By Matthew Vandivort
There has been some e-mail traffic on the NYVelocity list regarding tickets in the park (including at least one that went to a team member), but for those of you not on the CRCA.net yahoo board the number of tickets being received in the park has reached staggering numbers (see the NYPost link below – 1000 tickets for Manhattan cyclists in 2 weeks). This includes during weekday mornings and evenings when the park is closed to traffic and cyclists typically train in the park.
If this NYPD enforcement continues into the summer training in the park risks becoming a frustrating chore (e.g. have fun stopping 2 minutes into your 6AM threshold interval for a red-light where there are no pedestrians crossing the street). And who knows – there could be implications for racing in the park once the season gets under way as well.
For those of you that don’t follow the local cycling blogs or advocacy groups (e.g. Streetsblog, Transportation Alternatives) the anti-bike lane and anti-biking crowd has been gaining momentum (hardly a day goes by when the NYPost doesn’t have a story criticizing cyclists). Unfortunately this momentum has also been gaining steam with City Council members (see recent proposals regarding requirements for bike licenses or today’s article regarding an extended review before installing any new bike lanes).
If you have five minutes, pull up the City Council link below, find your relevant Councilperson and send him/her an email. If you want just copy and paste the form email below (which was sent out by a CRCA member) or write your own email on how the latest NYPD enforcement action irrationally impairs the use of the park for cyclists. The five minutes minutes required to send an email could prove important for all of the training and racing hours we hope to log in the park this summer.
NYPost Coverage – nearly 1,000 tickets in Manhattan in 2 weeks
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/all_out_to_end_the_cycle_woLvONH7WNzl5pjSLAYMuO
City Council Look-up / Contact Info
http://council.nyc.gov/html/members/members.shtml
Sample Letter / E-mail via CRCA.net
Dear Councilperson [XXXX],
First of all thank you for your continued hard work on behalf of my district and the City of New York. I appreciate you taking the time to review this letter and would likewise be thankful for any response you can provide.
I am writing regarding a recent "crackdown" by NYPD on cyclists in Central Park. I have heard numerous accounts of cyclists receiving tickets for as much as $250 for running red lights in the Park.
I am an avid cyclist who easily logs several thousand miles each year in the Park. I belong to a cycling club in the City that has hundreds of members who use the park regularly – often during the early morning weekday hours. While I have been spared ticketing so far, this new effort by the City is disturbing for several reasons.
I, like almost all cyclists I know, take safety seriously. We are constantly on the lookout for reckless drivers, unaware pedestrian tourists, and careless taxi patrons who can unintentional "door" us with disastrous results. We are also aware that there are some dangerous cyclists in the City, including but not limited to the ongoing problem with delivery persons (particularly those that now ride motorized scooters)
The NYPD crackdown seems to be an attempt to make the Park safer. However, the enforcement seems quite unfair. I have friends who have received tickets early in the morning or late at night when the Park is closed to car traffic and foot traffic is scarce. There are dozens of traffic lights on the Central Park loop. To target and ticket cyclists in a largely empty Park that is closed to cars (partly so cyclists and other pedestrians may enjoy safer riding) seems unreasonable.
If I were to enter the Park, at perhaps 6:00am or 7:00pm, and stop at every light, a formerly pleasant spin would be a worthless chore. Even worse, I have heard of bike commuters (who reduce congestion and pollution) who have been ticketed on the way to work. Shockingly, the enforcement is selective in nature. Pedestrians, skaters, and joggers who run red lights and/or jaywalk are exempt.
If I may propose one potential solution – during car free hours the city can put the traffic lights in the park on flashing yellow with "press to walk" buttons for pedestrians. This would allow cyclists – particularly those of us who use the park during the wee morning hours when foot traffic is extremely sparse – to continuing using the park in a safe manner without having to stop at red lights that are essentially not in use.
I’m not sure who initiated this new policy and for what reason. I would kindly request that your office look into this matter. Safe recreational cyclists want to work with the City to make the park safer and the City as a whole a more pleasant place to live. I am certain that with rational discussion an amicable solution can be found for all of the parties involved.
i love the bike lanes. they make commuting to and from work safe for the first time in the 10 years i’ve lived in new york. and i’m one of the minority of city residents that actually have a car in the city – and i still whole heartedly support the bike lanes
“traffic surfing”, hah, please. The vast majority of cyclists in this city don’t want a wild west cycling experience, they just want to get to their freaking jobs or whatever other destination with all limbs attached. The bike lanes help make that possible. In other cities with a less regressive mentality, they are becoming more and more common, as they were here before certain politicians went ape shit over them. If you want to traffic surf, feel free to take the main travel lane. Others will take the bike lane. Not everything has to be about you.
was only trying to remind you that the whole point of public policy is to cater to Cat. 2 bike racers.
Floyd via Flatbush
Not in Chuck’s back yard!
By DAVID SEIFMAN
Last Updated: 7:02 AM, February 6, 2011
Posted: 12:43 AM, February 6, 2011
Sen. Chuck Schumer may be an avid cy clist, but he’s no fan of the bike lane the city installed along his Prospect Park West street last summer.
Sources said Schumer — who has yet to take a public position on the 19-block bike corridor — shared his feelings privately with some members of the City Council.
“He’s asked legislators what they’re going to do about [this and other] bike lanes,” said one source.
A Schumer spokesman declined comment.
The state’s senior US senator is in a tough position.
He’s a longtime cyclist himself and doesn’t want to come off as the heavy in a battle with green-friendly constituents.
But he also has to deal with a prominent opponent of the bikeway who carries a lot of clout in the Schumer home — his wife, Iris Weinshall.
A former city Department of Transportation commissioner, Weinshall is part of a well-heeled organization lobbying to get rid of the bikeway. Other members include former Sanitation Commissioner Norman Steisel and Brooklyn College Dean Louise Hainline.
Weinshall has turned down requests for interviews. But she’s not shy about attaching her name to the cause.
“When new bike lanes force the same volume of cars and trucks into fewer and narrower traffic lanes, the potential for accidents between cars, trucks and pedestrians goes up rather than down,” she and her allies wrote in a letter to the editor last year.
Weinshall’s DOT successor, Janette Sadik-Khan, vigorously defends the bikeway project and has lined up her share of supporters in bike-friendly Park Slope.
Figures released by her agency show that the number of speeding vehicles along Prospect Park West, where the Schumers live, decreased from 75 to 20 percent after one lane of traffic was removed to accommodate the two-way bike lane.
Weinshall’s group has filed a Freedom of Information request for the data, claiming the city is “cherry-picking” the numbers to achieve the most favorable result.
david.seifman@nypost.com
the whiners who can’t tell a wrongway deliveryman from a “fitness cyclist” using the Park in off-hours.
I just wrote to Christine Quinn.
http://www.change.org/petitions/nyc-central-park-cyclist-petition
You want to do something? At least for now, I would highly recommend obeying the laws – not just in the park, but elsewhere and encourage other riders to do the same.
We all know that they racing cyclists in the park are not the problem. When NYPD realizes that they have patrols out there with no one to ticket, this will move on.
You can scream and think Dave Jordan should just ‘fix it’, but the politics of this issue in this city when in truth the law is against us, make this impossible to win through any kind of reasoning.
Just relax, stay on your trainer. I haven’t heard anyone say that NYPD is out there at 6am when most of us do our training. And frankly, any other time there are so many park users,its not the right time to be blowing red lights.
I agree with that. Just as there are a ton of drivers and pedestrians/runners who act like a-holes in the park and on the streets. I don’t think anyone would argue that either.
But the point isn’t that is it?
I just sent them a polite message that if they succeed in criminalizing cyclists they will lead to many more deaths of pedestrians and cyclists alike, due to reduced driver awareness, greater car use etc. I then asked a rhetorical question as to whether they would be fine with that.
I suggest that anyone so inclined do the same.
if they enforce the red light rule for races, we can have CRCA CompuTrainer races
Who f’n cares about Kona? Take your “revolutionary” thoughts to a Tri forum. FYI Computrainers have been around since before the Softride.
It turns out that indoor training on the bike might be one of the keys to outstanding performances over both the Ironman and Ironman 70.3 distance. A look at this year’s results from Kona and Clearwater show that many of the top 10 finishers (including Julie Dibens, pictured) regularly use their CompuTrainers, and attribute their results to the revolutionary bike trainer.
so many cyclists in the park act like complete a-holes. there are both racers and non-racers in that category. i could care less if those kinda guys (or gals) get tickets and actually i’d prefer it.
Here is a link to a foundation for pedestrian safety. We’re in for a long effort with the city on this one.
http://gruskinfoundation.org/whats-happening
The should be writing them for riding in the cold today
Perhaps it’s time for NYC’s cyclists to take the suggestion of Bill Callahan and move to the country.
This is very constructive
James Vacca: Chair of the New York City Council Transportation Committee — jvacca@council.nyc.gov
Janette Sadik-Kahn: Commissioner of the NY City Department of Transportation — commisioner@DOT.nyc.gov
I also put this on Andy’s crackdown page:
I got a ticket (not in the park) last week. One of the cops in the car was very apologetic, actually saying “I’m sorry” at least once. He went on to explain that if I plead not guilty it will certainly be knocked down to a $40 general summons.
It’s obvious that they’ve been given a quota. I’m actually a bit angry with Trans Alt for not advocating for more common sense bicycling laws instead of basically being Sadiq-Khan’s and City Hall’s mouthpiece to the cycling community.
I really wish that this crackdown was focusing more on wrong way riding, since that typically is much more dangerous than someone who stops at a red light, carefully looks around, of course gives right of way to any vehicles and pedestrians, then cautiously proceeds through the empty intersection. Doing that is perfectly legal in places like Milwaukee. And yes, red light ticketing in PP/ CP is completely idiotic.
I’m buying amber bike lights and synchronizing them on blink mode, because every park vehicle, garbage truck, police car, delivery vehicle, or crafty livery/gypsy cab that’s in the park during car-free hours turns on their hazards to grant a seeming cloak of immunity to the red-light rule. Try it, maybe next time you’ll avoid that ticket!
Apparently Alex and I don’t coordinate. I’m moving the comments from the other page over here and closing that one.
Is it even illegal for a cyclist to run a red light in CP, or conversely, legal to issue a ticket? What is the law on this?
Red lights don’t make much sense in the park when the car traffic is banned.
They should put them on a flashing yellow during those times.
I have been following this recent action by the poice…What’s the motivation behind the aggressive measure? What prompted this? Any insight? Is this a permanent thing or one of those temporary fluff-stuff?
What can the cycling community do to “fix” this, instead of just expressing frustration and anger?
What you can do is start obeying traffic laws.
I don’t undertand how a road closed to traffic and meant for recreation would still have the traffic lights enforceable. It makes no sense. To yield to pedestrians in crosswlaks, sure. And let’s not even bring up how pedestrians choose to walk down the CP road when they have hundreds of miles of paths and thousands of acres of park to walk on, but instead they choose the only area that cyclists and bladers are allowed to use.
I have no problems if they ticket me for running a light anywhere else. I get that and I’m happy to pay extra “taxes” in this time of city fiscal need. But the CP ticketing is absurd.
totally agree, especially about Transportation Alternative’s role in this, this is the exact time and situaion we need an advocate.
Cycling in NYC is officially dead. Carbon bikes will flood the used market in Feb. Online coaches will go out of business, some will go back to being bike messengers, others will become massage therapists. Bocce ball will finally make its long-awaited comeback.
Are they ticketing for wearing an offensive colourway?
i did get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk…cop car was parked in the bike lane so i went up on a completely unoccupied sidewalk 20 feet to my front door. Total BS.
having said that i’m fine with them writing tickets for egregious stuff…just not in the park and they need to change the law so that red lights are like stop signs for bikes (as they are in other cities) ..it’s safer that way.
time to head west.
Has anybody been ticketed early in the morning (i.e., before 7am)?
It was under 10 degrees this morning at 7 AM. If anyone has been riding in the park before 7:00 they deserve a ticket.
don’t know about 7am, but last week I saw 3 cyclists get bused for red lights between 7pm and 8pm
Wonky bike commuter get busted last week around 645am while I was running in the park. The guy was riding some crusty mountain bike and went flying through a red at about 6.3mph. He was probably an excitable cat 4 in training.
“We are also aware that there are some dangerous cyclists in the City, including but not limited to the ongoing problem with delivery persons (particularly those that now ride motorized scooters)”
Racist much?
Instead of taking the 5 min to post something snarky, cut and paste the letter above to your councilperson now. We are under attack and will be miserable with the end result if we dont collectively speak up.
Send this to your training partners and team mates!
City Council Look-up / Contact Info
http://council.nyc.gov/html/members/members.shtml
Wait until spring, when the crackdown on sandbagging begins
What kind of asshole are you that you are reading race into that? Delivery guys of all shapes, sizes and colors are delivering food on 50lbs motorized bicycles and running lights, riding up on sidewalks and generally menacing pedestrians. They are helping make it so all people riding two wheels are being put into the “unsafe” category. Me training at 5:30am and not stopping 12 times per lap in CP should have nothing to do with those people (oooohh he said “those people”) no matter their race or creed.
that’s a professional group, not a race. and they are the worst, now riding motorized vehicles the wrong way in bike paths and on sidewalks.
Where’s the CRCA in this matter?
Fuck you, if anyone is riding before 7am in this weather, someone should be waiting at lights to GIVE them 250 bucks
Thanks Matt. Good article. Sent the letter to my council women, Christine Quinn.
Took 1 minute.
Stupid comment Mael. “Delivery person” is not a race. If you assume that delivery persons are part of an oppressed minority, you’re subscribing to stereotypes. But then again, that’s a typical jump in logic for you people.
The training alternative could be doing cyclocross seshes on the Great Lawn.
This is like the krazy tin foil people on the A and C trains trying to organize. Good luck herding cyclist cats.
because we all lose. a convergence of the right bike haters downtown and the right bean counters salivating over the acquisition of some easy $ in the way of fines and this could be permanent.
Are they ticketing the joggers for not stopping also?
i like the part about how there are senior citizens in this ulrich guy’s district, and they are scared of bikes, so therefore we get treated like cars in central park
other things old people are scared of:
cars
couches that are too deep
teenagers
cars
foods with too much fiber
foods with too little fiber
dogs
curbs in excess of 6 inches high
the japanese
being more than 150 feet from a bathroom
with all the “talented” and “avid” cyclists congregating here on NYV how does one riding a bike get ticketed here on NY streets ? Cant one just ride away ? or does a NY police officer riding a non-carbon trek mountain bike with box section wheels engage in a sub 20 mph pursuit ?
yes, that is a stupid question
can’t outrun the radio, dumbass. If bike racers here can’t organize enough to stop this BS then we deserve to lose it as a place to train. it’s not like 99.999% of the city would even notice. take 30 seconds off of your next embrocation session to call or email your city council rep and make it happen.
No way man! Head East! Plenty more room to the east. We have enough issues with developments eating up the roads with no stop signs only to have another strip mall installed with a stop light every 10 feet. I’ll even send a complaint for you-alls to some random council person.
Over here we just complain about some other group to keep the eyes off of us, using yet another group as the base of the complaint. Like golf course golf carts getting into traffic bla bla, from some random soccer dad/mom, kid angles work best, just find your own stool pigeon. Works like a charm.
that would be funny if overweight cops on mountain bikes had to chase down racers to give them tickets. We should be so lucky.
wheres is CRCA staff in all this matter??….where is the new staff, people and president or CRCA people?????…besides them, NY cycling association etc etc……??
the “powers” that be are meeting next week, the NY Post reports…until then, stopping at red lights would be a good idea…or you could make a few posters and march on the NYPD for zero tolerance jay walking, cars speeding, turn signaling-not making, spitting, radio playing, littering, runners in the bike lanes, runners with ear buds, tourists, shoot…why dont we just turn Manhattan in “escape from ny” prison!!! everyone with lojak, FB chips indicating food, drink, shit, updates…or we can take the British appraoch and start throwing rocks at any police/dictator caravan of “sub’Urban” APCs…
time to put the crosshairs where they belong…
There are grammar errors in the letter. Please read and customize. THANKS
Grammer police IN DA HOUSE!
This will pass, but it could be painful. Write your local official and let them know you don’t like it. Obviously there is a problem with some cyclists who don’t understand how to ride safely, but let’s face it the politicians behind this campaign don’t really care about anything except making it look like they are doing something. Ticketing cyclists in CP is easy, very cost effective and will give them numbers that makes it look like they are doing something.
I asked around to find out what the deal is and this is what I was told.
“Its unfortunate but probably the result of cyclists being hit by cars. When all the chiefs and precinct commanders get together at statistical meetings they look to combat increases in accidents by increasing summons activity, the theory being if people are getting tickets for equipment/traffic violations they are less likely to be killed or injured in an accident” Makes sense. Ticketing in Central Park is like shooting fish in a barrel-its easy and if you’re being tasked with a quota why not make it easy on yourself.
It WILL be reevaluated at a future meeting in the meantime I sent my concerns to my local councilman and I suggest everyone else do the same so at their next statiscal meeting our collective voices can be heard.
01.01.11: The Battle For New York
There is a battle raging in New York. Cyclists have become the enemy of all law-abiding citizens, and their ââŹĹout-of-control behaviorââŹÂ (as quoted in the New York Post) needs to be stamped out! We are the scorn of the neighborhoods. What is it with this city and their hate of cyclists? Is it like this anywhere else? If you cut through the ridiculous over-the-top headlines, there is a level of discrimination going on that really doesnââŹâ˘t make sense, or seem fair. This is best illustrated by the following…….
http://elcyclista.com/2011/01/01-01-11-the-battle-for-new-york/
Is it even illegal for a cyclist to run a red light in CP, or conversely, legal to issue a ticket? What is the law on this?
Does anyone know the answer?
It seems that some of the judges in prior years for those who have gone to court for CP red light tickets were not even sure.
Remember a while back before the holidays when they did their whole “bicycle segment”? It lasted for about a week, and every night they showed different footage of these “delivery guys” (if your blind as to what race/ color they are thats fine, but it’s clear to me that a majority are one group) riding the wrong way, runnin red lights and so forth. I emailed cbs2 telling then to please differentiate between the different groups of cyclists in the city, as they put us all into one giant mob of law-breaking, pedestrian killing bandits. All I got from them as far as a response goes is that they feel as though they represented us rightfully.
Their the ones who started this shit storm
actually think it is more of a fuck you to JSK due to her comments about the poor job NYPD did with the blizzard.
It’s all about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. You got and the City wants it.
if it were that they would get delivery guys, etc, and wait until the newbies come out in spring and have a field day…this is straight up message sending.
This is going to be a personal rant.
You know what drives me insane about the anti cycling crowd. Everyone who complains about cyclists always say “some cyclist almost hit me” and “some cyclist just missed me” and their so fuckign shocked by it. Let me tell you what really happened. You walked out against a red light or jaywalked somewhere, only looked for oncoming cars, and then proceded. At that point a cyclist adroitly avoided you but your head was so far up your ass or cellphone that you almost had a heart attack when you were surprised by this rogue cyclist. Cars pass by pedestrians as closely every day, but we’re allright with it because we see them coming. When it’s a bike, something .5% of the population rides, it’s some crazy scofflaw vs. some law adbiding driver. I walk more in this city than I bike. Have cyclists come close to me – sure. Has it ever been close to threatening to my safety – no because I’m aware of my surroundings. The only people who ride on sidewalks are kids and delivery men and neither of them are going more than a 1/2 block on it. The rise in complaints is only for 2 reasons. 1) More cyclists so the unaware people are suddenly being “almost” hit more often. 2) People who see the bike lanes and are annoyed that they take up parking and car lanes and are complaining about the cyclists’ behavior as a means to get them removed (NYPost is guilty here).
I have been biking in this city for 2 decades (I don’t wait for lights and I roll through stop signs, treating both like yield signs). I’ve hit one pedestrian. A jogger in CP who made a right from the jogging lanes across the active roadway without even looking for a second. She was fine, i was hurt and my wheel destroyed. The arguments against cyclists are such shit it gets me furious. That said, a lot of cyclists ride like shit and I’m sure people have been injured seriously in accidents with bikes. But noone cares about all the cyclist deaths by cars? But they want to waste time worrying about cyclist scofflaws. WTF. It’s the bike lanes I tell you. People get caught in traffic and want to transfer the blame and their anger to us. I can’t count the # of cab drivers who have complained to me about the bike lanes and I tell everyone that they’re shortsighted. If more bike lanes + more traffic it will veentually mean less cars and more fares for th ecabs. Everyone is so fucking shortsighted.
parking and feeding the meters suspended how many times this year due to snow? That’s a lot of parking tickets not getting written and a huge shortfall for the city, have to make up for it somehow.
don’t mess with my dim sum deliveryman, mr. nyc po-po, or i’m gonna call my elected representative, charlie rangel. he’ll know what to do.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/25/2011-01-25_truck_kills_fashionista_e_side_rushhour_accident.html
I agree w/ hillbilly: This is totally about sending a message. So that the NYPD can go back to the media and certain elected officials can go back to their constituents and basically say “See! we’re enforcing the law against all the a-hole cyclists out there!”
And of course, TransAlt just sits there and golf-claps the whole effort instead of getting out front and pointing out the irresponsibility of all the scoff laws out there, whether they ride, drive or walk, kind of like West Coast Reader suggests.
I don’t feel that I, and the vast majority of other courteous and responsible cyclists in the city should be lumped into the same category as the delivery person driving (yes, DRIVING, not riding) their motorized bike at 15 MPH down a packed sidewalk in Midtown at lunchtime or the cyclist coming to a red light who proceeds to plow through a packed crosswalk then cut through vehicle traffic, causing drivers to hit their brakes. This is behavior that all of us see on a daily basis and is really the root cause of this ‘crackdown’.
The bottom line is that, despite the rosy picture that many paint of the ‘rise of cycling’ in the city, the vast majority of people using the street infrastructure are either driving or walking. Both of these populations really have no idea what traveling around the city by bicycle entails. In their minds we’re not really a vehicle, but not a pedestrian either and a lot of our behaviors cause indignation or outright anger; some deserved, some not.
@beanie: Very well put. The shear obliviousness of pedestrians in this city never ceases to amaze me. “Well, that person 10 feet in front of me crossed, so it must be OK for me to cross too without even looking first, even though it says don’t walk.” Or, “I stand off the sidewalk, 8 feet into the street because that’s going to get me where I’m going so much faster”. Shit, when I’m riding and I have a green light, I STILL look before going through the intersection. I don’t put my well being into the hands of any stranger walking or behind the wheel that they’ll be paying attention to what they’re doing.
Lost parking ticket income?? The city could make up that money 5 times over by writing crossing against the light summonses for a single day in Midtown alone.
only cat 2 or 3 will be allowed to ride in the park.
that, and nuns on english mixte bikes with baskets on the front, just for style.
http://www.newyorkparkingticket.com/Blog/?Tag=parking%20ticket%20revenue
this is basically a backhanded tax
What type of bicycle advocacy group is in NYC? In SF its one of the more powerful lobbies in the city, and the only place you really see cyclist hatred is in the comment section of the SF Gate. The coalition reaches out to media, supervisors, and many others in an effort to control the conversation and get things done in a positive way. Lots of people still complain, but they are not nearly as organized as they seem to be in NYC. We still have all the same issues, Cops almost always side with motorists in accidents, people parking in bike lanes, clueless pedestrians, and rude cyclist that make us all look bad, but the public rhetoric is very subdued.
yeah but everyone’s stoned in san fran, so the vibe is a lot more mellow when you get hit by a dumbass driving a prius who was blue toothing their spritualist while flipping a u-turn on market st.
I hate the triple wide stroller carrying the nine year old wrapped in a Northface sub-zero sleeping bag. Talk about a nuisance that should be ticketed…..
I never ride with my drivers license so how would they ever track me down. Is this an honor system? I got a ticket in CA years ago for running a red light, never produced my license, never paid the ticket, never heard about it again. Just wondering.
they will throw you in the tombs if you play the ‘no id’ card. pun intended.
HA-HAAAA! You have finally outed yourself, 1234! I have been waiting years for this moment and now I have you right where I want you! Don’t bother trying to escape, we have your IP address and Interpol is surrounding your 200 sq ft apartment as I type this communication from the squad car. We’ll be bursting through your door any minute – just have to wait for our NYPD liaison to deliver the warrant via bike messenger.
What’s that?
The messenger was ticketed for running a red light in CP and won’t be delivering the warrant?
FUCK!
UNTIL NEXT TIME, 1234!!
LMAO
Last year everyone was kissing Janette Sadik-Kahn’s ass and defending her at the roller event
you reap what you sow… lol
This is NYC’s way to pay for those great bike lanes (now they have more money to waste)… lol
I really, really hope everyone posting here has sent an email to his/her councilperson. It takes two minutes.
And spread the word. This sucks.
I got a ticket riding up the curb to my front door after a race. The Policeman apologized as he wrote the ticket explaining “Our Captain has told us to do this because a lot of of the rich people in the area are complaining . . .”
Maybe we should talk with the police directly and see if there is some way to figure out a solution with them.
I doubt the police want to give the tickets anymore than we want to get them, especially in the park. They are probably getting a ton of direct local pressure so if we treat it like a community issue there could be a way to fix this.
Just my two cents . . .
Where is the CRCA in all of this by the way?
where’s thomas flange on this? oh, he’s here like the rest of us.
No I’m not
the solution is easy: move to poor neighborhoods.
According to the CRCA yahoo list CRCA is coordinating with CPC and some of the other involved parties to approach NYPD and the City to present the cycling perspective and try to hammer out a solution. I think an email said there is some sort of a meeting of the minds scheduled for next week, but I don’t know the details and I’m too lazy to search my e-mail.
Instead I’d rather post this link:
http://www.bikeblognyc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/bikelicenseplate.jpg
is February 1st. I don’t think details beyond that have been released
meeting Feb 1 at 6 pm at 79th St. yard on west side of park. It is not a special meeting organized by CPC,CRCA or anyone else but the regular monthly meeting of CPC Roundtable that discusses the use of the park drives. The police crackdown is on the agenda and the Commander of the Central Park precinct will be there. It is a public meeting but space is limited.
didn’t see a single cyclist out in the park tonight, i decided to wing it and check the conditions..didn’t get a ticket, but still played it safe thru the lights. fuck bloomburg, fuck the nypd, fuck all of them.
Was Sadik Khan at the roller races last year? Did anyone hit on her. Shes kind of hot.
give me my rollerblades…i’ll show nypd what wreckless looks like in my unwaxed double tea bagger brazilian thong th th thonggg!
(just did a gravity hit…)
remember Ira??? I’ll make him look like a Howdy Doody!!!
I need you humps to sort this out before the first CP race.
Seriously? Outside? In this weather? meeting with the police? Is anyone bringing Coffee/donuts?Can we ride there and lean our bikes against the tree or place our bikes on the lawn..and not worry about ticketed? May be Adler can pick up the tab for causing USCF to suspen CRCA…
the best post so far during this fracas. says it all
Yes. Beanie’s explanation of how all these dumbasses “almost” get hit is spot on.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26runners.html?_r=1
yeah, great! shift the blame on delivery cyclists.. or anyone who can afford a ticket! I have no money left for tickets cuz my bike was 5k
Personally, I am not mentioning delivery guys in my email to the city council but there is no doubt that the way they ride has a lot to do with why so many people hate cyclists. That, and how bad some of you flubs look in your kits.
The righteous indignation as expletive laden rage some guys show pedestrians in the park does not help our position. Whether right or wrong, and I’ve seen it cut both ways. We are the minority, and the mob rules. I’ve seen guys screaming F you at the top of their lungs at clueless pedestrians with kids in tow for example. It’s really bad form, doesn’t solve the problem and only comes back badly on us all.
the bad apple factor when it comes to cyclists – whether its deliverymen or excitable cat 4’s screaming obscenities at pedestrians / buzzing joggers in the rec lane – does a lot of damage to our common cause
Yeah, some of you guys are dicks when you ride in CP.
so what kind of responses did people get from your local representatives? i just received this total bs one that really annoyed me:
Mr. Brilliant,
Thank you for your email regarding the recent increase in enforcement of existing vehicle and traffic rules in Central Park.
In New York City, bicycles must obey all traffic rules related to vehicles. This means that bicycles must stop for red lights the same way any other vehicle in our city must stop for red lights. Bicycles must also obey any additional rules posted by the city, which cyclists may encounter in construction zones or in our parks, to name a few examples.
While cyclists may think they are safe to continue pedaling through a red light, it can be very dangerous for others sharing the roads. Unfortunately, I hear from many constituents in my district who have been hit or injured by a cyclist who presumed it was safe to disregard a traffic rule.
I have been, and will continue to be, supportive of efforts to create new bike lanes and encourage safe biking in NYC. It’s a healthy and green way for people to commute or move around our city. And, as we expand our cycling initiatives, we have a unique opportunity to increase public education efforts and enforcement against dangerous and illegal cycling.
I encourage you to visit New York CityââŹâ˘s Department of TransportationââŹâ˘s website to acquaint yourself with all rules pertaining to cyclists in our city. Please find a link below:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/home/home.shtml
Thank you again for your email. Please feel free to contact my office should you have additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Jessica Lappin
Thats amazing – I just got the exact same form letter from Jessica. So much for the 30 minutes I spent writing her an email.
Thank you for your email regarding the recent increase in enforcement of existing vehicle and traffic rules in Central Park.
In New York City, bicycles must obey all traffic rules related to vehicles. This means that bicycles must stop for red lights the same way any other vehicle in our city must stop for red lights. Bicycles must also obey any additional rules posted by the city, which cyclists may encounter in construction zones or in our parks, to name a few examples.
While cyclists may think they are safe to continue pedaling through a red light, it can be very dangerous for others sharing the roads. Unfortunately, I hear from many constituents in my district who have been hit or injured by a cyclist who presumed it was safe to disregard a traffic rule.
I have been, and will continue to be, supportive of efforts to create new bike lanes and encourage safe biking in NYC. It’s a healthy and green way for people to commute or move around our city. And, as we expand our cycling initiatives, we have a unique opportunity to increase public education efforts and enforcement against dangerous and illegal cycling.
I encourage you to visit New York CityââŹâ˘s Department of TransportationââŹâ˘s website to acquaint yourself with all rules pertaining to cyclists in our city. Please find a link below:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/home/home.shtml
Thank you again for your email. Please feel free to contact my office should you have additional questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Jessica Lappin
Dear Ms Lappin,
Many thanks for your letter. Your response was greatly appreciated.
I do not disagree with any of your points. I too am all for cyclists obeying traffic rules for their own safety and the safety of others. The recent tragic accident on 1st Avenue and 90th Street underlines the need for all road users to think ââŹĹwhat ifââŹÂ at all times.
However, the point that I was trying to make was that the enforcement of traffic rules for bikes in Central Park at times when traffic is not allowed on park drives makes little sense. My suggestion is that the traffic signals should be switched to flashing orange at such times and that cyclists must yield to pedestrians at all crosswalks.
Sincerely,
I went to her website and let her know what I think of her support of the NYPD in the park.
Hey I got a reply too, (see even from over here I’m tossing up some support) I thought being a babe she’d help out. Instead she’s even hating on the West Coast, bummer.
I see we all sent the letter to the same congress person, coincidence? Too funny…
wow, that is garbage. talk about useless.
To all interested in this issue —
The meeting on Feb 1st will give the CRCA a sense of what the next step should be.
I was in the park on the week end of 15th and 16th Jan and saw the cops stop several cyclists, issue tickets and take names.
It was 25 degrees out and frankly I was shocked.
Instead of posting nonsensical garbage on this web site, the cycling community would be better off unifying around:
#1 ensuring that NYPD need to refrain from harassing bikers in CP by contacting local council members and
#2 ensuring that we as park users don’t ride like morons through lights when pedestrians have right of way.
If NYPD are successful in piling tickets onto us, then the next step will be bike registration and licensing.
I for one have no intention of getting a license to ride my bike, no way!
O’Malley
think of the cute little license plate frame you can mount on back of your crabon fibre biciclette with deep section wheels.
Does this apply to Prospect Park? Anybody out there had any NYPD incident? Thanks
outdoor training in NYC other than 9w is over, folks. all you people who can’t train outside better downgrade.
simple, I am going to start taking photos of the cops that prowl the park, especially at red lights, then I will walk across to the other side of the intersection and get back on my bike and ride away laughing. until they write $$$200+++ MANDATORY COURT APPEARANCE SUMMONS’ to the same jay walking mfn runners, that’s what I will do to shame and stomp on their mfn dog sh-t actions…I will not submit to this absolutely BS policy that has never been enforced uniformly and with such cowardice to hide behind the LAW!!!
COPS that write these SUMMONS are COWARDS and PUSSIES that can’t fight real crime anyway like pimps, drug dealers, and embezzlers…oh yeah thats right, that’s what Bloomberg, Spitzer, Cuomo, Patterson, Goldman SUX, and any elected official that supports writing shit against cyclists that do not cause any danger to anyone else be!!!
NYPD are BITCHES ASS PUNKS that hide behind a badge and especially a gun, and they can’t have their way!!!
Where the F is ACLU, NYPIRG and TRANNIE-ALT on this MFN BS!!!
It spits on the real law abiding citizens and real police action that keeps us safe from ABUSE!!!
lighten up, Francis
ha, i love the idea of cross dismount and sprint through the light with the runners
The cross dismount through the lights WORKS.
The ostensible reason for the crackdown is “dramatic increase in accidents involving bikers”. The cops hand out some sheet that shows some sort of statistic – accidents involving bicyclists in Dec ’10 as compared to same period the year before. I was too upset to really pay attention when I was handed this piece of paper before the cop started writing a ticket for running a red light. He then demanded it back, so I do not have a copy. In any case, if there is indeed an increase in these kinds of accidents, why is it happening now – what changed from a year ago. I doubt it is because we have more excitable cat 4’s whizzing around the park, than we did last year. Most likely the accidents in CP did not increase, but it is possible that they did increase elsewhere – for at least 2 reasons that jump out at me right away:
1. motorized delivery bikes are faster than the old kind
2. pedestrians are not used to the new bike lanes (and drivers resent the hassle of less real estate on the road, and having to wait for the special bike light to change before they can turn across the lane.
BTW, I think the bike lanes in this city are a terrible idea – I defy anyone to tell me navigating the city by bike is better now that we have these specially built lanes, like the one on 9th ave or PPS.
Anybody know where one can find these accident statistics. I think it would be a lot easier to make a case that the lights in CP should be flashing yellow when the cars are not allowed in the park if it turns out that the accidents are all happening elsewhere.
Anyone know if we can stop, dismount, and walk across the intersection since walkers/runners are allowed to proceed and then remount/ride legally?
Spent the afternoon dismounting before lights, running through, and remounting afterwards in full view of police, cross-style. No tickets.
Most of the time you’re running along side some jogger anyway.
Will there even be races this season? Will we be ticked warming up and during races? Will we have to hop off our bikes and run through red lights during races? Hopefully they will refund our membership dues if so!
anyone else get a response from their letters to local politicians. would be interested to hear if anyone council person took at least 10 minutes to write a reply as opposed to a form letter….
it’s happening now because someone powerful got hit by a bike
2010 saw two people killed in CP by falling branches. Perhaps NYPD would be better off chopping down all the trees in CP before ticketing cyclists.
A delivery guy probably scared Ray Kelly’s girlfriend
Somebody roughed up Bloomy all thumpedy-like with some old Vredsteins and it ain’t never gonna be the same…
But writing to City Council members or the DOT about what the cops are doing won’t accomplish anything. Writing to the head of the Central Park Precinct would be going to the source of the problem.
on Road bike, shift to smaller gear, ride in circles until the light changes, then get back up to speed while maintaining optimal rpms relative to intensity zone and terrain…
on Track bike, track stand (obviously) then do a kilo start to 140 rpm…
on CX bike, put a foot down, do a CX start and then alternate CX dismount and remounts at the next red lights for up to 60 minutes…
TT/Tri nerds, you’re f-d…
But NYPD presumably doesn’t have the authority to change the red lights over to flashing yellow – that authority must rest with DOT / City Council, no?
I think they are supported by the CPC because they’re perceived as being safe (marshals and what not). But I have no idea if the NYPD is on board, and the NYPD could clearly blow the whole thing up if they choose to enforce red lights on the field
about DOT and the traffic signals, but again, City Council has virtually no power over day to day administration of the city. We live in a “strong mayor” system to put it mildly. But I think the key to this is not some tough, formal change like that, it’s getting the cops to enforce where someone is truly a menace and leave everyone else alone.
Word on the street is some stooge roadie blazed through a red light and ran square into Candace Bergen and her dog. She is tight with Bloomberg, and is also a big donor to CP. Now, they’re acting on her complaint as it coincides with all the “little peoples” complaints over the years with regard to cyclists.
when you dismount and run through a red light do you have to do it in the running lane?
so anyone know the contact info for the NYPD big wig we should reach out to? or anyone generally high ranking in the NYPD?
“I understand your frustration with the issue and strongly encourage you to attend a forum being hosted by the Central Park Conservancy on very topic of bicycle enforcement. The forum will be held on Tuesday, February 1, and will commence at 6PM. It will be held at the 79th Street Yards, which can be reached by entering Central Park on the West side at the 81st Street entrance. Bear right on the path. You will come to a C-shaped building (the ââŹĹYardsââŹÂ Building) with the Parks Department logo on the front. The Central Park Conservancy together with the Central Park Precinct directly handle enforcement patterns within the Park”
All these letters (and NYC traffic law) state that cyclists must follow all traffic rules. If we take this to its logical conclusion that means that cyclists are not actually allowed in the park when cars are not. Anyone thought about proposing that NYPD ticket every cyclist who is in the park when it is closed to traffic? The thought of basically shutting down Central Park every morning and evening might start to expose absurdity of the situation to these politicians.
It could backfire, but the situation would not be that much worse than doing cross dismounts at every light.
candice bergen was great….about 25+ years ago.
This really takes the fun out of one of the things I really loved about NYC. Found myself checking out the 10 day forecast, looking forward to a balmy 32 degree and snow-free morning a few days out and then remembered the red light dragnet. Logic must prevail somehow. According to Dave Jordan on the Yahoo CRCA board the Feb 1st meeting is invitation-only. Would love clarification before heading out there. Agree with a few prior posts that this is a Bloomberg and NYPD issue rather than city council. They won’t change the law, just possibly return enforcement to 2010 standards. Lord help us if they enforce at 5:45 AM when it finally warms up out there. At least the triathletes are sure to take the brunt of it since half don’t know which handlebars have the brake levers.
Where/when did this staggering uptick in Candace Bergen-related accidents occur? In a central park crosswalk during non-traffic hours?
any of the people “invited” want to let us know what happened at the meeting?
I was at the meeting tonight and these are my impressions. Cycling in central park as we know it is dead. There were 35,000,000 people using the park last year and there were 450 bicycle accidents requiring police assistance. Approximately 1/2 of the accidents involved the bicyclist and no one else. Approximately 1/4 were bicyclist and pedestrian and the rest were bicycle on bicycle. There are no statistics regarding location and time or day. Central park is unsafe and it’s all our fault. The law requires adherence to traffic signals, the police have no discretion but to enforce the law as written and they cannot enfore the law selectively. [evidently all previous precinct commanders over the last 45 years were derelict in their duty] It would be a great idea if we spoke to the DOT about changing the law, and it would make his job much easier if we tell everyone that he’s right. In any case there will continue to be zero tolerance 24/7 and the precinct comander does not see why it should be a big deal to stop for red lights. cpc was firmly noncommttal as they want everyone to like them. All in all it was unproducive and demoralizing. There was no interest in giving us even a small sliver of time early in the morning to train. You did’nt miss much.
its amazing that thru all this crap – Dave Jordan has not done much – except promote his camp on CRCA and pictures of him riding in the snow ..
lets gets some leadership please and get some next steps and action plan
CP Precinct Commanding Officer Wischinia (sp) said that the crackdown is necessary because of the large increase in accidents in Central Park over the last 2 years. He cited statistics which I unfortunately did not write down, but the numbers increased from approximately 60 – 70 a year to 140. The largest number of accidents in each year, close to 50%,involved people crashing themselves. There was 1 death in 2009.
They did not have any breakdown of accidents by time, day of week, type of bicycle etc.
When it was cited that there were over 300 accidents requiring ambulance attention in 1997, and while not good, 140 reported accidents a year is not a crisis when you have many millions of park users, the Officer said that even 1 accident is too many.
The Officer was willing to consider a blinking yellow light program but until any changes are implemented he has to enforce the existing laws “to ensure public safety.”
Some people argued that it was unfair to single out cyclists and that if cyclists were going to be ticketed, jay walkers, dog walkers, runners and squirrels should be treated the same. Well, not squirrels.
Tila Duhaime of Upper West Side Streets Renaissance Campaign was particularly articulate in challenging the Officers contention that strict traffic light enforcement would improve safety and that the main accompishment of the crackdown was to make enemies of those who want to help make the park safer. Rational enforcement for safety and not equally strict enforcement against everyone is needed.
The point was driven home that if continued the current enforcement policy means the end of cycling in Central Park. Wischinia refused to recognize this.
Neal Calvanese of the CPC tried to get the police officers to recognize the need for a safety policy and not a ticketing policy.
The meeting ended with Wischnia strongly stating that the crackdown will continue until the law is changed or an alternative policy of flashing yellow lights or similar program is approved.
After the meeting a lead person in CPC confided to me that these crackdowns come and go and that he did not expect this to last too long.
But, will “too long” totally disrupt a lot of people’s training for the upcoming season.
Good to finally have some hard info relayed.
Does CRCA or anyone else have a game plan to push for flashing yellow?
What can we (the lazy and nameless masses of the interwebs) do?
By: Marchionne Ergopower
Wed, 02/02/2011 – 3:28am
Dave Jordan was at the meeting and expressed the CRCA’s concern with the ticketing by NYPD.
Anonymous posts criticizing Dave Jordan do nothing to solve the problem.
If you had any clue of how change comes about you would post something that provides a solution instead of complaining.
Sign your name and do something constructive.
O’M
Will we still have road races, or only cross races now in the park? I miss the old NYC
1. No Radio in Car
2. No Chinese menus
3. Ride in Central Park
RIP
So far, in attendance, were myself, and Jen Saunders for the CRCA, also there for cycling community were Trans-Alt, NYCC, Mike Green, Alan Resnick, Anthony O’Malley, Wendy Nickerson, “Big” Mike Samuels (forgive me), Landon Wickham, and a few other individual cyclists. I did invite on the CRCA message board for cyclists to show up for support. The meeting was billed as invite only for participation, but anyone can show up and sit in on these meetings. There is room for about 25 people.
“Skate Patrol”, New York Road Runners, CPC, Parks Dept Enforcement, NYPD CP Captain, “Community Affairs”… was there…there was a sign in list that we will get a full list of people there.
First of all I have kept a deliberately low key on this forum as I dont know who I am responding to, and I wont use this forum again unless there is a sign in, so I can thank you personally for the sarcasm.
We will have a complete summary of the meeting on the CRCA website soon. Suffice to say at this point, the red lights will be enforced to their full effect. STOP FOR THE FULL DURATION at the RED LIGHTS or risk getting a ticket. I have been walking through the crosswalks the few times I have had to stop for the lights when by myself, or sat through when I was with my team/group rides. I personally asked the Capt. if the red lights could be treated at least as a stop sign, but he would not budge.
I suggested that the lights be changed to pedestrian activated, but that is up to the DOT, who were conspicuously absent. I suggested that the stats he used, a couple hundred at best incidents with bikes, over 35million park users per year were completely useless. That the cyclists lane on the south loop, from W72nd-E72nd be cleared of runners and other users, but they would not address this issue. NYRR walked out without as much as a peep halfway through the meeting.
And on, they even suggested that the Kissena Velodrome was an adequate substitute for training rather than Central Park!!!
They view us as responsible for the dangers of Central Park. Not unleased dogs, not stray kids on the loose, not runners all over the place…not anything else…we have to find a balance between responsible use and education. Until the lights are switched to blinking yellow or pedestrian activated buttons, or the law is changed.
I have contacted Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Anthony Weiner as I have worked in Schumer’s office in the past…they are both avid cyclists and runners, and stay fit…they may be able to help us. I have personally contacted the Mayor’s Office but with nothing constructive, that it is not their initiative, NYPD.
We also need to get a celebrity on our side like Mathew Broderick, Mathew Modine, David Byrne as they are avid cycling commuters. Maybe Kelly Ripa’s husband can help, Mark, as he is a member of CRCA….
I have also contacted the producers/director of “Premium Rush”…I am having a meeting with private individuals that have some pull the rest of this week now that the line has been drawn in the sand…it up to us to engage constructively, effectively and with unity.
At this point, that is all I can do…What have the team captains, with their connections, bike shop sponsors, etc done yet? There is a lot of finger pointing but little action except by the few that were there tonight or those that sign there names to posts here…
Thanks
Dave Jordan
CRCA President
” And frankly, any other time there are so many park users,its not the right time to be blowing red lights.”
Not true. Weekday car free hours from 10am to 3pm have been relatively empty even in the summer and training was easily done safely during that time. I guess that luxury for us with nontypical work hours is over.
Here are the numbers via Wendy Nickerson
There only 122 accidents involving a bike in 2010 and 127 in 2009 — out of 35 million people using the Park, that is shocking low.
Here are the stats:
2010:
Accidents involving Bike Car: 8
Accidents involving Bike Pedestrian: 43
Accidents involving more than 1 bike: 17
Accidents involving only 1 bike: 54 (so the largest category of accidents is actually people hurting themselves on a bike, not someone else)
Total accidents involving a bike in 2010: 122
2009:
Accidents involving Bike Car: 7
Accidents involving Bike Pedestrian: 45
Accidents involving Bike more than 1 bike: 28
Accidents involving only 1 bike: 47 (again, the largest category is people hurting themselves on their own bike, not someone else)
Total bike related fatalities:
2010: 0
2009: 1
The NYPD is cracking down on cyclists throughout the city. The crackdown in Central Park is part of this wider crackdown. The accident numbers are used for justification even though they aren’t so alarming and there’s less talk about the many more cyclists and pedestrians getting killed by motorists.
The issue is the police crackdown, not the behavior of other park users. We need NYRR as an ally, we need the dog owners group and the skaters as allies. We need to work with these groups and CPC to make the park safer for all users after the police crackdown is over.
Not joking on this one- what happens when summer tourist season starts and the Park is filled with European families on rental bikes breaking every traffic law known in the US?
Will they waste the time to ticket?
Hmmmmm..
Thanks Anthony, Wendy, Dave, Jen, Mike and the other CRCA members for taking our views to the meeting. You guys are volunteers and the time and energy that you put in is very much appreciated by the vast majority of us.
it sounds like it was a tough meeting. This is a serious issue and one that concerns anyone who wants to continue to train in the park.
Please continue to let us know what we can be doing, who we can contact, and if there are any concerted efforts that need additional volunteers to help organize/execute.
“Accidents involving only 1 bike: 47”
“Accidents involving only 1 bike: 54 (so the largest category of accidents is actually people hurting themselves on a bike, not someone else”)
2010 — 54/122 = 44% of bike accidents involved ONLY the biker.
Was the biker going the wrong way? Was the biker a tourist on a rental with a big green helmet, clueless about the traffic and other park users?
2009 — 47/127 = 31.9% of ALL bike accidents involved ONLY a biker.
Were these bikers delivery people with battery operated bikes going through 72nd cut off? Were they riding with no hands?
Overall 35 million users yielded 127 bike accidents (2009). That’s 127/35,000,000 = .0000362857% probability of a park user being involved in an accident with 31.9% of that MINISCULE NUMBER hurting themselves and no one else.
Such statistics are misleading and serve only political purposes.
O’M
Lets save the flame wars for the annual spring accusations of sandbagging and instead focus on what we can do in order to save Central Park as a viable biking location.
Thanks to Dave, Mike, etc for attending the meeting and please keep us up on progress with the DOT, CPC, NYPD and what we can do.
While we’re still stuck on trainers for another month or two this has to be issue #1 for any NYC cyclist who hopes to ride in the park come warmer weather.
“this has to be issue #1 for any NYC cyclist who hopes to ride in the park come warmer weather.”
The meeting last night illustrated that UNLESS we as a block, united solve this issue, we WON’T be training in the park the way we used to. It’s that simple.
O’M
Chuck Schumer will be of no help on this issue… his wife Iris Weinshall, a former DOT Commissioner, is one of the anti-bike loudmouths trying to get the Prospect Park West on-street bike lane removed. She loathes cyclists. Expect no help from him.
If DOT was absent from last night’s meeting, it was because someone forbid Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan from sending a representative, or she chose not to do so for an unknown reason. I would imagine it is the former as JSK has been the best ally in city government that cyclists have ever had.
Bike racer types have a reputation for being aloof and arrogant within the greater cycling community, but now is the time to be building bridges with the Transportation Alternative crowd and other advocacy organizations IMO. Thank you, Dave Jordan and others who attended last night’s meeting.
Regarding the stats presented by the NYPD at the meeting; for those incidents that involved a cyclist and pedestrian, did anyone ask what portion of those were caused by a cyclist running a red light as opposed to the pedestrian crossing into the path of the cyclist?
An alterbative approach here is to ask that the NYPD inforce all traffic laws in the park, including requiring pedestrians and runners to use sidewalks and cross only at the provided pedestrian crossings.
Once the rest of the community get hit with the same types of tickets etc., the NYPD will quickly back off due to the much more significant political backlash.
equal enforcement would be nice as it would result in an immediate backlash but lets be honest – the NYPD is on an anti-bike crusade right now and they’re only going to focus on bikes. They’ve gone off the ranch on this one and the only person with enough power to implement a more rational policy is Bloomberg. Unfortunately he is probably too busy digging his popularity out from the first snowpocalypse to do anything. I’ll miss training in the park and sandbagging in the cat 4 field.
i highly commend everyone’s efforts. alas, it’s a futile endeavor–at least for the time being. i’m taking the year off. see you in spring 2012.
First to the anonymous post criticizing Dave Jordan, why don’t you make a suggestion as to what else he could be doing. From what I can see, he is doing everything he possibly can do to help with this situation. I would ask what have you done to help the situation?
I suggest we all take some time and video tape all the cop cars running red lights in the park when they are not responding to an emergency. Make a note of the date and time. Then bring that in to the next meeting and see what the cops say. Unless they are responding to an emergency they are required to follow all of the same laws as everyone else.
(1) FBF blue ribbon panel supports a plan to rip out at least some of the runways
(2) CP becomes forbidden territory for cyclists
(3) it has snowed at least once every single week
has there been any good news for bike racers in the city?
Record cops running red lights? Seriously?? Pissing off the cops is a great way to actually prolong the crackdown.
One of the officers who gave me my red light ticket was actually apologetic. Most of them realize how stupid the whole thing is but they have to do what they’re told. Trying to get them in trouble is not the way to go.
completely agree with that one. we will loose any pissing match with the cops. tick them off, and they will only have more resolve to win an otherwise dumb fight. the order to back off must come from above thereby letting them off the hook.
everyone who gets a ticket should plea not guilty and go to court. If they are giving out that many tickets, they will spend so much time in court that they will not have time to write tickets.
FBF is being closed as a racing venue by a committee headed by Schumer and Weiner. Interesting that Dave Jordan now writes “I have contacted Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Anthony Weiner as I have worked in Schumer’s office in the past…they are both avid cyclists and runners, and stay fit.”
Maybe Jordan set up a meeting between Charlie and others with Schumer and Weiner to try keeping Floyd going but never heard a thing and doubt it.
The racing community “leadership” was ineffective to non-existant in defending FBF. Are they going to do any better with CP.
If you are correct on the 35 m CP users that would make the accident rate 2.8 per 100,000 users.
By comparison traffic fatalities in the US run at 12.3 per 100,000 and gun deaths over 14, half of which are suicides.
@Noa:
That’s what I plan to do once my ticket is actually entered into the system. 2 weeks later and it’s still not on file. While trying to ‘ePlead’ to it, I get the following message:
The Ticket is Not Yet on File. The TVB ticket number and driver information you entered are correct, but the ticket has not been entered on the DMV TVB ticket files. You can request below to receive e-mail notification when the ticket is entered on the files, and you can plead to or pay the ticket through this transaction after you receive the e-mail.
The TVB traffic ticket number you entered is not currently listed on the DMV traffic ticket files. You can select below to have the DMV send you an e-mail notification when the ticket is entered on the files, or notification that the ticket was not entered on the DMV files after 61 days from the date you requested notification.
I got the same form e-mail back from my UES councilperson (Jessica Lappin). I guess its clear that the City Council isn’t going to take any action on this topic.
There are cyclist trainin/riding in the park at all hours and in all weather. Do the police have a record of how many accidents and crimes cyclists report? A great crime deterant is activity. Everyone carries a cell phone so every cyclist is a possible emergency alarm. Don’t challenge the police and the administration…embrace them. Instead of argueing with the cops give them a coupon at Dunkin Donuts…
I guess I’ll have to start riding with my SBA card until this blows over.
a touring bike and panniers. into the wild…
That is a good point. Cyclists actually make the Park safer with our presence. Many of us have reported crimes or suspicious activity.
It is said (not sure how true) that the rennaissance of CP started with Lou Maltese inviting Mayor Lindsey to one of our open races. This got a snowball of support to fix up the Park and led to CPC.
Its tough to argue face to face with politicians and police for 24/7 red-light immunity in CP even though that setup has worked pretty well in practice for years. The real issue is safety when the park is crowded with diverse users, i.e. weekends when the weather is nice. Maybe the goal should be flashing yellows during car-free hours excluding weekends mid-day? Most of us rarely train in cp when it is crowded on weekends so we don’t give up much there. A flashing yellow setup during other times would probably improve safety for everyone since it would clear up any confusion among pedestrians and runners about whether cyclists are going to stop at crosswalks. The risk in this approach may be that more car-free hours get the red light treatment, i.e. summer evenings during the week.
Sounds like it’s time for a good, ol’ fashioned…. flood the Park with cyclists. Overwhelm them, what can they do? Bust out the riot gear and arrest 5000 people?
Then agan, the same thing will happen naturally when spring hits and there are 5000 people riding in the park everyday anyway. And Tourists… and Pedestrians.
Is the triathlete community concerned about this? What about the people who rent bikes to tourists? Do they inform them to not ride on paths? I would like to think that most of us who train in the park are considerate. Yet, the message needs to go out to all cyclists who use the park. That may be difficult.
At the next meeting of CPC, it might be a good idea to have several bikers (100 plus) turn up with bikes and show strong support.
Putting together a group to represent all of the wishes of bike racers would convey to NYPD that we are a strong constituent and keep the park safer with our numbers especially in summer.
Regarding Schumer, I contacted his DC office this morning, NOT knowing that his wife is a vocal anti-biker.
Perhaps Bloomberg direct or Commissioner Kelly, both of whom need to receive a petition with thousands of signatures from bikers on this most pressing issue.
To all posters knocking the work done so far, quit whinging and get involved on some level.
I was a sometime CM activist and I can tell you the cops hate them.
But perhaps its time to get the message across and get on our bikes and STOP AT EVERY RED LIGHT during a busy spring saturday morning and ABIDE by the law en masse.
This will ensure that NYPD may think twice about ticketing cyclists and turn their pens on jaywalkers, runners etc. who routinely run red lights!
I believe that Attorney General Eric Schneiderman used to rec ride a bit
Of course cops hate Critical Mass! That’s one of the reasons why it works.
Mike Bloomberg is the single largest contributor to Livestrong, and Armstrong made a well-timed visit to NYC last year before the election to tour a farmer’s market with the mayor, as a photo-op. I’m pretty sure Lance isn’t going to want to hear it from NYVelocity.com, but if you wear the yellow wristband, why don’t tweet the man and ask him to ask his buddy the mayor to lay off NYC cyclists in Central Park.
Terrier Tri sent out the following – unfortunately despite being the second or third largest triathlon club in the city they don’t appear to be putting together much of an organizational effort. Don’t know about other tri clubs but realistically isn’t the combined membership of these tri clubs far larger than the CRCA membership? Shouldn’t these teams be getting organized to support the cause? Anyone know any of these teams?
As many of you know, the NYPD has been out in force issuing tickets for running red lights in Central Park. Not only when the park is open to traffic but also during dedicated car free times. There was a meeting yesterday between the NYPD and many of the cycling & running clubs that use the park on a daily basis. At this point, there seems to be no solution and the police will continue issuing tickets for running red lights. We will keep you updated but if you are riding in the park obey the traffic signs and signals to avoid a $250 citation. And when riding in the park always remember these simple rules!
ââŹÂ˘ Riding direction in Central Park is always counter-clock wise
ââŹÂ˘ Riders should always remember SAFETY FIRST and COURTESY RULES: be aware of other athletes, people, dogs and potential hazards on the road. Everyone is doing a different workout, so be flexible.
ââŹÂ˘ When the park is open to cars, use the bike lane but be careful of the runners
ââŹÂ˘ When the park is closed to cars, use the left car lane and only use the right lane to pass.
ââŹÂ˘ Again, always stay left in Central Park unless passing!
Senator Chuck Schumer is a Wall St puppet but not to blame him he’s just another politician. While he will loudly speak out about a non-controvertial civic issue he always votes for those who write the checks to reelect him. If a hedge fund wanted to open an office in the middle of the Sheep Meadow he could get done…so don’t think he will use up a carefully earned political favor for us cyclists. What this red light issue is really about is politics. You just need to figure out who wants what and who has the most influence because they will win unless the shut down the internet…
So where should we start directing our contributions?
ticketing cyclists in an era of low crime and bored cops is just too easy. this will blow over eventually, but no one will know what the rules are any more.
re: FBF… even if they close some runways, there are a lot of them – and those diagonals between the runways – besides the ones we currently race on. is it too optimistic to think that there wouldn’t be plenty of space for a crit course there even after changes are made?
Don’t think a “new” FBF will get anything more than a symbolic ribbon-cutting in our lifetimes. There’s exactly $0.00 devoted to design or construction for the forseeable future. And they haven’t started negotiating the federal bureaucracy, a tangle much taller than the weeds on the backstretch.
I’ll bet we have our beloved decrepit runways for many more seasons still.
Now that cycling in NYC is dead, the time has come to wholeheartedly embrace the competitive knitting circuit. No traffic signals, low impact on the body, and there’s nothing like executing a mean cross stitch with your eyes closed.
I don’t think triathletes venture into nyvelocity.com waters, though doesn’t asphalt green have a CRCA sub-team this year? Maybe they can get some of their aerobar riding brethren to coordinate with CRCA/DJ, etc
February 2, 2011
The CRCA was represented by Dave Jordan, President, and Jen Saunders, PR Director, at the February 1st meeting of the Central Park Conservancy Roundtable. The meeting was also attended by representatives of CPC, NYPD, Parks Enforcement, TA, NYCC, NYRR and other interested parties.
The NYPD feels strongly that there has been an increase in bike-related injuries in the park and that enforcement of traffic laws is the best course to reduce these injuries. Unfortunately, despite well-articulated arguments from the cycling community, in particular in regards to particular times in which it might make more sense to increase regulation ââŹâ i.e. on a warm weekend afternoon ââŹâ the NYPD is unwilling to budge, claiming that the law is the law.
Captain Wishnea, captain of the Central Park precinct, noted several times that while we may have had a lot of support opposing the crackdown present, there is also a lot of support for it. They are unwilling to relent or accept a change in interpretation of a red light, such as treating red lights as stop signs. However, Wishnea did like the idea proposed that the lights be switched either to flashing yellow or pedestrian-controlled red during off-peak hours. This is something that the DOT controls, and it was agreed by CPC representatives that this is an issue that should be pursued. CRCA will work with CPC to help advance this agenda with DOT. For now, continue to be cautious while riding in Central Park, and elsewhere throughout NYC, when approaching red lights.
Races are permitted events and will not be impacted by red light enforcement.
Though CRCA members, as well as members of the other groups represented tonight, are primarily safe, responsible users of the park, it is a minority of irresponsible riders in Central Park who are creating an atmosphere that calls for action against the cycling community. The NYPDââŹâ˘s top stated priority is safety for all park users. All cycling representatives at the meeting committed to responsible cycling, and it was agreed that the more we can promote responsible behavior by cyclists, the less need there will be for crackdowns.
The CRCA is supportive of any activities to promote safe cycling amongst other users of the park and will explore opportunities to do so. CRCA will also continue to advocate for fair enforcement of rules and awareness campaigns for other users of the park as well.
Last year, CRCA met with TA, NYCC, 5BBC and an NJ bike club to coordinate on bridge safety issues and NJ ticketing. CRCA will be working to reconvene this working group, as well as to recruit other influentialââŹâ˘s, such as celebrities or politicians, within the community who may be beneficial to our cause. We welcome any input from members on these issues, particularly if you can help us with high level support, and encourage everyone to voice your thoughts to your representatives, community board, etc.
Regards,
The CRCA Board of Directors
all we need to do is start running over pedestrians somewhere else, like times square or the west side path, maybe near the west village. that will draw the enforcement there and we can have our park back.
i’m kidding.
REPLY TO F*** the Po-lice
By: Safety first
Wed, 02/02/2011 – 5:36pm Of course cops hate Critical Mass! That’s one of the reasons why it
To the above post — I was at many critical masss events and if CP training isn’t reinstated without cops handing out tickets, direct action is needed, no more emails and cyber nonsense.
Let’s get one thousand bikers in CP to protest NYPD harassing bikers, commuters, racers, tri, tt, weekend leisure fold etc.
Signed
Critical Masss Veteran
One thing that CM accomplished is for it to be illegal for me to ride with 50 other cyclists without a permit.
Thanks.
I’ve ridden a few CM rides over the years. The very first was fun: all the non-cyclists smiling and waving at us, even some FDNY-ers rolling by in a truck.
These days I don’t think it’s accomplishing anything except giving some cops on scooters a little extra OT once a month.
But maybe it’s just me. Forceful ideology of any kind makes me suspicious.
Do you really think doing a CM style ride is going to make the DOT want to support our cause? Especially when the ride get blasted in the NYPost and all of the other anti-bike rags?
Not to mention the NYPD view on CM rides has been well known for some time – if anything a CM style ride would just give the NYPD the excuse to continue the crackdown in the park for even longer.
And a CM style ride certainly isn’t going to help us get the NYRR, dog-walkers, skaters and other park users on our side (when at this stage we need their support on this topic)
Do you really think we would ever get other park users on our side? I think they are ecstatic about this. Supposedly, whoever represented NYRR at last nights meeting walked out midway without saying a word.
It’s better than pissing them off even more.
The NYRR rules the park. Thats clearly not going to change unless the CRCA suddenly gains thousands of members and a multi-million dollar budget.
But the last thing we need is to piss them off enough that they explicitly come out against changing the lights to flashing yellow.
If they do so that could be a death knell in the eyes of CPC and the DOT.
NYRR saying nothing is still better than saying no to changing the lights.
As long as NYRR is the king of the park we have to continue to play friendly.
It’s better than pissing them off even more.
The NYRR rules the park. Thats clearly not going to change unless the CRCA suddenly gains thousands of members and a multi-million dollar budget.
But the last thing we need is to piss them off enough that they explicitly come out against changing the lights to flashing yellow.
If they do so that could be a death knell in the eyes of CPC and the DOT.
NYRR saying nothing is still better than saying no to changing the lights.
As long as NYRR is the king of the park we have to continue to play friendly.
i’m friends with a few triathletes. while they all appear to be generally aware of the situation i havent heard anything about them trying to do anything about it. probably because they lack an organization like CRCA to take the lead.
to CRCA – maybe its worth reaching out to some of the team coaches to get them involved.
Good idea. A lot of them are probably NYRR members as well
Unless CRCA foots the bill for getting flashing lights installed it’s going to be very hard. Spoke to the lights maintenance crew in CP – Hellman Electric – there is no central control system for the park and so existing lights would have to have to be replaced or additional flasheres added with time clock. Many of the lights are red green only. Maintenance man was going to look at better synchronization of lights place close together.
Everyone bring donuts on your rides in Central Park. Offer them up to the nice po po who busts you for running a red light. Let us know how that goes.
Our side is very big. It’s everyone who rides in the park, not just CRCA members or racers. Mary Wittenberg rides 2 or 3 days a week. She should be on our side.
Once it gets nice out, I do not see how the cops can enforce their silliness.
which crca subteam will hav the most ticketed riders before the 1st race?
there should be a prize for that.
no, really there should.
So, are there any races in NYC this March? Thanks.
CRCA races are apparently safe because they are permitted events. I would assume the same applies to the Spring Series.
But it will be interesting to see how harshly NYPD enforces ticketing before and after races. E.g. block the rec lane get a ticket?
It would be funny to have someone follow around the cops and hold up a big sign warning “Cops are Ticketing Cyclists!!” whenever the cops come out.
Nothing wrong with alerting your fellow riders to this bullshit. Who knows, they might look for greener pastures if their ticketing rate goes way down.
if anyone on this message board actually did something about the crackdown.
what was the total response? like 3 emails to the city council.
that should get the job done
the DOT is so scared of its own shadow there is no chance in hell they push to change the lights to flashing yellow.
which means the CRCA has to plead with the NYPD to let riders ignore red lights – good luck with that argument
and the average rider is stuck waiting to see if the NYPD crackdown is ever going to end but still left riding in central park entirely at their own risk
the second the DOT held the power in their hands it became a lost cause
It may not be that bleak of a picture yet. We just need to have a coordinated response from cyclists and the CRCA to try to get some momentum against the crackdown in the park.
Boring. Cycling in NYC is dead. Let’s just stop riding our bikes and go back to talking about landis, lance and what happened a decade ago.
DOT has FB page
Moved to Off Topic
NYPD has declared that during CRCA races, if the field is all together they will be required to stop at red lights. If there is a break, the break and the field will need to stop, look both ways, then proceed with caution.
I can’t wait to get out of this regressive shit hole of a city (the greatest city in the world…not).
NYPD has declared 2011 to be the year of the silly wabbit.
Take a look at the “rec lane” in CP the next time you are there. Cyclists supposed to be on the inside and runners on the out in some places. In reality, this does not happen and it certainly shouldn’t happen.
They want to make the park safer, tell them to use their heads first and stop giving unsafe directions to cyclists and pedestrians/runners.
If you don’t beleive me, just go to Google Maps. I think we just ignore it because we know it is so assinine, but this it what their rules are for non-motorized traffic flow at this time.
The rec lane in horse alley is bikes only. Runners/pedestrians are supposed to be on the other side of the guard rail. When has that ever been enforced?
Can’t wait for the first 40 degree morning, say 6 AM, when we will have 10 different team pacelines riding around the park in the dark (plus a few hundred triathletes), with cyclists watching for police instead of unleashed dogs and runners, and with half of the cyclists slowing or stopping at intersections and the others swerving, yelling and probably running into something.
This is the Central Park stoplight-fest-to-be right bere, baby!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRKajY5GlyI
twice this week, i’ve walked home a couple miles through the park during what should be prime riding hours (7pm)… i don’t know how many of you softies would be out there in the cold, but it hasn’t been bad, and there have been exactly zero “cyclists” (about ten total commuters, an equal number of them going the wrong way as there were going the right way, but no one in a kit). maybe that’s the goal. i hope not, but if it is, mission accomplished. 50 million runners, of course, going the wrong way and the right way, crossing wherever and whenever they feel like it (per usual)… think of the potential revenues from jaywalker tickets…
They should ban double wide strollers. Freakin’ menace to society, those. While we’re at it, let’s ticket the bitchy stay-at-home raving lunatic women who drive ’em like they’re weapons and blabber on their cell phones incessantly, not paying any attention to their kids. If they were, and not focused on who’s sleeping with who’s personal trainer, maybe they’d see that little Johnny and Jane are developing icicles on their face from runny noses.
Maybe we shouldn’t pay the tickets. It’s time people took a stand on mass. It’s time to stop complying with the system – we have the power. Peaceful non-compliance, as Gandhi said. Challenge this thing head on. They can’t arrest all of us, or can they?
We can take a page from the best advocates of civil disobedience. If this ticket writing insanity continues (which I personally believe it will not) beyond the end of February, then I for one am in favor of organizing a mass ride of as many cyclists as possible to ride in the park on the first evening we can organize it in March and peacefully and slowly ride around the park without stopping in a calm and responsible manner.
98.716% of the CRCA field is some sort of white collar professional who can’t risk getting arrested and having it show up on their record. So good luck with that. Let us know how that goes.
For going through a red light?
Although, that is really not the point. I think there would be a very strong turnout.
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is that all of the letters and calls into the city council are actually getting some attention brought to the issue. we’re still a long way from winning the battle for flashing yellow lights, but to the extent you haven’t done so take 30 seconds to reach out to your city council person.
Find your own council member
http://council.nyc.gov/html/members/members.shtml
The public advocate
http://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/contact-us
eulrich@council.nyc.gov;
District Office Address
93-06 101st Avenue
Ozone Park 11416
District Office Phone
718-738-1083
District Office Fax
718738-1918
Legislative Office Address
250 Broadway
Suite 1555
New York, NY 10007
Legislative Office Phone
212-788-7069
Parks commissioner
http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildpr.html
NYPD commissioner
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mailnypd.html
Dot commissioners
Brooklyn Borough Commissioner
(718) 222-7259
Joseph Palmieri
16 Court Street
Brooklyn NY 11241
Lower Manhattan Borough Commissioner
(Manhattan south of Canal Street)
(212) 839-7250
Luis Sanchez
59 Maiden Lane, 37th Floor
New York, NY 10038
Manhattan Borough Commissioner
(Manhattan north of Canal Street)
(212) 839-6210
Margaret Forgione
59 Maiden Lane, 37th Floor
New York NY 10038
Bronx Borough Commissioner
(212) 748-6680
Constance Moran
1400 Williamsbridge Road
Bronx NY 10461
Queens Borough Commissioner
(718) 286-0886
Maura McCarthy
120-55 Queens Boulevard, 2nd Floor
Kew Gardens NY 11424
Staten Island Borough Commissioner
(212) 839-2400
Tom Cocola
10 Richmond Terrace, Room 300
Staten Island NY 10301
And the Governor himself!
http://www.andrewcuomo.com/contact
I’ve already e-mailed the DOT commissioner, the chair of the city council transportation committee and my own council member. I’m also copy/ pasting that e-mail into Word and actually mailing hard copies as well.
I strongly recommend everyone to do the same.
While the police have been ticketing and following cyclists around the park, robbery is up 100% and petit larceny is up 400%. See the stats for Central Park for 1/17 – 1/23.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs022pct.pdf
Call the precinct to stop the harassment and tell them to get back to stopping crime.
(212) 570-4820
Are we caught in the middle
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/city_bigs_slam_dot_chief_for_cop_SOrLMCGmd9XhehEUDi6H2J
which is why we need to exert enough political pressure to extract ourselves from the middle of this DOT vs. NYPD spat.
Without that political pressure the DOT can’t do much to support us and the NYPD doesn’t suffer consequences for this irrational crackdown.
Contact your council people. Email them, but also call. This is important. If we get momentum we can have the lights changed to flashing yellow and free ourselves from the whims of irrational enforcement on the part of the NYPD
“This is the Central Park stoplight-fest-to-be right bere, baby!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRKajY5GlyI
Yes, this you tube illustrates how CP will end up if this insanity continues and we as a group do nothing.
I believe it will continue.
I believe NYPD is determined to crack down right through the year.
In the summer time 2010, Wishnia directed his cops to hand out tickets at the skating area near the bandshell for skaters, people with feet up on park benches etc.
I believe it is a ZERO-TOLERANCE approach to crak down and get stats for the anti-cycling constituency.
RE: Cycling in Central Park
Dear Mayor:
As you may be aware, the NYPD is aggressively issuing tickets (for up to $270) in Central Park, to cyclists who run red lights. I am all for more safety, and I can think of many things that can be done to improve safety. But the NYPD is ticketing riders at all hours, including when the Park is closed to cars and there are almost no pedestrians in the Park. This is:
i) selective enforcement of the law (peds are NOT ticketed for jaywalking,
ii) harrassment of a group that actually increases Park safety by being a presence when it is otherwise empty
iii)a waste of valuble NYPD resources and
iv)a clear lack of common sense.
A safe cyclist could receive dozens of tickets on a single tour of CP, even if was keeping an eye out for pedestrians and riding very conservatively.
I hope some logic will prevail. NYPD should be trained to recognize reckless behaviour and not engage in pointless “stings”.
that’s good. to the point, hits the main issues.
cut and paste, suckers. let’s get the park back.
As a cat 2 racer, parent, and car driver, it is my belief that cycling community has collectively overreached and therefore brought down the wrath of the common citizen upon us. First, a large number of city cyclists disobey traffic laws and therefore endanger themselves and others. You must know of someone who has been severely injured by an out of control cyclist. Second, the newly constructed bike lanes are a nightmare for drivers – imposed without a thought to the larger community of local merchants and drivers. How many human hours are wasted by these traffic snarling barriers and absurd parking arrangements. These lanes are DESPISED by so many and for good reasons. What self respecting racer would even use the green lanes at the expense of a good traffic surfing opportunity. Lastly, cycling in central park is a real hazard to children and the elderly and the average person. Crossing the street should not be a game of frogger and kids should not be put at risk to satisfy a recreational activity. Until we cyclist show some more respect for others, I wouldn’t expect the cries for nypd enforcement to die down. I’m mad a hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!
All of us must know someone who was injured by an out of control cyclist??
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/133371/transportation-commissioner-tries-to-fix-potholes–her-public-image
“Lastly, cycling in central park is a real hazard to children and the elderly and the average person.”
There is some truth in that. Hopefully, for the most part it is not our community. I see out of shape guys on bikes crashing into peds on weekends in the summer all the time.
If you ride in the Park during the off hours, you must know that one can ride FAST and safely if you use some caution.
Glad Sven Nys liked my letter. Write your own folks, and send it to the Mayor. Short and sweet and polite. Keep writing.
“Cyclists supposed to be on the inside and runners on the out in some places. In reality, this does not happen and it certainly shouldn’t happen.”
I think you have it backwards. Cyclists on the outside, runners on the inside. Except on the lower loop, where runners are supposed to be on the other side of the wooden barrier. Of course that is never enforced, and the iPod wearing joggers get belligerent if you come too close to them…so we are forced into traffic.
There is plenty of room, even on lower loop. Runners just have to stay left. Signage would help! Oh, wait, that would go against CPC’s aesthetics!
“First, a large number of city cyclists disobey traffic laws and therefore endanger themselves and others.”
Dude, “therefore”? No. The disconnect between law and safety is exactly the point.
I had a dream last night that I got a CP red light ticket. When I went to court, it was a Stalinist secret police type trial where you either confess to your crimes against the state and get sent to a Siberian gulag or maintain your innocence, taken to the basement and shot.
was it a wet dream?
riding the last few weeks has been like being in a siberian gulag
Has anyone seen police ticketing weekday mornings before 7:00? They were certainly out in force early afternoon Sunday when I was riding with my kids (are 7 year olds ticketable?). Oh, and add teenage slalom skateboarding to the list of new park hazards for 2011. Requires both traffic lanes and both rec lanes down the hill to Lasker.
I haven’t been in the park much in the AM due to the weather and the new enforcement regime but while running last week a bit before 7AM I saw a commuter cyclist pulled over on the west side
Well I couldn’t take it anymore–sold the carbon fiber dream machine, ditched the online coach, and have since taken up racewalking. I get a great workout, and it’s far more affordable. Yeah I look like I have to pee really bad or have a stick up my ass when I’m in full racewalking flight, but that’s ok. At least I won’t get ticketed.
I have opted to go over the bridge lately when the weather isn’t complete crap, but last Friday and this morning, from 5-7am, there haven’t been cops in the park ticketing (one at the top of HH doing whatever they do there, but not giving tickets)… and not many cyclists, either.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/02/06/2011-02-06_the_secrets_she_keeps.html
Any word from CRCA on making progress on the ticketing issue?
I was doing HH repeats last week during one of those crap mornings last week at around 6:30am. On one repeat, a cop was on my ass approximately 15-20 ft back the entire way up the hill and down the descent to the cutoff. I had to stop for the light near the top. Unknown if he would have ticketed me. Based on his dickish stalking, I didn’t give him the opportunity.
The Daily News editorial is more anti-bike lane than anti-cyclist.
Bklyn Beep Marty Markowitz is also anti-bike lane but has been very supportive of proposed cycling races in Bklyn. They were killed by Kelly.
The bike lanes annoy people even when there are no cyclists. Especially in the outer boros, people are losing “their” roads and parking spots. Plus there are some issues with reckless riding but that’s hardly a problem this time of year. In response the city wants to get some headlines about how they’re cracking down on cyclists. Riders in the park are available to ticket and the CP cops have little to do this time of year.
http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/01/30/19th-precinct-community-council-meeting/
19th Precinct Community Council Meeting
When
February 7, 2011 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Where
NYPD 19th Precinct Stationhouse
153 E. 67th St. (bet. Third & Lexington Aves.)
Manhattan
More Info
New York City Police Department
Laurence Renard and Jason King were both struck and killed by motorists on the Upper East Side during the last two months. Although it is unclear yet whether criminal charges will be pursued against RenardââŹâ˘s killer, it does not appear that criminal charges will be pursued against KingââŹâ˘s killerââŹâa truck driver who backed up through a crosswalk, dragging King 30 feet before he died. Police issued summonses to the driver for failing to secure his load or to carry a medical cardââŹâtechnical violations only. Why didnââŹâ˘t the officers of the 19th precinct issue summons to the driver for failure to use due care, driving too fast under the circumstances, and backing up unsafely? The decision not to issue these summonses hampers the D.A.ââŹâ˘s ability to bring criminal charges, under the so-called ââŹĹRule of Two.ââŹÂ
And how can this apparent failure to properly issue summonses to killer motorists be squared with the summonsing of a cyclist turning right on red into a car-free Central Park at 5th Avenue and 90th Street earlier this month?
What are the 19th PrecinctsââŹâ˘ priorities in terms of writing traffic summonses?
Please join members of Transportation AlternativesââŹâ˘ East Side Volunteer Committee on February 7 to find answers to these questions at the 19th Precinct Community Council meeting.
anyone going to that thing? if so report back any feedback?
http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/02/09/east-siders-press-case-for-traffic-enforcement-to-nypd-vance/
funny joke–when Tosh told it.
this captcha question could have a couple of answers: Who does not belong in the list: Contador, Schleck or Armstrong?:
http://gothamist.com/2011/02/07/cop_tickets_cyclist_for_not_wearing.php
I’ve never seen markings. If it is that could destroy my theory of doing Harlem Hill repeats to avoid red lights.
The cop could have issued you a ticket for traveling the wrong way on the 102nd st cutoff (as you call it) or possibly some other insane thing as there is clearly a sign on the east side of the cutoff that says “authorized vehicles only” and is questionable whether bicycles are permitted there at all.
But I bet you couldn’t get a clear answer on the last one until one day someone decides to enforce it.
But really, let’s not forget that this is much bigger than just Central Park. You can find fault with anything if you look hard enough. The actions both in and out of the Park are downright frightening.
WSJ on the crackdown – sounds like it will continue
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704132204576136311066399334.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_second
What crap. I urge everyone to plead not guilty and at least waste the NYPDs time like they have ours.
A few suggestions for additional “crackdown” revenue:
1) Cars and Cabs entering the bus lane 10 blocks before the right turn they need to make to avoid traffic (with signals on the entire 10 blocks. And then sometimes,”oops” they didnt need to make that turn after all.
2) Doormen and building owners that take the ice chunks from in front of their precious CO-OPs and throw it in the middle of the street thinking the melting point of snow has now been reset at 19 degrees.
3) The parks department, for also throwing snow — but his time into 5th avenue to clear the sidewalk and around the bus stops. Buses crush this into the street creating a mini ice rink for foot and bicycle traffic
4) Very brave bus drivers that think it is OK to force a cyclist into the curb, becuse after all the lane does say “bus only”.
I would add more, but I don’t want you guys to take your eye off the prize of ticketing those damn “bikers” disregarding red lights at 5:30am in Central Park.
5) Runners who run two or three abreast in the clearly marked bike lane on the lower loop, forcing cyclist into car traffic. We all know you’re not going to run on the other side of the barrier in the real runners lane, so can you just keep left.
6) Cars, including a huge number of buses and cop cars, that Park in city bike lanes.
7) Cars (most likely a cab or an SUV from CT or a vehicle with a plus-sized driver) who lean on the horn incredibly loudly five fee from a cyclist’s rear wheel so they will get out of the way…so the car can get to red light ahead of both of us first!
@Sam Supple: Of course the WSJ is happy to report that. The WSJ is Ruppert Murdoch’s newest property and he hates cyclists almost as much as he hates liberals.
Murdoch doesn’t hate cyclists, he sponsors a Pro Team, Sky.
The wsj reporter reported what the police told him. Without evidence he can’t report anything else. The wsj article wasn’t pro or ant-cyclist. The NY Post is anti-cyclist but this only proves that Murdoch loves selling papers more than anything else.
@Francesco:
I stand corrected. I forgot that to Murdoch money is more important than truth.
Thanks to all who are working on this issue, and in particular to Mike Green and Wendy Nickerson for providing the data that the police are citing to substantiate this whole thing.
I’m curious if anyone has more data surrounding the issue. Specifically:
-Are there any numbers on how many bike tickets written in the entire city (or borough) recently (NYP indicated 1,000, but would love to see something more recent and more precise)?
-Is there a count of the number of those tickets written in CP?
-Are data available that would show the total number of bike related incidents in the city or borough to compare against the number of incidents cited for CP alone?
There is some old data available on CrashStat.org, but that seems to exclude CP.
It seems to me that CP is getting an inordinate portion of the total tickets given the distribution of bike violations, but without data, it’s tough to prove.
Also, if anyone knows of a contact at TransAlt who works with or has knowledge of Crashstat.org, I’d love to be able to pick their brains….
See you at the crosswalk!
when the parking rules are suspended, as they have been a lot this winter, the city losses in the area of 350K a day. this ticketing thing has to do with the city trying to get that money back in other areas.
Will the Red Hook Crit have to stop for stop signs and red lights?
Has anyone received a ticket riding in Prospect Park? I am curious if the NYPD is just targeting Central Park for this ticketing campaign.
pretty balmy weather this week… how many dozen new victims will the police ticket when everyone hits CP for pre-dawn morning training?
Bring a dozen donuts in a backpack during your ride. When you get pulled over, start eating one and saying in your best Homer Simpson voice, “Mmmmmmm, donuts…..”
Guaranteed to let you off with a warning.
Make more donut jokes. Hilarious.
While I despise the NYPD for many reasons, I have to admit that in their war against cyclists since the 2004 Republican convention, enforcing lights in Central Park was a genius move. This strikes at the most sacred place for both recreational and competitive cyclists in Manhattan and effectively wins the war. Rumor is DOT is not looking to change the lights in the park. If Bloomberg and Kelly intend to persist, uninterrupted riding/training in Manhattan is dead.
I got ticketed making a right on red into CP @ Engineers Gate. It was Saturday @ 8:00AM about 10 degrees out and not a soul or car in sight. Two Hundred and Seventy Dollars down the drain đ
The NYPD decided to change their enforcement of traffic laws when Central Park is closed to traffic after 44 years. After doing things one way for 44 years the NYPD does not need DOT to change the lights to give them permission to withdraw from their current ticketing and harassment campaign. Is Capt. Wishnia saying that the police were derelict for 44 years? The police can implement the same right of way policies whether the lights are red,yellow or off. No one is twisting the NYPD’s arm, they are the one’s doing the twisting.
I do not know if DOT is refusing to change lights, if they have been asked to change lights nor if it is even possible to change the lights. The whole question about the lights is besides the point if the NYPD do not back off their harassment and ticketing policies. Yellow lights can give the police so much discretion on determining caution that they can ticket everyone.
@xmoonx,
Why wouldn’t you plead not guilty like I did? One of the officers who ticketed me actually advised me to do just that.
I got one for a right on red also, just not in the park. I intend to say that I dismounted, walked the 10 feet around the corner and remounted. No red light involved.
I don’t know the particulars of your incident, but perjury carries a worse penalty than running a red light. What might happen is that either the cop wont’ show up, highly unlikely since they now schedule court dates around the cops schedule, or he will come to court and say he lost the paperwork.
@Gabin,
Point taken. When I chose ‘not guilty’ on the ePlead site, it gave me three date choices for a hearing. I picked the latest one. I’m hopefully expecting that either one of your predictions is what will happen.
If this turns into pure profit for the city, what is the incentive to stop. If you have the time to plead not guilty, please do so or else Mayor Mike has found a new revenue stream for our viturally bankrupt city.
we have been blowing through red lights in Prospect Park with impunity so far.
I didn’t see any ticketing of cyclists in CP today and rolled through all the red lights myself without incident. I talked to some NYPD cops in CP today and they told me that “unofficially” their current enforcement policy has moved from a “zero tolerance” approach to more “judgement” based. They said that if a cyclist “barrels” through a red light at speed and/or rides through a red at intersection with crossing pedestrians and doesn’t slow down or rides through in a way that is perceived to be unsafe to the pedestrians, then they will ticket the cyclist. However, if you just roll through the light and are riding safely, alertly and with respect for pedestrians then they are going to ticket you. Of course, use your judgement since its impossible to know if this is the attitude of all NYPD in the park, but it makes sense that they started by sending a stern message and are now taking a much more pragmatic approach.
If this is in fact the current NYPD posture, its a relief, but I also think that a message has been clearly communicated and we should make sure that we have heard it loud and clear. As I heard it (and over the 20+ years I have lived in NY and ridden in CP I have heard it before) – riding in CP the way that most of us do – training, intervals and even racing is a privilege (and personally one of the things that I love about the city) and to continue to be afforded that privilege we should be careful, respectful and not take for granted that we can ride like maniacs whenever we please. I hope others have heard some version of this message as well so that we can continue to enjoy the park they way we desire. Let’s ride smart.
Eh, we pay A LOT in taxes and living expenses to live here…
that is encouraging. be cool guys, and don’t curse out the douchey pedestrian who will inevitably walk out in front of you mid set.
Capt. Wishnia knows how to use statistics. There was almost 0 increase in accidents from 2009-2010 with 1 death in 2009 and 0 in 2010 but Wishnia concludes that stats demand that he act now.
On the other hand Wishina says that a 40% increase in crime in Central Park is insignificant. Read here http://westsidespirit.com/2010/11/10/crime-soars-in-central-park/
Write your council person and tell them that the CP cops need to stop crime not give cyclists tickets.
From that article:
Instead, about 90 percent of the 23 people arrested this year in lucky bag stings had no criminal history. ââŹĹLucky BagââŹÂ sting figures werenââŹâ˘t included in the crime statistics.
Although critics have accused police of entrapment for the practice, the NYPD plans to continue it into next year, and Wishnia said it has been a success so far.
90% failure rate = success! We’re in serious trouble if we’re trying to reason with this guy.
Was in CP yesterday morning training and was told by a friend of mine that he stopped at a red when he saw a NYPD scooter.
The cop waved him on and he stopped to talk for a few minutes. The scooter cop, a veteran, told the biker that “rookies are being sent out by Wishnia to ticket early in the morning” he added that the entire episode is a farce and that older veteran cops think it s ridiculous.
Veteran cop mentioned that the rookies are doing whatever they’re told, but older cops are using their “common sense” approach to red lights and bikers.
So this is a positive development. Be alert to rookies. Wishnia’s stats are a farce!
Just did 5 laps in the park (noon to 1:30ish), only saw one cop in a 3 wheeler, not ticketing anyone. Ran all the reds cautiously.
they were intimidated by your media mogul status
Five laps between 1pm and 3pm. Few cops, didn’t see any cyclists pulled over. Ran reds after slowing and looking for cops. Same yesterday.
Shut up. You’re dispelling the media mogul myth.
Its good to hear that they may be easing this ticketing blitz in the park, but if the crackdown were to continue I thought maybe a peaceful protest might be in order. I was thinking along the lines of trying to get as many people as possible to take their indoor trainers and set them up in the park at all the lights to show the futility of having to stop at them during non-traffic hours. Just wanted to throw it out there and see what others thought about it
http://www.crca.net/2011/02/a-special-message-about-the-ticket-blitz/
Can someone please translate the TA announcement? I don’t speak Williamsburg hipster…
Hard to find good PR help these days I guess.
Hey Andy, what’s up with the time stamps?
This is shaping up to be quite an interesting summer. Taking the bulk of my training across the bridge, and in Prospect. To hell with CP.
Marty’s a trip but he’s kept the cops out of Prospect. Marty for Mayor!
Time stamps?
Noon to 2 today, a Toga rider told me a cop was camped out at the top of Harlem hill, he saw him give out 2 tickets. Later, on the west side, I turned around and saw a 3 wheeler, fishtailed to a stop at a red. The guy went past me and ticketed some poor commuter guy who ran the light.
3:51, you mean this Marty? http://www.observer.com/2010/real-estate/marty-markowitz-sings-blues-bike-lanes-video
If so, put the crack pipe down.
mr. “marty for mayor” with a response, but that might have been the dumbest shit i’ve ever read in these comments
No it’s this Marty , http://gothamist.com/2011/02/04/markowitz_rides_tricycle_into_state.php
I Want To Ride My Bicycle
He’s a piss and he’ll let you ride your bike in the park.
Book ’em Dan-o!
I just received a ticket! I never ride in Central Park on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer because it is way too dangerous with all of the park-goers. However, on a day where it is 40 degrees and not that many people??? Today is the least ‘risky’ day I’ve ridden in the park in the 6 years I’ve lived in NYC. It is time for common sense. If overall public safety is really the concern then there is likely much better use of NYPD’s time. Was it really necessary to have 3 officers there to give me a ticket?
i feel for you. plead not guilty, say it was yellow not red
nothing personal, but you have to be kind of a dumb ass to be riding in the park these days if you’ve seen all the posts here. the fact you got a ticket is your own fault–again, assuming you’ve been on this site before today.
Guess there are lots of dumb asses then since at least 5 teams has representatives in the park yesterday afternoon.
indeed, there are a lot of dumb asses in this town–on bikes, and not.
I rode twice this past weekend. First, some background. I’m a “fitness” rider, ride a 20 year old 10 speed road bike with a rack on the back, have lights and a bell. I always wear a helmet (commuter style) and don’t wear (or have) racing/training kit. Not that I won’t ever, but that’s my set up for now. I can’t go as fast as most of you guys and girls but I love riding in the park and do anywhere from 2-5 laps depending on time, weather, etc.
So on Saturday, at 4:30, I hit the loop with my daughter. She rides a 3 speed. I saw bikers stopping at every red light and remembered the blitz. I saw cops at nearly every light. My daughter and I slowed, stopped pedaling and cruised through every light, even one where a cop car had just pulled up to and stopped — we went right through, no problem.
Sunday, I went at around 5:00 by myself. I rode faster but I’m no racer. I saw bikers stopping at every light. Very light pedestrian traffic. Lot’s of cops. I went through every light, no pedaling, looking both ways. Shortly after that, I went through another red with a three-wheeler right behind me going through as well. When I exited the park at 6:30 I saw a biker in kit receiving a ticket west of the 72nd st. entrance where the north drive picks up. Ridiculous. No one was around except for cops, the biker and me exiting.
I’m writing JSK and my council person.
Has anyone challenged these car-free time red light tickets? Odds are the cops are giving them out under the Vehicle and Traffic Laws. Yet, it could very well be that the Park Drives are subject to Park Rules (and penalties), not Vehicle and Traffic Laws during car-free periods.
1. The Central Park Conservancy website has rules for car-free and car hour use of the recreation lane, and there is nothing about that use in V&T or city law. Either those Conservancy/Parks rules have no authority, or Parks has authority during car-free hours. So, if Park rules are in effect and being broken, Parks summonses should be given out, not V@T. ShouldnââŹâ˘t that void any V@T tickets?
2. During the 1990ââŹÂ˛s a court held that the Parks Dept had the authority to establish a 15mph bike speed limit in Central Park drive during car-free hours. Since Parks does not have the authority to set limits on streets under VTL and city law, this suggests that car-free periods.
Dear Speaker Quinn,
I will keep this brief as I am certain you and your staff are busy.
As you know, their is a a ticketing blitz by the NYPC that targets cyclists in Central Park. Cyclists are receiving tickets for running red lights, regardless of whether it is safe to proceed or not. Cyclists are getting tickets for as much as $270, while joggers, pedestrians and others proceed through the same lights.
For decades a sense of reason has prevailed in Central Park regarding cycling. In off hours, when cars and pedestrians are scarce, cyclists have been able to enjoy use of Park by circling the loop in a safe manner. All parties should be
reminded that cyclists were in the Park in the 1970’s, when many less residents and tourists would venture in due to crime.
The problem is not cyclists proceeding through red lights in a largely empty Park. It is a lack of signage by DOT and CPC guiding safe Park usage. Cyclists are reduced to dismounting and traffic signals and walking through the light. Where is the logic in this? One proposal floated is the use of flashing yellow signals when cars are not in the Park. I hope you will consider this alternative.
Ticketing a cyclists in an empty, cold Park at 7:00am or 8:00pm for proceeding through a traffic signal cautiously is not law enforcement. It is absurd. And given the selective nature of enforcement, it is harassment.
Lastly, I have written to Councilperson Brewer TWICE and your office once. I have received no response. Nothing even to acknowledge receipt.
I’m not sure if Councilpersons Brewers staff is simply lacking in courtesy, or thinks it is not necessary to respond to voters. But I am aware of a growing group of constituents who will not support here in future elections, should she decide to run again.
Sincerely,
so is the NYPD going to be enforcing the red lights during park races? i.e. will the pack be required to stop at lights, and/or will breaks and dropped riders be required to stop? this has the potential to completely ruin park racing if they are intent on interpreting the law literally. what’s the story?
what’s the situation like in prospect park?
Was riding in Prospect Park this afternoon. Bikers going through red lights had no problems, even with police vehicles stationed near the lights.
wout, try and keep up.
keep up?
“NYPD has declared that during CRCA races, if the field is all together they will be required to stop at red lights. If there is a break, the break and the field will need to stop, look both ways, then proceed with caution.”
are you saying that you’ve heard something new since the above was posted on February 3rd? This is what I was referencing.
In fact, in speaking with Captain Wishnea today it seems he is very excited about the upcoming season. His money is on Foundation for the Team Cup, but he also pointed out that “that Ricky Lowe has some sprint, I’ll tell ya”.
Capt Wishna said my Elipta-Go did not have to stop at lights, so I am rocking it in CRCA Sat.
saw the cops let a dad and his kid on bikes run a red on sunday then ticket a rec rider an hr later
“In fact, in speaking with Captain Wishnea today it seems he is very excited about the upcoming season. His money is on Foundation for the Team Cup, but he also pointed out that “that Ricky Lowe has some sprint, I’ll tell ya”.”
from the kit he was wearing on saturday, ricky won’t be lining up at any CRCA races this season.
Join the fight for our right to ride in Central Park. Sign the petition.
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-ticketing-blitz-of-cyclists-in-new-yorks-central-park
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49973885/BP-Scott-Stringer-Letter-on-Central-Park-Cycling/