This is not a nation of rules. Just rulers. Rulers who are dumber, uglier, and fatter than you.

#43- Well, wherever you moved from, I'm sure it's a lot more bike friendlier than NYC.

So, y'know, maybe you oughta... move back?

I think they meant for you to turn onto the Sidewalk & then cross the street.

Bureaucracy’s stupid.

Ahh, the NYPD... always dishing out that Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect...

I've gotten at least 3 sidewalk bicycle summonses since I moved to NYC 3 years ago. ALL of them were dismissed, but it was very hard to know so until the actual day of court. Calling about it was a timely circus of bureaucracy so I just showed up and missed work days. Ouch. Each of these summonses were handed to me during circumstances in which it was....

#1. downright dangerous to remain on the street.

#2. empty in terms of pedestrians.

#3. a rainstorm/ debris blocking narrow street passage/ coasting slowly for others' safety and never for more than a block.

#4. NYPD is ludicrous.

I've gotten at least 3 sidewalk bicycle summonses since I moved to NYC 3 years ago. ALL of them were dismissed, but it was very hard to know so until the actual day of court. Calling about it was a timely circus of bureaucracy so I just showed up and missed work days. Ouch. Each of these summonses were handed to me during circumstances in which it was....

#1. downright dangerous to remain on the street.

#2. empty in terms of pedestrians.

#3. a rain

I was the girl who was also ticketed during this 5-cops-and-a-van sting. FGutz123, I wanted to tell you that this happened to me IN FRONT MY MY GODDAMN HOUSE about a year ago, and because it was a summons and not a ticket for any actual amount, I ended up not making it to court (hello! I work!), and eventually just got a notice in the mail saying the case had been dismissed. If this is your first, uh, offense, I'd guess that's likely to happen to you - though it's not a surefire thing to ride on, and calling this to the courts attention would be excellent.

Whatever. They took the woefully outdated address off my out of state license, and I wasn't about to volunteer my actual address. See you never, courts. If a biking on the sidewalk ticket lies heavy on my record for the rest of my life, so be it.

And, thanks for the DOT and TA responses.

JenChungsBra, my running a red light ticket i'm going in for tomorrow is for $200. and sure, i ran the red. there were no cars coming, i looked both ways and judged that since pedestrians were crossing against the light, so could i. i wonder if i dismounted and jaywalked in the crosswalk with the rest would i receive a ticket?

kojak, apparently riding a bike is evil. the police (the higher ups, not necessarily the foot patrol who are told to stand on a street corner and write tickets) and drivers/peds have a real anger towards people on bikes. a lot of it has to do with anti hipster sentiment that is raging in this city and the bizarre, immediate correlation with bike and said hipster. see, riding a bike, is a nice, pleasant, "green" way to get around the city. the problem is being in a city designed to ease motor vehicle congestion (one way streets, etc) and following motor vehicle laws. it just doesn't make sense to be held to the same laws. we aren't 12,000 pounds of steel doing 50 down narrow soho roads. we're a grand total of maybe 200 pounds doing 12, and that's only for the speedy cyclists. in addition, the driving in new york is reckless. huge trucks should not be doing 50, period. in new york, if a speed limit isn't posted, the speed limit is 25. i have never seen a car doing 25, ever. so my riding on my bike must react to my conditions, and playing it safe makes me a sitting duck. aggressive riding is the only way to not die.

okay, bring on the hate... i expect nothing less.

Cars = terrorists on 4 wheels

TransAlt & cycling zealots = terrorists on 2 wheels

Pedestrians = all the rest of us

How come every time there's some type of minor story involving bicyclists (especially if its near Williamsburg, The Village, etc), and how (Allegedly) the govt tries to keep them 'down', the Gothamist community becomes enraged and it leads to a 50+ comment thread?

I was also ticketed on a rainy Sunday afternoon in February along the desolate strip of sidewalk adjacent to Admiral's Row. The case was dismissed before I ever saw a court room. If memory serves, the issuing officer even told me it would probably be dismissed when he wrote the ticket. Why are they wasting time and resources on this stuff?

I'm surprised by the sidewalk vs. wrong way question as well; my only cycling ticket was for going the wrong way for a distance of about 18 feet along the plaza in front of the Time Life building while heading to lock my bike up. I think police enforce what they feel like enforcing, secure in the knowledge that you can't win that particular argument at that particular moment.

allenwhy, I accepted a jaywalking ticket but I can't say I did it gladly. Three hours in a courthouse plus $25. The cop apologized to me for issuing it, but it was during Giuliani's big crackdown on the "Boulevard of Death." I wasn't even crossing against the light, just outside the crosswalk with the light. The ticket actually said "crossing outside the crosswalk."

@FGutz123 & allenwhy:

interesting that the cops would enforce the sidewalk rule rather than the against the traffic rule since I think riding the wrong way on the street is more dangerous. i am sure there are those who would beg to differ, especially cops who do not care if a cyclist is struck (either by a car or another cyclist).

"the cop actually told me that I was allowed to go down the wrong way on South 5th place to reach the entrance of the bridge. While he was giving me the ticket these two bikers came around and went down the wrong way on S 5th Place and the cop even pointed them out to me saying "see, that's what you should have done, you can do that," but the bikers ended up turning right onto South 5th street instead of going onto the bridge (yes continuing down the wrong way on a street right in front of the cops)"

that's actually true. not to say that's the law, but it's a law they are willing to ignore while enforcing the sidewalk law. i was stopped on the sidewalk while many went the wrong way and weren't stopped. i actually went on the sidewalk because i figured they would stop me for going the wrong way. i didn't get a ticket anyway, one cop was on his cell and the other was finishing up another ticket after he stopped me and when i asked why i was stopped and got no response i left. i wasn't followed, they probably forgot i was there. oh well. they have a job to do, and i will do anything in my power to avoid bullshit tickets. i'd like to see a pedestrian gladly accept a jaywalking ticket!

FGutz, sounds to me like you can get off on a technicality. The environmental control board is not a criminal court. Maybe if you produce the statute when you get there they'll see you are in the wrong place and will dismiss it.

I got a ticket for biking on the sidewalk just as I was about to get onto the southern ramp of the Williamsburg bridge. Apparently, the cops wanted me to walk my bike to the bottom of the ramp and then ride up the ramp with zero initial momentum.

Ticket got dismissed anyway, but what's up with the ticketing blitz in Billyburg?

Thanks for posting the DOT reply.

I get more convinced every day that NYPD is not run by Ray Kelly but rather Rosco P. Coltrane. Complete with Cletus and Enos. And maybe Boss Bloomberg as well.

That sounds like the police to me!