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NBC New York has a video of a confrontation between Parks Department officers and a pedicab driver, adding, "There was no shortage of offensive language, so we turned off the audio for you. Merry Christmas!" Some commenters are suggesting conspiracy, saying, "It is the NYC carriage drivers that are harassing them and since the industry has tied with Christine Quinn, they are using the park dept to harass pedicab drivers," and "It was the horse carriage driver who started to harass them and took their pedicab."
History: Last year, the City Council passed a bill to regulate pedicabs by distributing 325 licenses. The bill would have essentially cut the number of pedicabs in half, so the pedicab community protested and sued the city. Earlier this year, a state judge struck down the pedicab licensing plan.
Related: Various groups, including PETA and the Humane Society, are trying to stop the horse carriage industry.
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I live on 60th and 5th so I'm always walking by the Parks Dept. cops. They won't let street musicians or break dancers in the park anymore etc. They are cracking down on street life. It's a police state. All I can say is Fight the Power!
"It's a police state."
Is it? I don't really think you know what a real police state is. Perspective.
PEP officers are the worst, right behind sanitation and their sneaky tickets.
Parks Dept. "cops" and pedicab drivers are both pretty high up on my "People Who Suck A Lot" list, so I'm kinda torn here.
when the real police showed up, did they all just pull the one guy down or did they hit him so he fell? also how did this hole thing start. im a bit confused.
What exactly did this guy do? All I see are people trying tackle this 7' tall man and screaming a lot. Need more info.
I'm lost on what set off the whole fight to begin with. Hopefully more information comes out about this video and story.
"PEP" is the abbreviated form of "shit for brains." Same for the noun "Christine Quinn."
Seems to me that "Back off!" are probably the only two words that that female officer knows. She was treating the bystanders with about the same respect as they did that guy. Whatever happened to "Everybody please stand back." Typical losers drunk with what little power they are given by their badges. The way people like this act, they're lucky it didn't turn into a all-out riot. No de-escalation skills whatsoever. And I bet they won't even get a slap on the wrist for this incident.
Just don't arm these pieces of excrement. If the city does, than the "citizens' rights to bear arms" should be duly exercised.
I'm not sure if they are equal or lower than the traffic enforcement illegal aliens.
Jen this story is great and all but its obnoxious that it plays automatically when you load the main gothamist site. Give me the choice if I want to hit play or not!
merry christmas!
Is the black guy that tall, or are the PEP that short? I'm 6' and about as tall as the Ford Escapes the PEP seems to use for their vehicles, so the fact that the PEP folks are over a head shorter than their vehicle, I have to assume that the black guy is not really that big, but the PEP folks are just short.
XMas Jen C. peace and love for us all
@snoopy, you are right, Quinn is shit for brains and she is destroying our city. Pedicabs are green and humane yet she wants to abolish them because she is align with the Queens Machine with support the lobbyist for the carriage industry. Their lobbyist Thomas McMahon is the husband of deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs and the brother of council member Michael McMahon. it is all corruption and they don't oversight the carriage industry at all yet they harass these pedicab drivers every day. some carriage drivers even chase the pedicab drivers away from the park and some pedicabs tires were slashed
"Everybody please stand back."
What the fuck city do you live in?
I dont think any of these dirtbag pedicab drivers can even speak english
@16, they do speak english, a lot of them are college students and intelligent.
F the pedicabs and f the parks dept cops. I'm sick of these pedicabs riding wherever the fuck they please, disobeying every traffic law, and then whining like little bitches when they get no respect from cars.
As far as I know most pedicab drivers speak English pretty well
they dont whine, the parks dept harasses them uner QUINN'S orders
I'm with #7 & #8, I can't get a good handle on precisely what's going on in this video. The only thing I know is that the location is Central Park South.
Is the problem that the carriage drivers objected to competition from the pedicab drivers?
"PEP" is the abbreviated form of "shit for brains." Same for the noun "Christine Quinn."
HUH??!! PEP is an abbreviated form of Shit For Brains? I mean...doesn't it bother you to know that after reading that gem, most of us will now assume that YOUR cranium is actually the one made of excrement? Then you try and dupe us into thinking you've finished primary school by referencing a noun.
eholmes based on your reply you have put me in a quest for further knowledge. Are you Larry Holmes nephew and ex sparring partner or do you think you are related to the fictional character Sherlock Holmes?
And for your information Christine Quinn is a noun, soon to be an adjective or an adverb in a past tense hopefully.
Interesting that the Parks Department NEVER cracks down on violations by the carriage industry but they were right there to beat up a pedicab driver. According to the ASPCA and their keystone cops, the Parks Dept. is also supposed to enforce the regulations. The ASPCA is currently in the pass the buck mode. They like to claim that they VOLUNTEER their time and cannot be everywhere at once.
No one is ever around to see the carriage drivers go into u-turns on Central Park South; overload their carriages; over charge; go out in snow storms; work in areas where they are not allowed; abuse their horses; deprive them of water. All - ASPCA, Parks, Department of Health , Department of Consumer Affairs and the NYPD turn the other way. Yes, the carriage industry has it made in NYC. They are politically blessed by having Christine Quinn and the Mayor on their side and by having retired cops drive carriages. Oh and let's not forget all those loser Council Members who cannot stand up straight because they have no backbone.
@2: Do you know how they boil a frog?
Put it in cold water and then heat it up slowly.
I don't know what the whole commotion was about but since it was one guy against a bunch of Parks enforcement pinheads I was rooting for him. He did the right think though when the cops showed up by going down. I was afraid he was really going to get his ass whupped at that point.
PEP officers are the worst. They are a very productive arm of Bloomberg's uniformed revenue producing troops. Every one of the I ever have interacted with is a power mad psycho with zero interpersonal skills and no apparent accountiblity.
Did you know that the budget for PEPs has been significantly increased within the last 4 years?
Budget crises - let's fire them all!
One more thing - down here in the Village we're working on getting Quinn out.
I did not know doucheberg increased the budget for PEP. guess that's how they can afford those segways.
Yes the PEP ranks were beefed up in the last 4 years. Haven't you noticed them everywhere writing tickets anywhere near a park? Guess the city justiified the PEP payroll, and the accompanying toys such as segways and jeeps, with anticipated "revenue" from the tickets they write. Bloomberg includes ticket fines as part of the city's revenue (just like taxes) instead of the incidental income they normally are considered.
So while real city revenue was up during the economic boom Bloomberg was allocatingit to such dubiious expenditures - instead of saving it for when the bubble burst. Doesn't sound like the best business savy to me.
I hope the PEPs get fired and can't find a job except pedaling a pedicab!
#28, yes please vote Quinn out of office. She is the worst thing that happened to NYC
This video has absolutely NOTHING to do with the carriage drivers or their horses. For Gothamist to post that ridiculous "conspiracy theory" is a blatant jab at the horse industry. gothamist is clearly biased and is obviously listening to people like Felix, who is an ex-pedicab driver with a penchant towards harassing and slandering the carriage industry.
This video clearly shows an uruly pedi driver resisting a uniformed officer or three. I see NO horses, or carriage drivers in this video. In fact, there were non in the vicinity that day, because of the lines of tourists waiting at 5th ave...not 7th.
This is just another example of the bad behavior the pedi drivers exhibit when confronted by the law. They are uninsured, unlicensed, and unregulated. The drivers do as they please within in the park and take no heed to the officers.
Ive been saying for years, give them enough rope and they will hang themselves. Well, they have. It wont be long before the parks dept stops allowing them from entering the park at all.