Gothamist: State Senator Jeff Klein Curses the Wrong Cyclist

WorksInDUMBO

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:38:12 -0500

Agreed. Good job, Mr. Beavan!

mgdu

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 12:46:50 -0500

Thank you, Colin Beavan, for writing such a rational, comprehensive, and dialogue-promoting letter to Senator Klein. Every New Yorker who values life, health, and the essential rights of the vulnerable to be protected from the steamrolling abuses of the powerful, every decent New Yorker, benefits from your letter and actions in this matter. I hope that Senator Klein is self-confident enough to have the humility to recognize the cogency of your arguments and so to begin to use his legislative power to make the streets and air of New York City safer for the vast majority of citizens, who are not in cars, and healthier for us all.

Joebiker

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:26:47 -0500

Great letter. From a personal stand point I especially liked the paragraph that read: Weigh it up again: One guy is riding a bike that weighs a grand total of 22 pounds and has a relatively small potential to harm others. The other guy is in charge of a powerful machine that weighs a couple of tons. Which person has the greater responsibility to watch out for the care and welfare of people who may get in their path, by their own fault or not? Most people take their responsibility of driving a very dangerous vehicle way to lightly and also develop a superior bullying, domineering driving style that allows room for no others on their road. There needs to be more accountability for those that operate deadly vehicles in the manner that Sen. Klein does.

whitecastlerock

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:32:03 -0500

Another politician who thinks they are above the constituency they represent. How dare a lowly cyclist touch his car! Fuck off Klein...

The Edge

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:02:59 -0500

God, with all these financial institutions falling under, I'm sure there'll be a lot more douchebags on bikes riding around. Great.

yg

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:42:48 -0500

Dear ides_of_march, you wrote:> Apparently I didn't notice the> "liberals only" regulation on the> site home page.From the open letter featured in the article:> As you know, the United States' dependence of > foreign oil contributes significantly to our > current economic crisis and is a matter of > national security.Sounds pretty conservative to me

zodak

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:54:49 -0500

"Dear Senator Klein, RE: My request, as a member of the board of Transportation Alternatives, to meet with you to discuss transportation policy as it relates to bicycle safety, carbon emissions, the cultivation of New York City quality of life, breathable air, and traffic congestion." Sounds like he was trying to communicate with the senator to me. I guess he found a way to make the meeting happen, and in a way to grab publicity and sympathy. Quite clever." the problem is that ides_of_march has never written a professional letter in his life. it is now customary (if not required) to place a "regarding" statement at the beginning of every letter so that administrative personnel can direct the letter when it is received. in other words, what is quoted is what the letter is about. ides_of_march, get a job.

Jerky

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:55:37 -0500

Share your opinion at jdklein@senate.state.ny.us or Toll Free (800) 718-2039 ! Wait, why does he have a 1-800 number???

MT

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:46:45 -0500

What a great even-handed letter. This guy could not be more reasonable. I hope Klein is covered in shame. I don't usually like anyone's arguments in these things because everyone is so self-righteous, but Beaven couldn't have been smarter about it. Klein meanwhile deserves to be pimp slapped.

virgil

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:20:46 -0500

"Apparently I didn't notice the "liberals only" regulation on the site home page. Not a big fan of ideological segregation myself." No one said anything about liberals or conservatives until you did. People are making fun of you because you make no sense, not because you vote for whoever you vote for. And no one's banning you, so whining about intolerance isn't going to cut it. You're still here. If you can't handle disagreement, go someplace where everyone thinks the same as you.

eager2

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:42:40 -0500

This guy needs an editor. Rock on, though.

jibbly

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:25:47 -0500

Trollin' trollin' trollin'...RAW-HAAAAAA-EEEEEED! RAW HIDE!

ambage

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:17:21 -0500

Why don't they set up bicycle lanes with the sidewalks like in Berlin? It works great and there is less interactions with cars--only at intersections. Senator Klein would have to jump a curb for this to go down...

John Del Signore

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:08:55 -0500

Hilarious, Murray Hillster.

Murray Hillster

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:54:09 -0500

"Sounds more like he followed the senator's car on his bike" That's right, he was stalking a Mercedes by bike! Even better, when he got that Mercedes into position of veering into him, he managed to get Klein to say, "Get your hands off my car, you fucking asshole." All part of his dastardly plan to blog about it! Mission: Accomplished. I'm sure No Impact Man is curling his mustache as I write this. "ides of march is vying for the title of premier Gothamist troll." Apparently I didn't notice the "liberals only" regulation on the site home page. Not a big fan of ideological segregation myself." Straight out of the troll playbook: "Oh boo hoo, you don't hate me because you think I'm a moron, you hate my ideology! I'm being oppressed!" Not that you had much credibility to begin with, but when you claim a bicycle is stalking a Mercedes, all of your (little) credibility goes out the window. Your credibility goes out the window when you claim that a board member of TA would manufacture this situation when, in fact, he has about a thousand other ways to make a stink other than by stalking a State Senator on his bike. Better trolls please.

NannyState

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:36:12 -0500

I wonder how jeff klein paid for that black mercedes. Or did he even have to? He should be totally investigated.

ides_of_march

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:35:48 -0500

"ides of march is vying for the title of premier Gothamist troll." Apparently I didn't notice the "liberals only" regulation on the site home page. Not a big fan of ideological segregation myself. New York likes to brag about its ethnic diversity; diversity of opinion, however, is another story entirely.

NYer

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:20:29 -0500

BRAVO, Great letter. I am glad we have people like you fighting for our quality of life.

allenwhy

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:03:00 -0500

ides of march said: Maybe drivers would have more respect for bicyclists if bicyclists had some respect for pedestrians. seriously? you actually think this? you actually think drivers respect pedestrians so much that they are disregarding cyclists to show their solidarity with pedestrians? wow, what city do you live in were walkers and drivers are on the same team? how about if you look before you jaywalk then maybe the bicyclists won't brush you back to the curb. also, when they zoom through red's they look to make sure the same thing isn't coming to kill them that you should be looking for too when you jaywalk aka run a red light: a car!

JacqueMehoff

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:57:00 -0500

no kidding, saw another incident by Chambers street today. guy just couldn't wait for cars to clear the intersection. driver was one of those, U toucha my car, I breaka you face types.

jibbly

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:21:44 -0500

Not only does this happen to me on a regular basis (sans NYS Senator), but drivers will pointedly threaten my life AGAIN after almost crushing me because I knocked on their precious, illegally blacked out windows. And coincidence? It's almost always the jerks with luxury cars/SUVs that threaten to kill you for telling them to watch where they're going.

glennQNYC

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:17:57 -0500

Any cyclist knows a story has a high potential for bullshit when it starts with a JRA... (JRA= I was just riding along when...)

Qraymond

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:58:26 -0500

BTW, this guy's district is the Eastern half of the Bronx, City Island, Eastchester, etc... it's no wonder he's so into his car. Those areas are extremely underserved by mass-transit. "Fucking Asshole" indeed... quite a quotable Senator.

Qraymond

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:53:11 -0500

**Senator Klein reaches for bottle of antacid** Wow, it really is like a scene from an 80's movie about a rich asshole politician. What a douche.

jaycjay

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:39:43 -0500

"Sounds like he was trying to communicate with the senator to me." Uh... you do realize that this letter was written after the incident described in it happened, right? I mean, it seems like that should be obvious...

marginal

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:31:46 -0500

brilliant. that letter is a masterpiece.

maevemealone

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:27:08 -0500

Woah... does Senator Klein also drive a silver Lexus suv? Because I literally just walked in my door after being honked at and then intentionally brushedalltooclose by said car trying to push me off the road on my bike. I almost caught up to him to punch his window before he made a turn. Senator Klein got pwned.

Rfive

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:24:57 -0500

Cyclists are a serious problem in the city, but this seems like another time where the driver of a car is an inconsiderate idiot. Looks like the senator tried to run over the wrong cyclist...

Spiritof76

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:21:42 -0500

ides of march is vying for the title of premier Gothamist troll.

ides_of_march

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:20:07 -0500

RatherBe

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:09:33 -0500

@ides of march gimme a break...

jaycjay

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:07:21 -0500

"Quite a coincidence this guy just happens to ride up next to the car of the politician he's been lobbying on bicyclist issues." Conspiracy theories are so much fun! Only problem with yours is that he wasn't trying to have any communication with the senator -- lobbying or otherwise -- until after this incident happened.

piknyc

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:57:09 -0500

Politicians are such a tiresome lot.

hard times

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:51:24 -0500

yeah, hippie! how dare you defend yourself and act like you have the same right to life and limb as a car-owner!~~

UnrepentantFenian

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:35:28 -0500

Screw you hippie.

ides_of_march

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:34:47 -0500

Wish I had a dollar for every kamikaze bicyclist I had to curse out for nearly wiping me out. Maybe drivers would have more respect for bicyclists if bicyclists had some respect for pedestrians. ----- Karma, or rather, Carma.

ides_of_march

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:30:06 -0500

Quite a coincidence this guy just happens to ride up next to the car of the politician he's been lobbying on bicyclist issues. Sounds more like he followed the senator's car on his bike and engineered this convenient little piece of street theater.

peanuthead

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:28:04 -0500

fuck yeah!!!!! THANK YOU, Colin Beavan!!!

meowster

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:26:58 -0500

omg you couldn't write it better in a movie. hah! what a complete asshole.