Update 5: Kevin Scott shot the flashing yellow bill proposal announcement. Thanks, Kevin.
NY Daily news: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/03/quit-picking-on-the-bicyclists-city-councilmembers-tell-nypd
Update 4: Niko sent over a compilation of links
Reference to Central Park 25 mph Speed Limit is here:
http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/things-to-do/sports/bicycle-riding.html
Gail Brewer’s email for thank you emails:
New York Times coverage:
Wall Street Journal coverage:
Village Voice coverage:
Gothamist:
StreetsBlog:
Update 3: From Greg Olsen, who called Councilperson Gale Brewer to find out what brought about this morning’s speed trap:
Councilperson Brewer just called me back. She Just got off the phone with Douglas Blonsky, head of CPC who spoke with Captain Wishnia earlier.
According to Councilperson Brewer, Captain Wishnia stated to Mr. Blonsky that there will be no more ticketing in CP for speeding due to the fact that the speed limit for bicycles is indeed 25mph.
She asked me to please keep her posted.
I think it is probably best to not be too boastful about this “win” as a community as we are still under attack for ticketing in the parks, just not for speeding.
Update 2: As per Dave Jordan: cyclists of NYC. please attend a press conference to introduce new legislation protecting cyclists rights to ride in CP! 1pm at City Hall tomorrow, Wednesday, 3/23. http://www.nycc.org/message-board/city-hall-rally-introduction-rodriguezgentile-bill-wednesday-march-23-1-pm/50471
Update 1: Here’s the 15mph rule. Can you find it? Can you find it from a moving bike? By the way, that’s the road in the background, on the other side of the sign.
Original Post: I pulled this stuff from crca.net and Facebook without permission assuming Dave Chomowicz and Mike Margarite would be ok with it. Apologies in advance if it’s not ok with them, just wanted to get the word out quickly.
Mike’s post on Facebook:
Central Park velocipedalists, the next giant middle finger extended in your direction comes in the form of a 15mph speed limit. 28 in a 15 = 195 bucks, plus an additional 80 dollars in Just Because fees. It might be legal for me to ride for a few seconds on Harlem Hill, depending on the ride…
I asked where it was posted, and the cop (who was kind of apologetic) said that that was my argument, if I wanted to take it to court (which, obviously, loving municipal buildings as I do…).
1. no speed trap in the exact same location as this morning
2. vehicles ran red lights one in six light changes. this pic shows a cab running a red
3. cars often in the rec lane. here is a solo driver ( non HOV) in the rec lane with a cop approximately 75 yards back
i will also add that many (i did not count them) vehicles were non HOV compliant and only had one driver
-chom
The solution is simple. Let the NYC DOT abolish the 15 mph speed limit. Hello Jon Orcutt?
More from Dave Jordan:
Just got off the phone.
Anyone who received a ticket in CP please contact Tom Perotta of the WSJ, trying to file an article by 5:30pm today. Mention my name when you contact him.
http://www.davejordancoaching.com
Thx
Dave Jordan
Andy and Dave – Is Perotta someone that can be trusted or will this be another hatchet job on cyclists like the Post article that quoted Laskey?
I have found Tom Perrotta to be fair and to use quotes accurately. He is not looking for a takedown.
He has written 2 articles on cycling since Nov. in the wsj. The first was about the bike lanes throughout the city and the secon on the red lights in the park. The first article is at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703567304575628783384491828.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The second article is here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704132204576136311066399334.html?mod=WSJ_NY_MIDDLELEADNewsCollection
Thanks Mike.
I am becoming a big fan of Gail Brewer.
15 mph speedtraps are over with. Check top update.
WHERE IS MUKCRAKING JOURNO REED ABLORGLOTTI WHEN WE NEEDS HIM!?!!!!111
looking into it.
Saw the trap this morning and thought it was joke.
But…
“The speed limit in Central Park is 25 mph and strictly enforced.”
http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/general-info/rules-regulations/
Definitely contest the ticket, especially if the speed is not posted.
Definitely. *Everyone* should be contesting *every* ticket, whether or not it was in the park.
How utterly ridiculous. Is it possible that Wishnea IS actually the primary source of this idiotic, hypocritical and ineffective policy?? This guy needs to be FIRED! Some elected official, preferably Stringer or the Council member there, needs to get on the phone to 1 PP and explain how ridiculous this is.
BTW, STAY AWAY from Prospect Park! A blizzard of tickets there. It makes CP look like 9W. Repeat: stay away.
This seems to be driven by a few Rick f*ckers who don’t like bikes. You need to counter with even richer fuckers that love bikes. Money and influence talk. Get organized. Affect elections.
The park dept created the 15 mph cycling speed limit in 1991. I have not been able to find the law. The enforce it from time to time but it is completely bogus.
from the NYT’s 1991:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDD153AF937A15753C1A967958260
Critical mass 8am every morning for a week
Perhaps we should look into the legality of the CP precinct using the horse trail near the reservoir as their personal car parking lot, or non-emergency vehicles, presumably driven by cops or city officials, using CP during non-car hours as their traffic-avoidance route (I don’t believe there is an exception for non-emergency vehicles if they put on hazard lights…). Why not throw some mud back at them? This is getting absurd.
Presume this is a puerile retaliation for the TA video of cars speeding in CP. Interesting that this takes priority over checking the lethal bus services. Perhaps we could just race Boathouse rental bikes from now on – 15 mph x 50 lbs is a lot of energy.
Guy got a ticket for running a light in CP. Was told by the cop straight up: “This is what you get for the bike lanes”.
This is former transportation commissioner and Chuck Shumar’s wife, Iris Weinshall’s, way of exacting revenge against the expanded bike lanes throughout the city.
As the wife of our senator, she is now exerting all kinds of political pressure to retaliate against bikers in all forms.
She is even behind a lawsuit against the Prospect Park West Bike Lane, which happens to have taken away a few parking spaces and a lane of traffic in front of her apartment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/nyregion/08bike.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
… yep — the site even explicitly mentions a 25 MPH speed limit for cyclists:
http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/things-to-do/sports/bicycle-riding.html
http://www.trapster.com/
In fact, can we set up / design / or contract to have an app built that allows us to alert each other as to when there is a red light or speed trap in the park? There are enough cyclists in the park at any time that we should be able to inform one another about the cops at all times…twitter??
Tech geeks, any ideas?
Here’s another blog with a link to a protest petition.
Sign-up: http://tinyurl.com/48chl59
If there was ever a time to write your concilperson, this is it.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Suspend-the-lights-in-Central-Park-when-closed-to-vehicular-traffic/152453181477814
If any of you give money to Central Park Conservancy, please contact them and tell them that you will not give any more donations unles they tell the PArk Police to cool it with the made up rules and selective enforcement of exisiting rules. They will say it’s not their thing but we have to make them care Conservancy = political clout w/ cops.
If this really is because of bike lanes, it just goes to show how one bad idea leads to another. This may not go over well on this forum, but the new bike lanes are a dumb idea. I don’t know how you can see it otherwise. You take a limited resource and make it exclusively usable by a minority. Of course you are going to piss off the majority. Before bike lanes all of the road was shared, so both cyclists and cars could use it. The only persons who benefit from the new lanes are inexperienced cyclists. In other word those that have no business being on the road and those that are too lazy to learn how to ride in traffic. Those of us who take the time to learn the rules of the road and how to ride in traffic now have to suffer.
after cyclists in prospect park now too?
NYC law is made by anyone who can buy it.
http://nycathlete.blogspot.com/2011/03/fughedaboudit.html
disagree.
there is strength in numbers. 2x the number of bike commuters, twice as safe.
I can see how some racers don’t mind being part of a fringe thing, but bike commuting is a good thing, and it takes time for people to get used to it.
the anti bike crowd is on the wrong side of history, just like anti-civil rights, etc.
bike lanes do not give them the justification to ticket cyclists in bad faith in CP
disagree.
there is strength in numbers. 2x the number of bike commuters, twice as safe.
I can see how some racers don’t mind being part of a fringe thing, but bike commuting is a good thing, and it takes time for people to get used to it.
the anti bike crowd is on the wrong side of history, just like anti-civil rights, etc.
bike lanes do not give them the justification to ticket cyclists in bad faith in CP
From:
Tibor Nemes
From the Central Park website: speed limit for cyclists: 25MPH. In case you got pulled over for speeding. I got a ticket and fined “unknown amount” this morning for going at 23mph. This is getting abusive!
http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/things-to-do/sports/bicycle-riding.html.
The Official Website of Central Park – Bicycle Riding
http://www.centralparknyc.org
Offering both hilly and flat terrain, Central Park provides cyclists with varying levels of difficulty. Circling the entire Park, the drives provide three long-distance routes of 6.1 miles, 5.2 miles or 1.7 miles. There are shorter distances if you cross the Park at a number of scenic locations.
Suspend the lights in Central Park when closed to vehicular traffic we share the same rights and rules as the cars so intill the sign says 15mph we have to follow the the posted ones that say 25mph! This BS is abusive.
From: Tibor Nemes
Attention NYC Cyclists! Police cracking down on speeding cyclists in Central Park. That’s right, speeding now. According to some NYC bikers’ handbook over 15mph is excessive on a bike. Careful… So much for that meeting the other day where the Police Chief said “we are willing to work with the cyclists”. I wrote more here http://nycathlete.blogspot.com/2011/03/fughedaboudit.html
Athletic Life NYC: Fughedaboudit
nycathlete.blogspot.com
the bike lanes also exist to discourage the use of cars, reduce air pollution and not exclusively for recreation. air quality in new york is amongst the worst in the country. the majority is often wrong.
bp@manhattanbp.org
One of our political supporters.
If everbody is feeling overwhelmed and repressed by the random ticketing, why don’t you move out of NYC and go somewhere else where you can ride without these worries of being ticketed at 6 AM in the Park, clipped by a taxi, or getting doored by somebody when riding down Central Park West or Amsterdam?
If you can find the job in NYC, you can find it just about anywhere else and have more peace of mind with riding. If not, just ride the trainer.
I’m 3-4 years away from the wife and I retiring and moving out of this fucking hell hole and I can’t fucking wait.
now, write something sensible you twat!
Well, Victor Brifter agrees with me. It’s better riding out of the city and elsewhere. More peaceful, better roads, better views, better riding.
Why don’t you bend over, and hand me that seatpost…?
“You take a limited resource and make it exclusively usable by a minority.”
You could say the same about HOV and bus lanes on freeways, yet I don’t hear drivers screaming bloody murder about those.
I’m not a huge fan of the new separated bike lanes either and rarely use them, but if they get more people out of the subway or their cars and onto a bike, then they’re a good thing.
Bottom line, people like to SAY they’re all for something until it comes time for each individual to step up and alter their behavior. “OMG! there’s floating island of garbage in the Pacific the size of Texas!! and it’s 90% plastic bottles and bags!!!” Yeah, those are the ones I see walking around with Evian bottles and on their way home from Whole Foods clutching 3 days worth of food in like 5 double bagged sacks of plastic. “The asthma and lung cancer rates in the City are 2x the national average!!” Those are the ones driving 15 blocks to go to the f-ing movies, and then spending 15-20 minutes driving around looking for a GD parking spot. “Yes, oh yes, I’m very concerned about the environment! I’m very Green! Wait!? They’re removing a car lane from PPW for what?!? I already have to (sort of) look out for vehicles when I cross the street, NOW I have to look out for BICYCLES also?!?! But bikes are practically a TOY!!”
Yeah, you get the idea…
yo don’t let the fucking door hit you on the way out
we should have the option to use CP, we pay taxes here?
Check out what this California city did to a popular bike route.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_17652166
They added speed humps and claim the speed limit is 15 mph. A cyclist crashed there and is in serious condition, and they say that they can’t be sure if the humps caused it.
Just added the 15 mph sign. Check above.
Mike, why are you constantly trying to make this sound like a class warfare issue? There’s plenty of competitive cyclists that you would probably classify as “yuppies” shopping at Whole Foods, etc… including myself. It just makes you sound like you are inciting something. Focus on the issue.
Bicycle Riding
Offering both hilly and flat terrain, Central Park provides cyclists with varying levels of difficulty. Circling the entire Park, the drives provide three long-distance routes of 6.1 miles, 5.2 miles or 1.7 miles. There are shorter distances if you cross the Park at a number of scenic locations.
The Park is closed to traffic on Monday through Friday, 10am to 3pm and 7pm to 7am the following morning, and weekends from 7pm Friday to 7am Monday. In addition, the East Drive is closed weekday mornings (open only 3pm to 7pm), and the West Drive is closed weekday afternoons (open only 7am to 10am). When the Park is open to traffic a bikers’ lane is always available, though we do not recommend using the Drives when they are open to traffic. The Park is officially closed from 1am to 6am.
No permit is required to bike in Central park, however there are several laws and rules that every cyclist must obey:
•Pedestrians have the right of way at all times.
•At crosswalks, cyclists must slow down, yield to pedestrians and then proceed cautiously.
•Cycling is prohibited on all pedestrian pathways.
•Cyclists are required to obey all traffic laws, such as traffic signals, stop signs, and a maximum speed limit of 25 mph, though it is recommended they travel at a speed appropriate to their surroundings.
•The law requires that children under 14 years of age wear a helmet, but it is recommended that all cyclists wear a helmet.
•They must always travel counterclockwise around the park.
•Cyclists must use only the outer half of the recreation lane when the drives are open to cars; when they are closed to cars, cyclists must stay out of the recreation lane which is for runners and walkers only.
Benjamin, perhaps you’re right. I have the whole PPW issue buzzing around in my head also.
This CP thing just seems to be a simple vendetta, or even a feud between two city agencies/ officials.
Also, my problem isn’t with where people shop or whether or not they may be ‘yuppies’, rich, whatever, it’s what they put their food in and how they get there. My 65 y.o. mother has the sense to bring re-usable shopping bags with her to the supermarket instead of coming home with a fresh batch of 15-20 plastic bags every week.
does this mean you are required to have a speedometer on your bike? I can’t imagine this would hold up under legal scrutiny.
Wow. SO happy I moved to the country where the traffic-free riding is limitless. Enjoy this battle, folks – it’s going to get a lot worse.
Everyone bashing Pierre, he is correct in a sense. The country is a much nicer place to ride. How’s that seatpost Brent Chainline?
Wow, then I guess you are confusing this for the nyplasticbagsnotpaper.com forum. I thought this was about bike racing and bike racers?
I don’t think there’s a whole foods in Brooklyn.
II got a ticket there yesterday. What kills me is the parks department runs the lights all the time. I’m going to document the abuse of city workers and bring to court with me.
ticketing in the park (leading to less training) + 15 mph speed limit = sweet victory here i come
My first comment – the second one on the post – was actually related to the red light and speeding issue, as was the first part of the one that offended you so much. Have you actually contributed anything to the conversation other than belittle (maybe a bit rightfully) my getting off topic?
i will kamikaze those fat blue pigs!!! with my aero bars, my pump, my co2, muthafkers!!! And Im gonna do it at 45mph when I sprint on that same descent with molotov cocktails on my water bottle cages!!!!!!!
Rambrooooo!!!!
Does this mean the average CRCA race will now be 15 mph and the sprint topping out at 25mph? Sweet!
I’m not a nyvelo regular and I don’t ride my bike in CP, but as an offended citizen and occasional cyclist, I do hope all those who end up with tickets from this bogus speed trap will contest them in court despite the inconvenience. Even if the “official” limit is somehow 15 rather than 25 as posted on the CP web site, there is clearly no effective notice and I really can’t believe that any adjudicator — even one who hates cyclists — would back the PD on this. The law absolutely demands otherwise, and I want to see the PD put to as much trouble as possible for its unapologetic abuse of cyclists and of the law.
FYI, I’ve been there a lot. If you’ve ever been to that kangaroo court (with judicial hearing officers, not judges), the line in the morning is 200-300 strong and the hearing officers unfailingly find on favor of the cops — they are subject to very little scrutiny and as such find against people early and often in order to discourage other people in the hearing room from pleading not guilty. It’s a total shitstem. Prepare yourself and be prepared to get there before 8:50am.
No, I simply pay taxes in the city so I feel like I have a fair usage of the parks. As a taxpayer I choose to support government officials like the Manhattan borough president who is in the right position to voice the concern. Anon bitching about it online doesn’t seem productive to me. I support any unified and level headed way of changing the police actions though, including one from such organization as the CRCA which should have a better relationship with the park than myself (as an individual) and which I am a member of. However, what happens with a bike lane outside of Prospect Park is inconsequential to me. Sorry.
And to quote the great Will Schneider “Results, bro”
Fair enough. A couple of weeks ago I actually did send e-mails to Sadik-Khan, my own Council member and the chair of the City Council’s transportation committee about the red light ‘blitz’ in general, city-wide. I followed up with actual letters. I also participate in my local neighborhood assoc., attend the Brooklyn TA meetings and co-founded and was pres. of another neighborhood assoc. before I moved to my current location. How’s that for not just bitching in an online forum?
Even though I live in Brooklyn (not in Park Slope), whether the PPW bike lane stays or goes won’t affect when and where I ride there, as I’m sure it wouldn’t for you if you lived there. I only bring up the bike lane topic at all because there’s the possibly valid feeling of many here that there’s a linkage between what the police are doing in general and in CP specifically, and the fact that bike lanes have been “shoved down the throats” of many neighborhoods, to paraphrase a lot of what’s being said.
but leaving is not an option for 98% of the ny cyclists. your comment is absurd.
for a change-up, and to avoid a ticket, i went for a run in the park one night last week instead of riding.
i was very cautious, and conscientious, but nevertheless i was almost hit by cyclists multiple times. well, not so much cyclists as freds on road bikes riding like f*cking complete morons. guys that are unlikely to hit this site, or any cycling site for that matter. those guys are a HUGE part of the problem, and i don’t see anyway to rein them in because they’re unlikely to be involved in any aspect of the mulifarious cycling community.
where is jon orcutt during all this?
There’s no “I” in team homie.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/orcuttbio.shtml
Relax, Jon’s on it.
To All —
This latest harassment by cops in Central Park, MUST be fought tooth and nail!
Riding and training in the park is liable to be extinct if we don’t unify and somehow show NYPD that their absurd antics in the park are harassment of bikers, pure and simple.
Here are some strategies:
1. Initiate a class action suit, en masse, all those who were ticketed in the past few weeks;
2. Keep emailing EVERY council person on this issue and call and leave messages on their phones;
3. Attend City Hall Meeting tomorrow@1pm, media will be there;
4. Fight ALL tickets in court and emphasize that CP is NOT between 0600-0800hrs a “highway” in the legal sense, hence, speed limit may not apply.
5. Arrange a go slow protest on a busy saturday afternoon, fanning across the entire park drive and stop at EVERY red light.
NYPD are not giving up. We shouldn’t either. Summer is coming and we want to train without HARASSMENT!
O’M
Wait. They’re ticketing PP now too? That’s real?
This is next.
“The Park is officially closed from 1am to 6am.”
Why is the NYPD so intent on targeting cyclists. We know they’re following orders and have a quota. Where’s the order coming from? Why? And how do we get data on incidents with cyclists? How many pedestrians have been hit by cyclists?
the cops and cyclists are some kind of dumb cock fight instigated by bike lane/cycling haters.
NYPD has a don’t pursue rule for non felony offenses. Jump on to the walking path bang a U turn. You can easily out run a 3 wheel scooter. If they do catch you and beat you. You will be looking at a million dollar pay out. What will bring it to an end for sure is when they hit a kid while pursuing a bike that went through a light.
5. Arrange a go slow protest on a busy saturday afternoon, fanning across the entire park drive and stop at EVERY red light.
why not at 8 am on a weekday?
Contest those dang tickets.
Parks are not for HUMVEES they are for people.
I think Olmstead would be out there championing for the rights of cyclists right now if
NYPD was doing this during his time.
As John Lennon put in Time wounds all heels.
Someone make sure the WSJ writer mentions that Captain Wishnia appears to be abusing authority by arbitrarily enforcing laws – as evidenced by the fact that he had his officers issuing tickets based on an incorrect understanding of the law.
OLSEN = RESULTS!!!!! GO GO OLSEN!!!!
Everyone should be a fan of Counciperson Brewer. Not only did she obviously step up big for us today, she also wrote a letter on 2/24 to Police Commissioner Kelly and DOT Commissioner Khan questioning the traffic light ticketing of cyclists in the park – much to the chagrin of her fellow Councilpersons. She is one of our few advocates in NYC government and deserves our gratitude.
MARGARITE WAS GOING 28MPH. THAT IS AGAINST THE LAW.
Brewer to Mengoni
NYPD to Bosnia.
Capt. Wishnia is a sandbagger.
Gothamist:
http://gothamist.com/2011/03/22/cops_ticketing_cyclists_in_central.php
Does anyone really think NYPD just misinterpreted the speed limit? This is a misue of limited city resources. Someone should be fired for this.
motive for the CP crackdown? isn’t really the just PPW bike lane? why wouldn’t they crack down PP instead of CP?
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bicyclerules_fy08_english.pdf
Looks like iPods are illegal if you use both earpieces…my word – they can write you up for a whole host of things…no lights at night…failing to yield to pedestrian…its going to be a long summer…
where is Spike Lee?
When will the PD start ticketing cars for speeding? Has anyone ever seen the PD use their radar gun against the really dangerous vehicles? This is ridiculous.
The Zapruder films
FROM-Tibor Nemes
The police just left my house after apologizing for issuing a speeding ticket this am. It was quite a pleasant surprise, but I still find it bizarre. They came with courtesy, professionalism and respect, like their cars say…
This is definitely a welcome sign and + twist in this ticketing blitz soap opera that has been shocking to eve…ry human gifted with reason.
The cops in CP this morning were NOT CP precinct cops. They were drafted in from another precinct.
That means another precinct was down on manpower while satisfying Wishnea’s absurd harassment of bikers.
DEMAND his resignation ASAP. He needs to be reassigned to a desk job where he can mull over flawed statistics and spout on about whatever nonsense he feels comfortable with.
Wishnea is not fit to command CP.
Call his borough commander and demand he be relieved of his position!
The cops in Central Park ticketing cyclists for speeding Tuesday morning were in fact CP precinct cops. Officer Damm (40’s, caucasion, 5’9″, probably over 2 bills, brown hair), who is assigned to the CP precinct, was one of the officers involved in the speeding “sting”. Great name for a cop giving tickets to people riding bikes in a park.
This I would need to see on you tube to believe.
The police force is at its lowest level in decades apparently due to budget cuts yet they decide the best use of the time is setting up an improper speed trap for cyclists. As a resident, and if I wasn’t a cyclist, I’d be pissed that this is how the city’s resources were used.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/nypd_cop_count_sinking_to_FePPPuqEOEhmmFjygikgdJ
Wall Street Journal article on speeding tickets http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703921204576217203961765660.html?mod=WSJ_NY_MIDDLELEADNewsCollection
You need to login to read the whole article
I saw cop cars stop at red lights and wait for green. Cyclists went right by them and through the red light and nothing happened. Hopefully things have changed.
http://www.cinelli.it/scripts/true_story.php?nid=121&mode=sl
how is this ‘a win?’ we get to go the speed limit?
Wishnia and several officers made a late evening visit to a prior recipiant of a red-light ticket.
After subject all residents, and several neighbors, to a full-strip search, he tipped his cap and said, “just exercising the discretion I’ve become so well-known for, thank you folks”.
Re the ticket revoking:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/nyregion/23cycle.html?ref=nyregion
We must continue to fight against the senseless use of police resource to abuse and harass us. ATTICA! ATTICA!
8 am slow ride.
Wait ’til you see what’s next. You guys are fucked.
“In fact, it was not the speed itself that appears to have prompted the mistake that led to Mr. Regen’s ticket being voided. While the tickets were issued for violating the limit in the park, all but one of the 10 citations ordered the defendants to appear in traffic court, Inspector Royster said. The tickets should have been answerable in Criminal Court, because it was a violation of parks department regulations, she said.”
“For Mr. Regen, the mere fact that the ticket was voided and an apology issued was enough — even if the 15 m.p.h. limit he dislikes remains in effect.”
So the tickets were dismissed because they refer to the wrong court and the 15mph limit is poorly posted, not because the legal limit is 25mph?
They highlighted the article on NY1 this morning.
Jamie Shupak, the traffic girl is hot
i showed up at mike margarite’s apartment last night…
but it wasn’t to revoke a ticket
youknowhatimsayin?
The nytimes article just doesn’t add up. 25 mph is the limit, not 15, and why would the NYPD apologize in person to people who, according to them, still violated the speed limit?
http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/03/22/nypd-riding-faster-than-15-mph-in-central-park-now-illegal/
The WSJ article has the limit at 25, confirmed by Gale Brewer. Margarite’s 28mph ticket still stands, may be reviewed and voided later.
NYPD manpower has now been wasted in an erroneous speedtrap, followed by in person apologies.
Gail Brewer’s support for cyclists has been very helpful but if this passes, speed humps will follow…
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/get_it_outta_park_x2GC5T4jUQDrn5Hd4RXhYK
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/03/nypd_now_making_house_calls_to.html
includes video of ticketing.
http://www.transalt.org/newsroom/releases/168
There is now NO difference riding up and down Broadway then “our recreational park,except we can at least do 25mph on B’way and have to stop at the lights b/c of cars flying by”!
CP is closed to cars and we have stop at 46 lights for nothing and go 15mph. Wake up NYC ur going backwards!
link to summons https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/74706-dregen-summons
says 20mph zone, no?
“Because as they’re using their radar guns now, it’s the equivalent of having a cancer cure and only administering it to completely healthy dogs and cats.”
I don’t get it. Margarite was the only cyclist exceeding the 25 mph speed limit, and by coincidence he was the only one who got a summons to criminal, not traffic, court? And the other nine cyclists were under the 25 mph speed limit, and they all happened to have their citation erroneously ordering them to appear in traffic court? That’s what I get from putting the NYT and WSJ articles together.
Not only does the ticket lie about the posted speed (20?!), but that officer can’t even spell “bicycle” correctly!
20 MPH, 15, 25 – whatever. Just goes to prove the police in CP are doing whatever the f&*k they want until their boss gets a call from City Hall and/ or the media displays the idiocy for all to see.
Car Ban Proposed for Central, Prospect Parks
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42233811/ns/local_news-new_york_ny/
Totally just making shit up to bust our balls – thanks NYPD! Why don’t you go after the delivery men or people going the wrong way or who ride on the sidewalk? Nobody would even give you a hard time as they deserve tickets – but instead you go after people riding first thing in the morning who are trying to avoid other park users!!! Bravo.
A car ban would be a double edged sword. I’m cautiously for it but it could also take us one step closer to the end of bike racing in city parks. Bear in mind that the cars are also one of primary reasons for the smooth tarmac on the loop drive… without multi-ton machines bearing down on the asphalt every day, frost heaves like you get on the Hudson River Greenway are an inevitability unless DOT is obsessive with their resurfacing schedule.
“By-cicle, by-cicle
I want to ride my by-ci-cle,
I want to ride my bike…”
http://nymag.com/news/features/bike-wars-2011-3/
• Bell or other audible signal (not whistle) required;
You wanted rights now follow the rules.
Parks Dept. will tell the NYTimes today that there is no 15 mph limit, and it will remove CPC signs that refers to it. The cops overreached.
All this anger, I feel the need to sing. Watch me now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SebarSe6u4c&feature=related
Thank you Andy.
And thank you Parks Department.
Don’t thank me I didn’t do squat. Dave Jordan, Anthony O’Malley, Guido Gabriele, Dave Chomowicz, and Greg Olsen are the ones to thank. Sorry if I missed someone.
I never though that riding a bicycle on Sunday in 20 degree temps in closed CP would lead to 270.00 ticket. Never thought by riding a bicycle in CP would leaad to criminal court for “going to fast”?
Make sure to mount your ding-a-ling bell on the handlebars, it’s the LAW.
would be a massive sign of submission and acceptance, a good way to greet martial law. Wasn’t there a recent mix up where central park rule dictation belonged to the NYPD when infact it belongs to CPC.
We need a 200 man rotating paceline, maybe a day long affair, critical mass for the park?
How nice of the NYPD to come to your home to apologize because we all know how comforting it is to unexpectingly find the police at your door. To me this has overeached to intimidation.
There is no winning with the NYPD. This embarassment including having to go to cyclist’s homes to apologize will result in some form of retribution againsts cyclists somewhere and probably still in the park. No bells, reflectors, lights, ipod in both ears, etc., but be sure, it will be coming.
I agree, retribution is possible. This little thing of ours is disliked by most, least of all the NYPD. However, should we just pay the fines and say, “please, sir, I want some more.” F that. The days of night rides etc were over before this incident took place.
You “train” in Central Park, Give me a break. Central park is a posers paradise. Its where you show off your new pink and black team kits to the tourists. Come to my park where you can ride as fast as you want, any time of the day, any day of the year.
I promise you you won’t see on f’n taxi
Get outta the freakin park…everybody. No cars, no bikes, no horses…nuttin, no more.
“We need a 200 man rotating paceline, maybe a day long affair, critical mass for the park?”
The average 123 park race can’t string together a 10 man rotating pace line for more than a 100 yards. This may be a bit tough to pull off.
Video from the bill proposal announcement is up. Scroll up. Thanks to Kevin Scott.
http://www.dnainfo.com/20110323/manhattan/nypd-apologizes-ticketed-central-park-cyclists.
Are you f’ing kiding me! What a waste of resources.
If the Speed limit for cars is 25 MPH and cyclists have to obey ALL of the same traffic laws, Then why would they be ticketing for a lower speed limit for cyclist?
There was only one cyclist ticketed who was caught going in excess of 25 mph and his ticket is going to stand. The other 9 were dismissed.
This whole mess is fustrating and exhausting!
Cars can be annoying, but having them in the park means the roadways get regular maintenance. It also means that when the roads are open to cars, pedestrians behave better. Once the cars are out, the pathways will be no more than than another park path which will probably mean no riding your bike in the park anymore. It will mean many more years between repaving of the surface. As is, the last re-pave of the park was so half ass that it’s already breaking up after less than 2 years. What we really need is a happy co-existance.
Brad Lander is the council member for my district and I had the chance to personally thank him for this and his handling of the PPW bike lane uproar at my neighborhood’s assoc. meeting last night.
Ray Kelly’s whole strategy of fighting crime is his idea of looking at the data and focusing resources in those areas with more crime. This current ticketing strategy, both inside and outside the parks, seems to be the exact opposite. They’re right: this isn’t about making anyone safer, it’s about raising revenue with a healthy dose of vendetta mixed in.
This is about Central Park, not a bike lane outside of PPW.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Suspend-the-lights-in-Central-Park-when-closed-to-vehicular-traffic/152453181477814
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUne2Xih8pY
O’M
Bloomberg is opposed to the car-free parks bill:
http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_stories/136228/mayor-expresses-opposition-to-bill-banning-traffic-in-parks
“If you did not allow cars in the park during rush hour, and, for example, these parks don’t totally, generally they don’t allow cars other than at rush hour, if you didn’t do that the rest of the city streets would be overloaded and it would create an awful lot of traffic,†said the mayor.
What an asshat! Every traffic study regarding restricting cars from parks in different areas/cities have found that it does not cause significantly more congestion in the surrounding streets.
Even if it did add auto congestion to the surrounding street, I DON”‘T GIVE A SHIT!! That’s not a good enough reason to have cars in a park. Don’t like the traffic congestion, then take public transportation, asshat.
bloomberg just likes the express lane of going home to his little love shack on 79th by cutting thru central park. the man’s gotta get home pronto to watch american idol you know!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=100000131546627&aid=43080#!/pages/Suspend-the-lights-in-Central-Park-when-closed-to-vehicular-traffic/152453181477814
http://cyclistsinternational.com/?p=181
the fight appears to be brought to us via the DOT!!!!
Send your thoughts to Sadik-Khan!!!!!!
Apparently the representatives of the electorate, namely the City Council and the Boro President, are not influential enough to change CP policy!!!!
Total BS!!! I can’t wait to put a piss and shit soup in my bottle and start spraying at any pedestrains, dogs, cars, taxis, or “official” vehicles that come near me!!!
http://www.nycc.org/system/files/CPRoadwayVTL.pdf
The good news is that the committee wants to help restore recreational cycling in the Park. The committee and community members at the meeting were supportive of restoring cycling in the park. There were no rabid anti-cyclists present.
The board however brought up serious problems with implementing yellow lights.
Penny Ryan, the CB7 district manager, met with DOT and was told that installing yellow lights will be costly. DOT did not provide any numbers but according to DOT the lights are not on the digital grid. Putting them on the grid is expensive. Without putting the lights on the digital grid requires setting each light manually. I am not sure if this means reprogramming each light once with the hours to be set to yellow or resetting each light each time it needs to be set to flashing yellow. It was questioned if it was possible to implement yellow lights without DOT support. The board did not take a formal vote on supporting the yellow lights bill.
Several people on the committee and from the community made proposasls on enabling cycling in the park. These ranged from retiming the lights to enforcing pedestrian right of way but allowing cyclists to pass lights when no pedestrians were around.
With the help of Gale Brewer who was in attendance, the board decided that it would be worth bringing together a meeting with CPC, Parks, and NYPD to see what can be worked out.
Thanks for the update Mike. Was there any discussion at all about whether or not the CP lights actually fall under the purview of DOT? I recall there being some confusion over whether they were the responsibility of Parks or DOT. If it is actually Parks that controls the lights, then could DOT’s objections could be irrelevant as they have been less than forthcoming on the issue.
Interestingly according to the traffic law linked to in 1:35, traffic laws only apply to roads that are open to public motor vehicle traffic.
Article 23 OBEDIENCE TO AND EFFECT OF TRAFFIC
LAWS
“The provisions of this title apply upon public highways, private roads open to public motor vehicle traffic and any other parking lot, except where a different place is specifically referred to in a given section.”
This would seem to indicate that traffic lawas are not applilcable while the drive is closed to public moter vehicle traffic.
why can’t they just set the existing lights to flash the amber? i’ve seen the d.o.t. set regular traffic lights to flash red or amber in certain situations. i have seen this in new jersey for example where it was decided a full on light was not needed and the existing light was programmed to flash red.
Thanks for the report, Mike.
The DOT earlier claimed that that the problem with installing flashing lights was danger to pedestrians. This excuse was shown up for the lie that it was by Scott Stringer in his letter to Sadik-Khan:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/50898327/Scott-Stringer-Responds-to-DOT-re-Central-Park-Cycling-03-16-11
Among other things, he asked for “an empirically grounded explanation for why flashing lights provide sufficient protections for pedestrians along the Prospect Park West bike lane but not along the Central Park Loop.”
So now the DOT has changed their tack and are claiming that the reason they can’t install flashing lights is because it’s too expensive to do so.
What’s clear to me is that Sadik-Khan is willingly throwing cyclists who train in CP under the bus, as a scapegoat for all the sins of cyclists in the city (people who ride on sidewalks, against traffic, etc.).
Rep. Anthony Weiner had more than $2000 in upaid parking tickets in Washington, D.C.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/nyregion/30bike.html?scp=5&sq=grynbaum&st=cse
now what…seems like a lot of gamesmanshipping going on…
Mark Woflson, add him to your email lists…
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/city-makes-a-cold-calculated-case-for-bicycle-lanes/?ref=howardwolfson
What Mionske said.
http://bicycling.com/blogs/roadrights/2011/03/28/the-bikelash-continues/
http://www.dnainfo.com/20110329/manhattan/central-park-ticket-blitz-hurts-bike-store-sales
http://bicycling.com/blogs/roadrights/2011/03/28/the-bikelash-continues/
NYPD
Police Finally Reveal Embarrassing File in Mathieu Lefevre Cycling DeathBy Nick Pinto Mon., Jan. 23 2012 at 5:44 PM Comments (22) Categories: Accidents, Bikes, NYPD
​Forced by a looming Freedom of Information Law deadline, on Friday the New York Police Department finally told the mother of Mathieu Lefevre what it knows about the cycling death of her son last fall.
The documents released directly contradict the initial version of events put out by police, and suggest an investigation so sloppy that the likelihood of getting justice for Lefevre’s death is scant.
Back in October, the first story to emerge about the circumstances of Lefevre’s death, at the intersection of Morgan Avenue and Meserole Street in Brooklyn, painted the cyclist at fault. A police officer told Gothamist shortly afterward that Lefevre had run a red light. The driver of the crane-truck that hit him probably wasn’t even aware he’d hit Lefevre, a police spokesman said. No charges were filed against the driver, and that looked to be the end of it.
But Lefevre’s family wasn’t satisfied. In fact, they were furious that the NYPD was releasing information to the press that it had refused to give to Lefevre’s campaign. They hired a lawyer, Steve Vaccaro, who pressured the police to go back and reinvestigate. At his prodding, the NYPD turned up a video that showed the accident. But even with Vaccaro’s help, it required a Freedom of Information request to get anything more from the police.
Today, we learned what was in the NYPD file. Lefevre’s mother, Erika, released a statement on behalf of the family, explaining that the documents and video released to the family on Friday show that the cyclist didn’t run a red light. While the police fault him for passing the truck on the right, the real issue is that the truck made a right turn — without signalling — across Lefevre’s path, knocking him from his bike and dragging him for 40 feet. The truck continued to drag the bike for another 130 feet before it finally came loose, and the truck drove off.
This sequence of events casts serious doubt on the claims by the driver — since identified as Leonardo Degianni — that he was unaware of striking Lefevre.
Vaccaro and the Lefevres are hopeful that when the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office reviews the NYPD’s findings, if will find enough in the file bring a charge of criminal negligence against Degianni.
But a successful prosecution of the driver is less likely than it might be, because the NYPD seems to have bungled the investigation. While a detective told Vaccaro that there was blood and paint on the truck’s front bumper, the file contains no description of it.
“An investigator told me he saw the blood on the bumper that night, starting to run off in the rain,” Vaccaro said. “But they didn’t take a picture.”
Why didn’t the police take a picture of the bloody bumper, or indeed, any picture at all of the entire accident scene? Well, their camera was broken:
​
As Erika Lefevre says, “We are appalled by this and other plainly unprofessional aspects of the NYPD investigation. NYPD should take its responsibility to investigate crashes more seriously.”
But while the NYPD didn’t manage to get any pictures of the scene of the accident, they were more diligent in another respect: the Lefevre file does contain pictures — of Vaccaro and Erika Lefevre.
Why was the NYPD collecting photographs of the mother trying to get basic information about the death of her son and her lawyer?
Vaccaro doesn’t know. “That’s not something I’ve encountered before,” he said. “It’s certainly not routine.”
Here’s the NYPD report on the video of the accident:
​
[npinto@villagevoice.com] [@macfathom]
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