In case you didn’t notice yet, the New York Post really hates bikes, almost to a comical degree. Today, the paper gleefully reports on the NYPD ticketing cyclists who “recklessly blow through red lights in Central Park” on their “sporty bikes that sell for up to $10,000.” Damn those dangerous rich people!
To the average reader, this story may sound reasonable enough, but for those of us that have actually ridden through the park or are familiar with the cost of even the priciest of road bikes, it’s beyond absurd.
First off, if there was ever an argument to be made for why bikes shouldn’t be treated like vehicles it’s Central Park. Requiring cyclists to stop at each and every one of the dozens of red lights— especially when no one is coming—is patently ridiculous. Secondly, the majority of cyclists don’t ride $10,000 bikes. It’s also a claim the reporter can’t even support two short paragraphs later: “Michael Bar, 39, who was stopped for riding his $6,000 Merlin bike outside the designated lane, bellyached…” I wonder how many $500-750 road bikes whizzed before the Post scribe landed that Merlin. (Photo: frahi2001/flickr)
There are always exceptions, and I am one of them. I am a cyclist, born & raised here in NYC and was a courier for a couple of years as well. There will always be the few who spoil it for the many. My Pop was knocked down by a cyclist while crossing at a pedestrian crosswalk in Central Park and suffered a broken hand that required surgery. The biker ignored the red light and didn't even bother to stop after knocking him down.
I see fools on bikes racing along on sidewalks, going into busy pedestrian crosswalks, etc and it pisses me off. As I try my best to observe laws, these actions by other reckless individuals is unfortunate.
Stay safe & keep your eyes peeled folks.
A friend of mine was once knocked down by a courier who then dismounted and beat him with his chain lock. Unbelievable.
If cyclists want empathy, they need to start by respecting pedestrian safety. Instead of appreciating the other environmental and healthy commuters, they too often cut them off and buzz them in the pedestrians' own right-of-ways.
If cyclists want to be able to share the roads as legitimate vehicles, then they need to be able to acknowledge that they are vehicles, not pedestrians on wheels.
Cyclists are somewhere between peds and vehicles, they are a separate
category. Since biking is a very viable alternative mode of tramsportation, it is worth integrating them into the transportatiom system, as is being done. Even with hybrid cars, theyre much heavier, and where dies the batteries’ power come from? Oil and gas. In chinatown, peds realize that bikers are on a specific path and work it out without getting hit or slowing down. Transportatio
In a chaotic urban area will ave its’ flaws, and people will get hurt, we just nee to try to minimize damage and move on. Most of the risk is on the biker. And to the other guy, who knows someone who was hit and beat up by a biker; i know someone who was eobbed and beaten in a subway, but generally keep the same opinion of subway passengers. Dont bring up an anomalous incident as evidence of the general climate.