"Topless" Bedford Bike Lane Protest Draws Media, Clothed Cyclists

"I want to see some boobs," shouted a lone NYPD officer (seen here) who pulled up to our photographer at Bedford Avenue in South Williamsburg, ironically blocking the former bike lane in the process. "I've been trying to find out online when this is happening and nobody had the start time! Did I miss it?" Minutes later, a group of 15-20 fully clothed cyclists pedaled by, trailed by almost twice as many photographers, TV news crews, and assorted media. The "topless" protest over the controversially removed bike lane was not the NC-17 provocation the media and others had hoped for. At one point, two men in a parked car near Division Street shouted at the cyclists, "We've been waiting for two hours! Where's the skin?"

Last weekend's rainy protest, organized by Times Up, attracted a heavy police presence, but only a couple NYPD vehicles trailed the bicyclists tonight. But it wasn't just the snow and cold weather that kept the protesters clothed. One of the ride's organizers, Heather Loop, had previously taken a confrontational stance toward the South Williamsburg Hasidic community, telling the Brooklyn Paper, "If you can't handle scantily clad women … live in a place where you can have your own sanctuary, like upstate." But tonight Loop and others backpedaled their provocation. "We're not trying to start a war, we're trying to save a bike lane," Loop told us.

"I'm tired of seeing ghost bikes," said protester Lyla Durden. "It can get really hectic and dangerous without bike lanes." And before the ride, Calisha Jenkins, standing in the snow with fake rubber breasts hanging outside her coat, told us, "I'm really clumsy, and without a bike lane I'm a sitting duck." The protest, officially organized by Candy Rain, began with a dedication to bicyclists who've been killed and injured in traffic accidents. Then it was off into the snow, with photographers, news trucks, and the NYPD on hand to catch any provocation. Ultimately, the neighborhood's Hasidic residents barely seemed to notice.

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By John Del Signore in News on December 19, 2009 7:23 PM

Comments [rss]

LB

Pussy-ass Bitches !

Baruch

lyla durden obviously a fake name. based off of tyler durden from fight club.

hug0chavez

...standing in the snow with fake rubber breasts hanging outside her coat, told us, "I'm really clumsy, and without a bike lane I'm a sitting duck."

Seriously?

Qraymond

I am very supportive of increased bike lanes in NYC, but why aren't the bicyclists in the pictures above wearing helmets?

Bike helmets dramatically lower the likelihood of you being injured or killed in the event of an accident.

To participate in a protest about improving bike safety on a snowy, slippery road and not wear a helmet sends a very mixed message and speaks to a broader problem within the bicycling community. It is akin to protesting for more funding for AIDS care while refusing to use condoms yourself.

That being said, it's completely disgusting that Bloomberg caved on this and many other environmental issues-- they should restore this bike lane and create many more.

Mr Mel

Anybody that rides a bike in this city has a death wish.

erp

You f-ing idiots, there is a bike lane three blocks over on a much less busy street. Did anyone ever think they're taking the bike lane out because it would be better if bike traffic through this area took this much safer alternate route? It interesting how many people who comment that they need a bike lane for safety reasons are totally unwilling to wear a helmet.

starrygordon

You're making the curious and incorrect assumption that people riding bicycles will go only where there are bicycle lanes. I ride one, and I use Bedford Avenue when it's convenient regardless of whether lanes are painted on the street. In deference to the wishes of the Hasidim, however, I now make sure to take up a full traffic lane the whole time I am in the South Williamsburg area.

erp

no, starrygordon, I'm not assuming that bikers only travel where bike lanes are present, I'm stating that bike lanes denote major arteries where bike traffic travels and that there is a much safer route for that artery three blocks over. You can make the curious and incorrect assumption that this is some religious conspiracy against bike riders all you want, but I think you should probably take up the whole lane no matter what neighborhood you are in if you don't want to be ran over.

nyactorgirl

A couple years back I was walking down Tottenham Court Road in London doing a little shopping when a mob of hundreds of nude cyclists made their way down the road. I'm not sure what they were protesting, but they certainly stopped traffic and every passerby in their wake. It was shocking...and hilarious...and awesome...and also very, very COLD!!!

Whether right or wrong, I'd say the Brooklyn cyclists missed an opportunity!!

rhaqsrost03

This is weird..actually I am not sure whether the people able to get whatever they are protesting,..yeah, they were able to be notice by lot of people but not the thing they were up to(just my opinion)...

Search Criminal Records

longacre

You probably saw the "World Naked Bike Ride" or whatever it's called which takes place in a bunch of cities, including NYC, every year.

Snoopy

Yes I remember that event. And the world supply of cheap Scottish whiskey was depleted for almost a year.

inoyourider

Fuck these Hasidics.

Want to live where you're not subjected to scantily clad women?

Go live somewhere else assholes.

Tired of BS religion trumping common fucking sense.

Snoopy

OK I read the report. In the report it stated.

"The main cause of crashes seems to be 'failed to look properly'. In my incident I looked properly and it was the two idiot bicycle riders that didn't look properly.

Motorcycle riders are now required to have their headlights on in the daytime. SO THEY ARE MORE VISIBLE! How about doing something like that so bicyclists become more visible? Like wearing day-glo vests similar to highway workers. And having a license number on their vests so idiot riders can be tracked.

Also New York at last look isn't in the UK. What are you a blathering fool?

Snoopy

The above was meant as a response to Jym

Caleb

All these shenanigans about bike lanes is silly, but if the Hasidic Jews have an issue with people's clothing they should suck it up. You're the one choosing to follow a ridiculously strict set of rules. If seeing someone in lycra is that offensive, go somewhere else. It's not like they're harassing or hurting you.

Bottomless Chips

The Orthodox Jews probably pay 5000% more in property and city income taxes than the hipsters that rent and have little taxable income do. Their mega event halls and Temples are very pretty and border some rough areas (Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy). Those also come with huge taxes.

So why shouldn't their opinions---when it comes to city planning---be listened to?

So I don't see the big deal here. This is what representative government is about. It's not about everyone being progressive or everyone being conservative.

Sommelier

Their temples & halls are tax exempt... and the Hasids have one of the highest rates of welfare of any ethnic group in the city. Don't assume that they are paying their fair share of anything!

Jym Dyer

=v= Think this through. Hipsters, for the most part, are north of the Williamsburg Bridge. The contested bike lanes head south, to the non-hipsterly parts of Brooklyn.