By Anthony O’Malley

“On Sat and Sun, Jan. 8/9 and 15/16, there were cops out in the park at the Summer Stage downhill location in a van parked, right before the light. Then further down there were more cops PAST the light.
 
The van cops were on the radio informing the others that cyclists were running the red light. I personally saw at least five people get ticketed. There were few people in the park, the temp was about 25 degrees, yet these cops were making coordinated attempts to ticket cyclists, $270 a pop.”

The above post was placed, by me, on CRCA Yahoo Group back on January 19th, a full eight weeks ago.

Since that time, much effort has been made to reverse the NYPD crack down though petitions in bike shops, online petitions and lobbying council members and the DOT to make an exception for Central Park riders and racers who train regularly.

The most encouraging development was a letter written on March 3rd, 2011 by Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer urging the NYPD and DOT to do something about this absurd crack down on bikers in Central Park during times when there are few other users present.

Almost 1500 online names have been added to the petition written by Guido Gabriele, lawyer, racer and CRCA member. A further 100 names have been signed on in store petitions at TOGA, SIDS 19th Street, RENAISSANCE, METRO, GOTHAM and many others.

Guido Gabriele, Dave Jordan, Ted Neu and I have all rallied the support of a disparate group of pro-bike advocates in a bid to put pressure on the NYPD to somehow change their policy of issuing $270 tickets in the park.

Several bikers I know have sent me PDF copies of tickets issued at non-existent lights in Central Park, of running reds at a time when hardly anyone else was in the park.

I attended the CPC meeting along with Dave Jordan, Wendy Nickerson and Mike Green in an attempt to get across our views to Captain Wishnea of the Central Park precinct. Our views were duly noted and many others at the meeting in February advocated change as well. NYCC and TA were also in attendance and advocated for change also.

Has change come about?

The answer to that is, yes but slowly!

There are no longer cops “ambushing” unsuspecting cyclists at the Summer Stage cross walk in 20 degree weather at 10:00hrs on a Tuesday morning. The NYPD, many of whom – mostly veterans – think the ticket issuing policy within the confines of Central Park is a silly waste of their time, have eased somewhat.

The rookies, in a bid to satisfy their bosses have not.

Are bikes really the menace?

But to go beyond the current status quo, we need more racers and bikers to send emails, letters and make phone calls to their local council person.

On March 14th, at 7pm there will be a meeting of one of the community boards to discuss a variety of issues. I plan to attend and hope many of you will too.

In closing, as the weather heats up and the racing season gets into full swing, our goal of reversing the crack down on training in the park and stopping at red lights during off-peak hours must continue.

I urge all who read this to do something on some level. And to the naysayers and anonymous spectators, who have nothing constructive to say, please refrain from making inane comments unless you intend to assist us in our efforts!

Let’s enjoy training in Central Park without having to constantly turn every which way to see if cops are following us around the place.

Sincerely,

Anthony O’Malley