I, for one, can't wait for all the MTA upgrades as our city becomes a bike-friendly, clean air utopia!

Thank you Mr.Gerson and the City Council for making our city a better place!

vote for Mr.Gerson!!!

www.gerson2009.com

Well put as always, drewo and Spiritof76. I only ask that if more people take to the roads, they learn some basic bike courtesy first:

- don't buzz pedestrians when they have the right of way.

- don't ride down streets (with or without bike lanes) the wrong way.

- get off the sidewalk, for chrissakes. If you're afraid of being in the street, you shouldn't be riding.

- take those headphones out so you can hear everything going on around you. Um, duh?

- if you are going to run a red light, watch out for other bikes, and for god's sake (again) if the peds have the right of way, let them have it before you go!

...and so on. Considerate bikers = part of the solution, not part of the problem. And finally, the same goes for peds: for example, if you are jaywalking across an avenue without looking and I ride past you on my bike, you have NO RIGHT to cuss me out for scaring you. Didn't your momma teach you to look before you cross the street??

I enjoy a leisurely bike ride as much as the next cyclist, but Manhattan just isn't conducive to it. Too many cars, trucks and buses, too many pedestrians, too many things that can go wrong.

You keep writing alarmist things like this, yet never have anything to back them up with. According to the Times recently, there are over 130,000 bike commuters in the five boroughs. Yearly city bike death statistics hover in the low double digits, according to Transportation Alternatives. It doesn't seem to be the suicidal sport you make it out to be.

Did you ever stop to think maybe more bikes would be better? If drivers and pedestrians saw more bikes on the streets, they'd be more accepting of them as useful vehicles. That assumes, of course, that the cyclists obey traffic laws. But only fools don't. Aside from putting yourself in danger, you're taking away any legal defense if you get in an accident because you'll be found at least partly at fault by not following the law.

Hipsters and Jen Carlson also suck. Maybe not in that order. That is all.

I enjoy a leisurely bike ride as much as the next cyclist, but Manhattan just isn't conducive to it. Too many cars, trucks and buses, too many pedestrians, too many things that can go wrong.

Cyclists in New York City are engaging in an inherently dangerous activity. The odds are that eventually you will hit a pothole, or an open car door, or someone will turn into you, or you'll get hit sneaking through a red light. If you can accept that, try to be safe, and ride to your heart's content. If you can't, stay off the road. Don't pretend that everyone should be on bicycles, because they shouldn't.

The attitude behind Critical Mass mostly sucks. The Lance Armstrong wannabes who mow people down in Central Park suck. Delivery guys who are too stupid to wear reflective gear or obey the rules of the road suck.

Cops who violently attack people for no reason suck. Politicians like Quinn who can't get on the side on a no-brainer like this suck.

Meanwhile, more death and destruction courtesy of automobiles drivers:

http://gothamist.com/2008/08/05/police_arrest_driver_in_fatal_grand.php

Police Arrest Driver in Fatal Grand Central Parkway Crash

This morning, two people were killed when a car crashed into their Acura.

Next time a bicyclist kills 2 people in New York, please feel free to bitch.

Has anyone seen any mention of the other officer seen in the YouTube video? He stands by as Pogan takes the cyclist down and is perhaps complicit in the false report filing. What's his story?

@arsguide

Quinn is Bloomberg's puppet.

I now think that much of the negative bike vibe in this town is due to food delivery persons. I was recently knocked off my bike by one of these guys. He didn't even slow down when he left me in the road bleeding. I was following traffic rules but he was riding fast against the traffic. Now that I think about it this was not the first time I've been hit by a food delivery person.

I think many of these cranky anti bikers are in fact thinking of this very visible subgroup of bike riders.

Can't the city officials schedule a "Through the Streets" NASCAR event the same time as CM is doing their thing?

Anyone see a dickwad biker in Central Park on Saturday decked out in full Lance Armstrong spandex with "US Postal Service" team on it? He was riding a yellow bike that looked like it cost more than the poverty line for the average family of four and was yelling loudly at the pedicabs near the 72nd street transverse because they weren't holding their lane to his satisfaction. It's hard to know who brings about more negative feelings, him or the Critical Ass riders.

I like Critical Mass cause they basically don't do anything illegal besides Bicycle Jaywalking but stir up all this trouble for the police. You need checks and balances and CM is just good and wholesome dose of much needed anarchy. They would actually not have any trouble if they actually just rode and do what they do but since they need to announce it to the world and mass ride to thumb their noses at the police and the power structure that's when the beatings occur.

jibbly: The real problem here is that CM has no formal organization. If they formally stood for something - anything - maybe their purpose would be clear to both politicians and the police, and that could lead to an opportunity for mutual understanding.

Wow. Politicians doing what they're supposed to do! I'm comment-less.

Rotate cops from patrol cars to bikes to walking so they get a more rounded law enforcement experience. Idiots in air conditioned cruisers tend to have little empathy for anyone who isn't a suit in a blacked out Chevy Suburban.

No need to apologize, Evidiot, whether snarky or genuine! In my first comment I recognized the law as it stands, so if that wasn't clear then I am the one to apologize. I just wanted to float an idea, and underscore the physical inequality of bikes and cars. Also, CM isn't the only body fighting for reform-- Transportation Alternatives is a wonderful organization, as are the many others involved in organizing the City Walks this summer. Our fantastic DOT Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, is prioritizing quality of life initiatives for bikers and pedestrians, and we patient and law-abiding folks love her for it!

mr.guy,

you're probably right, but I've got a dollar set aside for a drink anyway.

I can't wait until it snows so all those stupid bike lane markings will be covered up and it's a free for all again.

have the charges been dropped already?

there is no record of him in the NY court database (http://iapps.courts.state.ny.u...

you should have listened to the scanner during the RNC, Almost every special op channel had activity.

again, let's get comptroller Thompson on this, why are WE, yes WE, spending so many resources for this.

evidiot - Before the 2004 RNC, the NYPD was accepting and even supportive of CM. CM did not bring attention to itself from the NYPD because it flouted traffic laws. They became a target through indirect orders from Bloomberg and the Commissioner because of the politics some of it's members were involved in.

Since then the NYPD harassment has gotten out of control and with it brings defiant behavior from CM riders.

Simply put, tensions escalated because of politics and continue to escalate because of politics.