Gothamist: Hasids Say Cyclists Too Sexy for Bike Lanes

sharpshoota

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:24:42 -0500

Exactly, let's remember that underneath all the black suits, curly locks and wigs they are a separatist group. They are also bigots. I say too bad. Wah

antonius

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:27:16 -0500

Ladies from the Go Topless movement should have their next protest there.

cucarachita

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:51:53 -0500

Let them live on reservations if they don't like real life. I'm all for freedom of religion, but that shouldn't mean we all have to follow everyone else's religion and adapt to their religious beliefs or taboos! Go live on a reservation if you don't like modern life!

abr

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:15:47 -0500

is abraham ruunig for councilmember? Abraham later said another major concern is the safety of children, noting that cyclists "aren't obeying traffic laws. Green lights and red lights are the same

NannyState

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:58:40 -0500

What a chaloshes with these Hassidim.

Bozack

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:43:49 -0500

Immodest dress doesn't seem to bother the hasidic dudes that troll the bars for wasted chicks just before closing. Does anybody remember pre-clubland meatpacking district? Tons of Haseeds would pick up tranny hookers at 5am. Now that was immodest dress!

dm10003

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:22:30 -0500

things that don't add up (as i watch this story on wcbs tv at 6pm): they didn't mention issues with attire of pedestrians, did they? would they be happy to set up a roadblock and choose which cyclists are dressed modestly enough to ride through? according to the rabbi interviewed on tv, the problem is cyclists threatening pedestrian safety, which is not a fashion issue. this issue has been through community board meetings already. if the bike lane was removed, cyclists would still ride through but with less safety among traffic.

dm10003

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:41:41 -0500

please change "has" to "have" above!

dm10003

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:39:57 -0500

Their bullying ways should surprise no one. When their leaders are pressed to act for a bigoted separatist conservative religious community they have to do these things. They has a right to complain as we all do. Trouble is, they approach it in a hugely unamerican way. I watched video of their leaders testifying in City Hall why gays shouldn't have equal rights, while their community filled the balcony shouting ugliness. I had to take five showers afterward.

bagelman

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:58:23 -0500

they should do one of those cracked out panda parties in south williamsburg and combine it with a critical mass.

hard times

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:47:24 -0500

I actually live in South Williamsburg in the midst of Hasidic culture. I won't insult them as a group of people, but riding a bike through the neighborhood can be a frustrating and dangerous experience because so many of these Hasidim don't respect others when it comes to traffic. The charges that cyclists are the safety issue is beyond laughable. I will be encouraging my girlfriend to exercise her right to wear only shorts and a sports bra when outside as much as possible.

Future Taliban

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:39:36 -0500

"I have to admit, it's a major issue, women passing through here in that dress code. It bothers me, and it bothers a lot of people." I put up with the 18th century clothing, the ridiculous hats and the spooky curly sideburns, so I guess we're all par for the course.

soopaman

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:59:38 -0500

31: "As a Scientologist" Can you have these people beamed to another planet? Send over a space ship or something.

Spiritof76

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:46:09 -0500

Why can't they be like the Amish and move their little xenophobic community out to the sticks? If you live among others in the city, you normally have to deal with others, not force them to follow your beliefs.

phatbenetar

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:41:39 -0500

Does it matter if there is a bike lane there?? They drive real bad, in their beat up mini vans and station wagons! I think the goal is to run down any outsiders...

interlard

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:21:58 -0500

As a Scientologist I'm appalled that these complaints weren't directed to the nearest talking goat. These Hasidim have no respect for others.

Morticia

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:21:53 -0500

They've tried to have the West Indian Labor Day Parade rerouted out of "their" Eastern Parkway neighborhood because they found the costumes and dancing offensive. "The road of life is rocky, and you may stumble, too. So while you point your finger, someone else is judging you." - Bob Marley

The Man Bat

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:54:11 -0500

buncha Anti-Semites.... I keed...I keed!! Actually I am just surprised that no one HAS stepped in with that old canard.

takethecanoli

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:53:31 -0500

24 That sounds like the makings of the funniest porn flick this year. Spill it!

Steven

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:40:28 -0500

Hasidics are an embarrassment to the rest of the Jewish population in the city. They live in their little own world making up stupid rules, which they think God told them to do.

babyhitler

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:38:48 -0500

YOu ever see the jews in those silk robes and furry hats that look like crowns? they walk around like kings with their wives following behind them pushing strollers. I thought the whole point of orthodoxy was to lower yourself to god? Looking regal and walking around like a douche doesn't seem to fit.

fakenewyorker

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:32:55 -0500

they need to go back to 19th century poland.

sofabait

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:32:51 -0500

I spent many years working as a professional dominatrix and countless hours were (most unfortunately) in the company of Hasidic men getting their rocks off AND trying to be more perverted than the average respectable joe. After that experience, it seems the more one is cloaked out of religious beliefs, the more one is hiding odd sexual proclivities. Can't imagine what the Pope gets into. Oh, and the Hasidic community totally sucks at driving. I know, I've been hit. Maybe they are against the bike lanes cos they can't pilot a bike.

dadoc

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:20:20 -0500

Anybody notify Critical Mass that there's a golden opportunity to make a point & "take back the streets" the last Friday of this month by a scantily clad CM via this bike lane? Around sunset, maybe? Now THAT is one I'd like to see. Rabid scantily clad bikers, Hasidim in Sabbath mode, & NYPD confused trying to protect the "chosen" (politically) from the "unchosen".

zodak

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:05:38 -0500

if they want all women to be covered up all the time they should move someplace where they'll feel right at home...like saudi arabia.

JacqueMehoff

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:57:14 -0500

What happened to Separation between Church and State? Don't they have enough holidays and no alternate side of the street parking?

Polite New Yorker

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:54:44 -0500

It's OK to ogle a woman on a bicycle, so long as she's a shiksa. Sadly, the city government takes these fanatics seriously.

andrewbbbbbbb

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:49:41 -0500

Hi. I was the cyclist involved in that crash on Tuesday morning. To set the record straight, I wasn't struck, but rather went over the bars trying to avoid a head-on collision with a Northside car that did not yield whatsoever to oncoming traffic while making a left-hand turn across the double-yellow on to N. 7th. Also for the record, I was wearing cut-off's. Boycott Northside please! They are a terrible presence in our community, and do NOT respect other users' right to the road!

Armchair_warrior

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:48:39 -0500

i hope the city doesn't give into these guys, they have their own little world there already. if they want they can move to the middle east and join with the rest of the religious nuts.

aveB4life

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:45:56 -0500

at first i thought that lady had a bald beave.

lanciano

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:43:13 -0500

I don't know what everyone's problem with Kent Street is. It's a perfectly fine place to ride a bike on the weekend.

ticktick

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:43:04 -0500

Uh huh. They're oh, so offended. And I'm equally offended when these frume hasidim pull over in their minivans on Bedford Ave and proposition me, blatantly, in broad daylight, while I'm walking home from work wearing a backpack and dowdy office clothes. This used to happen to me all the time when I lived in North Brooklyn. Talk to anyone in the sex industry in this town - doms, strippers, etc - and they'll tell you that Hasidic men are among their best customers. And even if you're an average, unsexy office drone like me, if you're not one of them, you're fair game. All women but their own are whores - the Yiddish word is "Pritze".

goyogago

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:42:21 -0500

the fact that their complaints aren't laughed at is frightening. what are they going to do, station people with robes at certain "community entrance points"?

Jen S

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:38:13 -0500

Newsflash: South Wburg is not a gated community.

lanciano

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:37:31 -0500

i must say i've felt rather self-conscious riding through Wmbrg in my relatively scanty bike attire. But legislating what people wear while passing through a neighborhood is completely ABUSRD! Their religious convictions should afford them the strength to use mind over matter and ignore whatever feelings bare shoulders and knees brings up in them!

dbc

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:32:56 -0500

Please fix the title--"Hasidim" is the plural of "Hasid", not "Hasids".

spiritross

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:30:58 -0500

Change happens That is New York City Just like everybody else Deal with it.

TurkeyburgerDLX

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:30:13 -0500

Their argument that bikes don't obey traffic laws is laughable. Hasids don't give a sh*t about traffic laws - especially in their own hood.

woodendesigner

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:27:14 -0500

This country is great in that you can practice your own beliefs without fear of persecution but it in order for you to have that you need to have some tolerance towards others as well. If you want to get upset about someone riding down a PUBLIC street wearing something that you deem inappropriate, then don't get upset if they turn around and have a problem with some of your practices. Lighten up, let it go and live your life. It's the price we all have to pay in order to live the lives we want to live.

maevemealone

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:25:14 -0500

I have always been rather uncomfortable with the political might a community set on isolation and apartness has with city government. Their dress code applies to their religion, not to those passing through their community. They choose to live the way they live and they need to respect that they are in a large ever changing city and can't dictate who passes them on the street.

FrankMartin

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:22:02 -0500

I guess all I can say is this bike lane is a test from God. A burden like Job's, but without the death of your family. They chould see it as a blessing and rise to God's challenge to prove their faith. Oh and no peeking at those boobies

fugothamist

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:19:35 -0500

f*ck 'em

takethecanoli

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:16:50 -0500

Stick your religion up your ass, rube.

amsci

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:13:19 -0500

[1] - Word to that. Y'know what? I'm offended by THEIR women wearing long skirts, sweaters, and "Blossom" hats in 85 degree weather. I get heatstroke just looking at those chicks, but I don't give them crap about it.

eyekantspel

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:11:20 -0500

I respect the Hasidic community's right to wear silly clothes and live under silly rules, but expect them to extend me the same courtesy.

camera_club

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:08:12 -0500

I understand their views on modesty... but they don't own the streets, c'mon!