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A sobering reminder of the tragic accidents underlying the protest's levity: A ghost bike recently installed at the base of the Manhattan Bridge memorializes Dan Valle, a 26-year-old musician and teacher who was killed while riding his bike in Brooklyn last month.
On Saturday a bunch bike-riding of clowns took to the streets to "liberate" bike lanes from the tyranny of parked and idling automobiles. Affiliated with advocacy group Times-Up!, the festive ride represented a mounting frustration on the part of cyclists who say the NYPD has not been doing enough to keep cars out of bike lanes. During the ride, some two dozen clowns simulated crashing into the backs of vehicles parked in bike lanes, and pleaded with drivers to move out of the way.
Near the intersection of East Houston and Chrystie, there was a tense moment when an NYPD patrol car pulled up alongside the group as they issued one bike lane blocker a fake traffic ticket. For years now, police have been clashing with cyclists who participate in the monthly Critical Mass group rides, and a confrontation seemed imminent on Saturday. But to the clowns' delight, the officer had actually come to order the idling driver to vacate the bike lane! Victory was savored, if only for a moment. Below, a fun video of the event, which culminated in a pie fight in Astor Place.
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^ "cyclists who say the NYPD has not been doing enough to keep cars out of bike lanes. "
What a strange coincidence!
Pedestrians say the NYPD has not been doing enough to keep bikes out of the sidewalks and "liberate the pedestrians form the tyranny of" cyclists who constantly break the law.
Well, at least these jokers are dressed to impress upon us the seriousness of their cause.
Now move back to Portland.
It takes clowns to show the uniformed clowns (the NYPD) how to do their job.
These guys biked right by my house. It was good fun.
Man, I wish I could've done this ride...the bike lane liberations are a blast!
i like angry car people. well really angry anyone's really.. they are a blast. and / or, a hoot.
i support all public disturbances in nyc.
Enjoy the ensuing violence...
Impersonating an officer......
Uh, no. For two reasons: it's clearly not a real police uniform, and no attempt is being made to get anyone to submit to or rely on "pretended official authority." That kind of attempt is a necessary element to a violation of the law against criminal impersonation.
I think he/she meant the ones dressed as clowns were impersonating officers. As in the officers are all clowns and vice versa.
Who stands up for pedestrians? We're at the mercy of both cars and bikes.
www.forgotten-ny.com
Oh please. Pedestrians are a huge danger to cyclists (and therefore to themselves, obviously) via the idiotically bad decisions they make: jaywalking, stepping out into the street without looking, crossing against the light while ignoring a bike who has the right of way... as a corollary, I'm generally more worried about getting doored by some idiot than I am about the cab itself.
Funny... I ride a bike and never felt that pedestrians were "dangerous" to me. Maybe it's because I ride defensively-- learn to anticipate their movements; use gestures, my voice, and my bell to warn them of my presence; or just slow down when I see them ahead.
BTW, the only reason why you're afraid of being "doored" is that you ride in the "door zone", don't look for telltale signs of occupied cars (lights, sound of a running engine, moving heads), and speed down the street like a maniac as you're doing it. Instead of seeing motorists, pedestrians, and other road sharers as "idiots" (read: nuisances) stop using your hatred of them as a crutch to avoid becoming a better cyclist and sharpen up your defensive riding skills.
Um, actually, I've never been doored -- I've managed to avoid them because I am a strong believer in riding defensively and keeping aware of my surroundings at all times. Also, it is impossible to anticipate pedestrians who leap out in front of you from behind a delivery truck or something.
But thanks for your oh-so-presumptuous advice.
When you get doored, Gwinny, be sure have someone read you this comment while you're in traction. You'll be amazed by its blinding superciliousness.
Ummm..hate to enter this argument, but I was hit by a bike last year. I had the cross signal and crossed with a number of other people, but then a delivery bike sped around the corner - going the wrong way down the street- and knocked me down and ran over my left ankle.
A nice guy tried to run after him, but lost. And really generous cab driver offered me a free ride to the hospital.
I had a majorly swollen ankle for at leat two weeks, crutches, and no health insurance because I was a student and couln't afford it at the time. My hospital bill was 700 dollars.
And, um, I went to the hospital last year because a pedestrian jaywalked in front of a bus when I was going downhill in a bike lane. A little girl, maybe 10 or 11. Not possible to see her because of her height and the height and length of the bus. I swerved to avoid her, slammed my brakes, and because I was going to downhill, went over the handlebars. Half a tooth gone (and will likely have to get an implant to replace it--way more than $700!) and a permanent scar on my lip.
But pedestrians--even the ones who push their strollers in my way when I'm going with the traffic and they're crossing against the light--pedestrians are virtuous creatures and bikers are meanies. . .
People need to grow up and obey the existing laws. End of story. Drivers. Bikes. And pedestrians. Obey the laws. And police: enforce them.
Amen!!
I wish the NYPD had done what us law abiding taxpayers are paying them to do, bust the heads of these annoying ass clowns and stuff all of them in one paddy wagon. There should have been a citizen arrest of these hipster douches and have them deported back to OH!
I agree with wwworldclique - I rarely, if ever, feel at risk due to pedestrians; as long as I'm paying attention to what's going on, there's always plenty of time to anticipate and react to what they're doing.
I understand what you're saying about also paying attention to dooring risks, but if there are parked cars on your right and moving cars on your left then it's certainly possible that you might be paying more attention to the moving cars and not notice a driver about to get out of a parked one.
But Kevin, be realistic. How many people are killed in pedestrian-cyclist collisions? One a year, maybe? I'd be surprised if it were more. Meanwhile you hear about fatal car-ped or car-cyclist collisions multiple times a week. Putting the two on par with one another is silly.