you do. You want so badly to be seen as rebellious and hip and you just look like fools. Want to make things better? Ride down the streets and obey the law. Stop at red lights and stop signs and show the public what the world looks like with bikes in the street riding safely instead of antagonistically.
#21... you are so right, it's the conduct of these riders that create the issues they rail against... and the rest of us riders are just collateral damage.
I got tired of bicycle riders (or bikers, or cyclists, whatever the PC term of the month is) almost running me over I'm crossing the street, have the light, and they're going against traffic. If the cops want to crack down on this kind of thing fine by me.
I ride a bike myself. I stay on the right side, ride with traffic, and stop at lights, at least when there's something coming.
Yeah yeah, I just don't get it, etc etc.
www.forgotten-ny.com
The debate as to whether cyclists should or shouldn't break the law is silly. I run lights all the time on my bike but I defer to pedestrians who have the light. I can't count, however, the number of times that a pedestrian will out-and-out ignore me when it is my light and cross my path, putting us both in danger. If we make cyclists honor every light, make pedestrians honor every light, and stop jaywalking. No way, it's never going to happen. So how about this: cyclists respect pedestrians and vice-versa. Ditto for cars: if it's their light, respect it. If you aren't impeding anyone else, and you're OK with risking a citation, run the light.
If CM'ers can't respect that basic principle, well then, bicycle out to Chicago or Seattle, where there are less people, or more CM'ers.
the whole thing is a power trip by bloomberg and the nypd. before the RNC, CM went off pretty much smoothly and with the aid of the nypd. that night's ride embarrassed the local pols, and they are still trying to show who's boss. and none of it would have happened if bloomberg hadn't pimped out nyc for the republicans to exploit 9/11.
the whole thing is a power trip by bloomberg and the nypd. before the RNC, CM went off pretty much smoothly and with the aid of the nypd. that night's ride embarrassed the local pols,
If the mayor had gone out and politely asked the CM people to put their ride off until another day, they would have said "fuck off" and went on the ride anyway for some worthless protest in a state where the Republican candidate was going to lose anyway.
Pick your battles. This was a stupid pissing contest by the Critical Mass people and it's messed up the spirit of the ride from here on out. Now, it's more about a pissing contest with the NYPD then what it's supposed to be about
wheeltime, this is why we hate cyclists. You're the one with the fast vehicle. Obey the law.
Dear members of the cycling community:
There is a coordinated effort between Time's Up!, FreeWheels, Glass Bead Collective Legal Response Team and some fine lawyers to QUICKLY centralize the information about the 48 summons that were issued Friday night during critical mass. If you received a summons please email the relevant information (described below) to bike@transalt.org. Information will be marshaled in order to coordinate media and legal responses to the conduct of the NYPD last Friday.
If we can collect and centralize the information about the summons that were issued, it is possible that a significant number of the summons may be legally inapplicable or facially insufficient as a matter of law. We may be able to show that the NYPD issued frivolous summons in an attempt to break up the ride and that they did it with more
aggressiveness than the issued summons would warrant. If you have any questions email the address below as well.
If possible, please also email a .pdf version of the front and back of each ticket you were issued. If you cannot, please photocopy the front and back of your ticket and fax it 212-629-8334 . Please indicate that the transmission is PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL.
[Please keep in mind that we are looking for ONLY the following information at this time. If you have information about, or evidence regarding, a ticketing incident, or an arrest, please provide your contact information to bike@transalt.org , but please do not send written information, or leave recorded information over the phone.]
What's your name, address, phone number, and email address?
How many tickets were you issued, total?
Was your bike seized?
How long were you detained by the NYPD ?
Were you moved from the location of the arrest? If yes, to where?
With respect to each ticket, please tell us:
· What type of summons were you issued?
– is it returnable in the New York City Criminal Court, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicle's Traffic Violations Bureau, or the Environmental Control Board? What is the address? Is it something you can mail in or do you have a date to appear?
· What's the ticket number?
· What's the date on the ticket?
· What's the time on the ticket?
· What's the location on the ticket?
· Who issued you the ticket? Please give us the officer's name, command, squad, and Tax ID number.
· Which set of laws or rules does the ticket allege you violated - the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law ("VTL")? The NewYork City Department of Transportation Rules ("NYCDOT Rules")? The New York City Administrative Code ("NYCAC")? The New York State Penal Law
("PL")?
· Which specific section(s) of the law or rule are you alleged
to have violated?
· What exactly does the ticket narrative say?
**You can also add the information from your summons on this great site, www.CMTickets.com, where summons are being tracked each month so cyclists can see the big picture.
Keep Riding.
The point of CM is that cycling is an extremely efficient way to get around. There is no pollution, and it's quick. CM tries to demonstrate how safe and friendly biking could be if it was a dominant or even just a more significant means of transportation. Are there more pressing issues like gun control? Sure. But how much would it cost to build safe and effective bike lanes throughout the city? You could probably do a lot just using the money saved from police overtime, legal fees, and gas used to battle CM.
I bike. Therefore I am.