NYS law does very little to address those gray zone situations between two otherwise law abiding citizens involved in a preventable altercation such as the one in the above video. We need more education on common manners. If the cyclist and pedestrian had started off just a little bit more polite and apologetic, there would have been no beating in the first place. It does not hurt to say, "excuse me," or "i'm sorry," to someone when you bump into them. A truly educated lady or gentleman apologizes for any conflict no matter whose fault it is, and does not demand an apology from the other party. A truly educated lady or gentleman is secure enough in themselves to understand that it is the other person's loss for being rude. One exception to this rule are line cutters. One can harass and humiliate a line cutter into submission and encourage others in line to do the same in order to make it impossible for people to cut lines without fear of reprisal. Otherwise, do not return rudeness for rudeness.

Dude's an angry wannabe, probably on his way to work as a "barista" at Starbucks. Revoke his bicycle privileges and banish him to Jersey City.

The kid with the lock is a sucker who thinks that he's a tough guy. He was being annoyed by an old chinese man, so he whacked him with a U-lock. It's cool. Karmic entropy is a real bitch when it catches up with you. The sad thing is that there will prolly not be a videocamera around when this kid gets his & that none of us will get to enjoy a broadcast of his comeuppance.