Victory for cyclists, they ride, they get split up, they ride, the get tackled, they ride...they ride!
Ok, I am in Boston on a job and I just checked in with NYC to see how their critical mass ride went. Its' been a dramatic week of tensions and tonight was the first NYC critical mass with new police rules in full effect. To review...The cops hate bikes and the dirty anarchists that ride them, even though critical mass is made up all kinds of people...most who shower on a regular basis. But what smelled tonight was a bogus tactic of the police to change the definition of what a parade is to help define a monthy event that has been happening around the planet since 1992. After 2 years of battling the cycling community, the NYPD thought they found their magic formula, but alas, they suck and came at it with the same ol tactics. Tonight the cycling community invited all of the major press to union square to hear about what is really going on with this stale attack of our rights of free assembly, and you know what...a lot of the press showed up, with their big expensive video cameras and they heard from city council member Rosie Menedez of Manhattan's district two, Norman Siegel, famous civil rights attorney who reported on how the big bad city of NYC lost to 4 people named in an ridiculous lawsuit trying to claim that these 4 are single handedly responsible for a bike ride that has no leaders. The city dropped the lawsuit this week and the 5 borough bike club is suing the City for the parade definitions which also effect clean smelling spandex clad taxpaying biker riders who think the city is also full of shit. This club of cyclists also spoke at the rally in Union Square, before tonights ride and showed solidarity with those people with common sense. Power to the People. Also the pedicabs spoke and drew even more connections to the need for alternative transportation not to be harassed by our civil servants (NYPD) who are supposed to protect and serve, not arrest and ticket.
So about 100 riders left the rally at Union Square which had another 100 or so supporters who came to listen to the speakers and not ride.
Right at the start the cops began to single people out and write summons to people who did not have a bell or a light or some other law on the books that is enforced about as frequent as someone driving on a cell phone.
The press swarmed in since it was right at the North end of Union Square and Park Ave. South and all the press was there to video tape the ride and put it on the 11:00 news.
The cops backed off a bit and made one arrest, just to save face and make the cyclists look confrontational.
The ride headed up Park Ave South and was getting swarmed by scooter cops and a few 15 pass vans. Still the mode was to stop people for not having warning devises and lights and soon helmets now that the city council also approved a helmet law for employees of a company using workers on bikes.
This split up the ride and two groups formed...of about 50...or was it 49, the legal limit of cyclists to be riding together. The number 50 has been proved by Aramaic scholars to be the 2nd series of numbers besides the triple 6 to symbolize the apocalypse...thus casting all of NYC into eternal darkness for at least a week.
a group meet up at Colombus circle, including Rosie Menedez of distric who stayed in a pedi-cab the whole ride to witness the abuse.
Much more happened...but I don't want to give a way the whole story.
The good news is...there was little domestic spying (cops video taping us, infiltrating, and general cointelpro), Major press showed up for the start of the ride, a city council member stayed with the whole ride in a pedicab, and despite all the drama...100 brave people came out to ride, be free and feel alive in a world run by insane morons.
So about 100 riders left the rally at Union Square which had another 100 or so supporters who came to listen to the speakers and not ride.
Right at the start the cops began to single people out and write summons to people who did not have a bell or a light or some other law on the books that is enforced about as frequent as someone driving on a cell phone.
The press swarmed in since it was right at the North end of Union Square and Park Ave. South and all the press was there to video tape the ride and put it on the 11:00 news.
The cops backed off a bit and made one arrest, just to save face and make the cyclists look confrontational.
The ride headed up Park Ave South and was getting swarmed by scooter cops and a few 15 pass vans. Still the mode was to stop people for not having warning devises and lights and soon helmets now that the city council also approved a helmet law for employees of a company using workers on bikes.
This split up the ride and two groups formed...of about 50...or was it 49, the legal limit of cyclists to be riding together. The number 50 has been proved by Aramaic scholars to be the 2nd series of numbers besides the triple 6 to symbolize the apocalypse...thus casting all of NYC into eternal darkness for at least a week.
a group meet up at Colombus circle, including Rosie Menedez of distric who stayed in a pedi-cab the whole ride to witness the abuse.
Much more happened...but I don't want to give a way the whole story.
The good news is...there was little domestic spying (cops video taping us, infiltrating, and general cointelpro), Major press showed up for the start of the ride, a city council member stayed with the whole ride in a pedicab, and despite all the drama...100 brave people came out to ride, be free and feel alive in a world run by insane morons.
posted by Michael Green at 11:33 PM
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6 Comments:
Gotta love it, people! Somewhere in here are the makings for a comedy. Dukes of Hazzard does NYC!
Just the good ol' boys,
Never meanin' no harm,
Beats all you've ever saw, been in trouble with the law since the day they was born.
Straight'nin' the curve,
Flat'nin' the hills.
Someday Times Square might get 'em, but the law never will.
Makin' their way,
The only way they know how,
That's just a little bit more than the law will allow.
Just good ol' boys,
Wouldn't change if they could,
Fightin' the system like a true modern day Robin Hood.
It was a pretty sweet first Critical Mass to go to. I can't wait to see photos/video footage of it.
great report. can't believe you got all that even though you weren't there. you must have good sources. i was there as a supporter and heard a woman screaming as several cops took her camera and loomed in on her to tackle her. it was an awful shameful display.
i DID see cops filming by the way. also saw cop vans parked illegally, blocking traffic. ridiculous hypocrisy at its finest!
What's crazy is that if around 200 people were there... and around 50 got arrested or ticketed... that's 1/4 of all people who participated in one way or another. Insane.
Mike I would put the ride at 200 bikers and the number of supporters less than 100 maybe 70. A great show of strength against a Cop mandated law. I especially loved the riders wearing T-shirts with numbers up to 50.
STILL WE RIDE!!!
Now, if you can just get that city official to come to every one (and RIDE a bike rather then sit in the back of a peddy cab but I suppose we should take what we can get). I would really like to know what they thought of it. What do you say - friend or foe?
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