I recently heard that New York City got third prize for being the best biking city in the country. How that came to be is besides me. NYC is a dangerous place to ride (or thrilling for some) where potholes, car doors and taxis can jump out at you at any moment. There are few bike lines and although the city is making an effort to increase the amount of lanes, there is another troubling problem. It is called the NYPD.
Not many people in the media talk about it, but the police here like to attack the Critical Mass bikeride that hopes to actually promote bicycle riding. Now I'm not talking about the savage brutality that occurred around the RNC meeting in 2004. Who cares what happened three years anyway, even if people were beaten and illegally detained? Well if you are as heartless as me, then maybe you'll consider what happened just a couple weeks ago:
About 70 riders regrouped and enjoyed a lovely ride for several miles before a rather nasty attack by the NYPD on scooters and other vehicles on 7th Avenue in the 23rd street area. Of the people detained, some were ticketed, some let go. Reportedly at least one person was arrested because she wasn't carrying identification.
Some riders regrouped and continued to ride, but were likely attacked again as cops were seen following them. A considerable amount of time later several cyclists walking down the sidewalk with their bikes were stopped by NYPD and ticketed for not having proper lights etc - a clear example of NYPD abuse.
Apparently, the past 3 months of cop-free NYC Critical Mass rides was too much for the NYPD and they were compelled to ratchet up their nasty illegal harassment of Critical Mass participants.
The cops just can't get enough of these cyclists, and the city could care less. If you call that being bike-friendly, I'd be afraid to see what the police would do if we weren't.
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