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Early Addition
Photo courtesy Clinton Hill Blog.
It’s a common complaint from cyclists that the NYPD doesn’t seem too interested in ticketing the myriad drivers who use the city’s bike lanes as a double-parking lot. (My Bike Lane is dedicated to the phenomenon.) And it’s not uncommon to see a cop car idling in a bike lane while the officer does a little shopping. But this is getting ridiculous: A Clinton Hill blog reader reports that the NYPD has been parking what looks to be a fleet of squad cars in a "Class II" bike lane on DeKalb Avenue near Classon Avenue in Brooklyn.
This intersection has already become a traffic nightmare, and now cyclists have to divert out into traffic that’s already dangerous. Surely there must be a better way to arrange this. With a huge increase in neighborhood traffic (especially on Sundays with the Flea), this isn’t cool.Maybe it’s just a police checkpoint to make sure cyclists have the legally required bell, light and reflectors? Or perhaps the city needs to paint it a vibrant green, like some other bike lanes, to better catch the officers’ eyes? There must be a logical explanation, because one would hate to think the NYPD harbors any ill will toward cyclists!
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"bike lanes" are such a joke. either bikes are recognized and respected as vehicles and take their place on the roads with everyone else, or the city gets it together and starts making and enforcing bike lanes/paths in such a way that ONLY BIKES CAN ENTER THEM. a novel idea i know
helmets are optional unless you're a minor.
Why didn't uncivilservants.org report on this? It's what they do, isn't it?
They also love stealing bicycles a 'la what took place on Sixth Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues last year.
The bicycle lane laws are either too vague or simply not enforced. What is it going to take to iron this out?
Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect: but not for New Yorkers.
Oh boo hoo. It looks like there's plenty of space there for the bikes to get around the cop cars. Streets are blocked all the time for all kinds of reasons but bikers seem to think that their precious bike lanes are sacred ground. BWAH!
nypd harbors ill will towards everyone. cops are there to protect and serve property interests not people
NYPD consistently flouts traffic rules.
I have noticed this for years, running red lights, etc. and no sirens on signalling an emergency.
But seriously, fellow citizens, what can be done about this?
I'm guessing from this picture that this is somewhere near the precinct?
Maybe you people should complaining and realize the police need to park that way in front of their own precinct so they can do their job and keep you safe. And before I get some cop abuse speech, just remember that all things considered our city is indisputably safer than it has been for a very very long time (I remember the 70's and 80's) and we're really well taken care of in general by our police force.
Maybe you should reserve your complaining for the numbnuts who decided to put a bike lane there in the first place. Clearly it should never have been placed there since the police have to park that way on that particular street by whatever city agency placed it there in the first place.
And while you're at it cut the cops some slack in general. The day you get yourself shot at in the name of everyone else in the city you can then you can run all the red lights you want too.
Lighten up for crissakes, and stop thinking all cops are like what you have read in the Post.
it's a nightmare driving that intersection too, two lanes suddenly become one!
To quote Bill Walton "that's just HORRible"
Cops once again prove they are self entitled douchbags who do whatever they want and break the same rules they would harass a citizen for.
Cops should not be above the very laws they are supposed to be upholding.
It's called setting an example, kids.
This city IS indisputably safer than the 70's and 80's.
However, the city's economy is indisputably better than the 70's and 80's.
There is also indisputably less crack on the streets than in the 70's and 80's.
How much credit should the cops really take for the 90's economic boom and the end of the crack epidemic?
The fact is, this picture above shows police putting civilians in danger. The feeling is that the NYPD has no respect for the civilians they are suppossed to be serving.
If the cops need more parking, they should get more parking, using LEGAL means, not by simply dismissing the public's safety.
Maybe lose some of the cars, and get some of these cops back out WALKING the beat.
Getting shot at should NOT be an all access pass to do whatever you want, especially when this is the job you signed up for.
@drewo:
So if a police car is chasing a bank robber by car they should stop for red lights?
And I suppose you would have cops park their cars in parking lots instead of directly outside their precincts for easy access/
#15 - police should take necessary actions in the line of duty.
Those parked cars are not on duty. Per #14, there are ways to park their cars without impeding the public.
Cops think the law doesn't apply to them. That's hardly news - how long ago was it that a cop beat up a traffic agent for ticketing his girlfriend's car?
I think I would be far more inclined to sympathy for bikers if they had a tendency towards obeying traffic laws. Not to generalize too horribly, but whether it's running red lights, biking the wrong way down a street, weaving through cars, or barreling through pedestrians trying to cross the street, I've never seen anything like the total disregard for the safety of anyone else on the road that NYC bikers seem to have.
hey bikers -
my beef is Adams street in front of the marriot in brooklyn... its a bike lane that is completely full of cars 247.
i got hit by a car last week and im still pissed off. :)
while i think 'My Bike Lane' is a good idea and any PR cyclists rights can get, we really need to make formal complaints using the municipal channels already set up.
feel free to email Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner
Department of Transportation using the link below:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildot.html
i feel the city is experiencing some growing pains in becoming bike friendly. its our responsibility to change the attitude of motorists, cops and the public. biking to work shouldn't be a suicide mission!
peace out!
not to generalize too horribly is right.
I have little sympathy for either party in this case. Cops break the law constantly in this city, so that's nothing new. They're assholes. Affirmative.
Bikers, however, get really self-righteous about this kind of shit, but watch how many of them run red lights, cut through pedestrian areas, and otherwise break the rules because they don't feel like bikes are really a vehicle. Newsflash, bikers: if you're on two wheels, you have to stop for red lights, you have to stop for stop signs, you're not allowed to turn on red, you're not allowed to ride on the sidewalk, and you're not allowed to swerve your way through pedestrians that are crossing the street. This is true whether it's a bike, a scooter, or a motorcycle.
And for everyone about to tell me that it's only delivery guys and messengers that do this: can the bullshit. Casual bikers do it too, all the time, all over the city.
So when stuff like this happens, yeh, the cops are wrong ... but I have a hard time caring.
I find it funny (not in a "ha ha" kind of way) that you are able to see cops violating traffic laws all the time and think that it is Ok because they are cops. I think they should lead by example. They should be held accountable for the same violations as the average citizen and be required to pay the same fines. Blocking bike lanes should be a ticket that is heavily enforced especially with all of the talk about traffic congestion in the city.
MT, the point is these cops are breaking the very law they promise to uphold. It sets a very horrible example for the rest of us. How are we supposed to be expected to abide by the law if the ones who execute that law do not?
I see cops park by fire hydrants all of the time. What would happen if the building they parked in front of burned down during that time? Should we then be expected to just let them go because they're cops? Hell no!
The more we let those in authority abuse their powers, the more freedoms we are going to lose because of it.
#15...if a cop is chasing a bank robber, his friggin' lights and sirens should be on. If a cop doesn't want to wait for a light b/c he's not in the mood, he should sit on it and spin. Why should he not wait like the rest of us in a non-emergency? Why should they park like jackasses? This particular example is antithetical to the very notion of police work in that it is putting innocent citizen in harm's way for no other reason than someone's too lazy to look for a real parking spot. I admire what cops do, but they're not demigods.
If we give into hipster bikers and their demand to enforce bike lanes, the mommy breeders with their SUV bugaboos will demand a lane of their own, and maybe wheelchaired veterans and old folks and their motor scooters. Someone has to stop this madness!
From the "HOLY IRONY, BAT MAN!" file:
I always give a shout of "It's a bike safety lane" to drivers whose cars are blocking it. No foul language and I insert "safety" so it's not a territorial claim but a reminder of what's at stake.
Well, recently I was riding down Bleeker and loving the newly green-painted lane as it neared completion.
When I crossed 2nd Avenue I saw two cars blocking the lane near the corner, making entry to the street quite sketchy. One was an old beater green car and the other a dark blue town car, such as a car service would use.
The first was empty but the tinted window was slightly open in the second so I called out my usual reminder.
A minute later the town car pulled next to me and the window rolled open as the driver yelled an angry, "Hey you! What's wrong with you?!?"
Turns out it was an unmarked police car.
I said, "Oh, I didn't know you were police..."
That's when he told me he was issuing the first car a ticket! So, we're on the same side, right? Well...
"Yeah, now you're all, 'I didn't know you were a cop' but before you just wanted to open your mouth!," he yelled, and rolled up the window.
I wasn't angry but actually a little hurt that on a rare occasion when a Manhattan cop was acting fully in our interests, he found a means to be adverserial.
So I took a risk. I caught up to the car and gently tapped on the window. And then again.
He rolled it down.
I said, "Officer, I really didn't say anything disrespectful..." I wanted to thank him but he interrupted in a softer voice.
"Yeah, yeah. I know..."
No apology but I think he had a moment to ease back and see things from my data-deprived POV.
The light changed and he turned to zoom up 1st Ave, and as I saw him approach the next light his lights flashed and he zoomed faster.
Weird encounter. But a note to those he leap to foul language too soon: You never know!!!
Erik
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Not only do they block our much-needed bike lanes, but I've actually got two tickets for "riding on the sidewalk" in the past two months. Yeah I agree bikes have no place on the sidewalk but this is along a busy section of grand street where cars and semi trucks come flying off the BQE and Williamsburg bridge forcing me to ride on the sidewalk for a brief block (where there are hardly ever pedestrians on the sidewalk). Cops have been patroling this area lately and nabbed me twice! It's ridiculous.
and what the fukk is wrong with you people siding with the cops for blatantly disregarding laws and public safety with something as harmless as a bike lane. Very disappointing.
This bike hate is ridiculous. If you were walking and you found cop cars parked every day in a crosswalk forcing you and other pedestrians dangerously out into traffic, wouldn't you be annoyed?
There are perfectly reasonable ways for the police to park their cars with out impeding the street's safe accommodation of bicycles.
they literally took out an entire lane of vehicular traffic on dekalb ave in clinton hill and dedicated it to bikes. hopefully they'll do the same on lafayette to slow things down a little there.
#21, Bravo! Self-righteous bikers can't raise my blood pressure over their selfish and possessive drive to claim the streets as their own. Cars and trucks block regular car lanes just as they block everything else. Should the cops bother with this one? Maybe, but it's much more disruptive if auto traffic gets blocked and that's their priority. If you don't like that, go live in Eugene Oregon and turn that sleepy little hippie town into your fanatical utopia. But New York wasn't built by cyclists and it won't be ruled by them either.
Next time you're mugged or raped, call a cyclist.
ah yes... the same old tired 'we hate bikers' arguments. Listen up, people (for the 1000th time): not all bikers are rude assholes who run red lights and endanger pedestrians. By lumping everyone into the same category, you are just as nearsighted as the parking-lane-blocking idiots who are endangering cyclists' lives by forcing them out into traffic.
You beat me to it, Gwinny. These guys lose every shred of credibility when they start up with their blanket generalizations of cyclists.
heh. i love it. some crybaby on the internet whining about how he's glad cars block the bike lane, because his blood pressure boils when bikers try to "claim the street" as their own.
well guess what brainic? if there are fucking cars in the bike lane, then bikers are going to have to ride on the street.
i wonder if people like you even realize how retarded your comments are.
#32, 33, 34
Get back to Sreetsblog with all the other nerds like yourself. Leave Gothamist to real NYers, not Amsterdam wannabes from suburbia.
And before you respond with your typical nonsense, tell us how many times you ran a red light today.
I've actually got two tickets for "riding on the sidewalk" in the past two months.
GOOD! You deserve it! Go tell the judge that the cars and trucks scared you so you rode on the sidewalk instead. I have ridden my bike all over this town and never once worried about where there were bike lanes.
bike lanes are for homos. I ride against traffic, on the sidewalk, off the sidewalk, weave through mamas and their battering ram strollers and dipshits walking down the street while using their crackberries, cut off cabs, through red lights, and i dont give a fuck about any of you.
Hey thefacts: I'm a native New Yorker, born in Brooklyn.
Also, I'll tell you how many red lights I ran (yielding to pedestrians as I always do) if you tell me how many times you jaywalked into traffic or crossed when you didn't have the light.
In short, blow me.
@36:
popping on the sidewalk for half a block to avoid the clusterfuck that is the exit ramps of the BQE with no bike or pedestrian-friendly way to cross them shouldn't warrant criminal charges once a month, in my opinion but maybe we should just give everyone a criminal record for trying to get around without hopping in a car.
SP is now my favorite bicyclist. The rest of ya can draft my tailpipe.
#21 I agree with you, I do see cops ticketing for bike lanes blockage though. My friend got one while waiting for the car to pull out so he can park. While today I saw bikers just ride past a red light while stopping the traffic that is rightfully crossing.