AP in the Daily News: City again seeks to require permits for monthly bike ride

[Also Sent to critical-mass]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...OL-?SITE=NYNYD

City again seeks to require permits for monthly bike ride
New York Daily News | 25-Mar-2005, 3:12 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- The city has filed a complaint seeking to require
permits for a monthly bicycle rally through Manhattan that typically
brings automobile traffic to a standstill.

Summonses were issued Tuesday to four participants in the Critical
Mass ride, ordering them to respond to the complaint, The New York
Times reported in Friday editions.

The city wants to require permits for use of city streets and of Union
Square, the rally's starting point, and to bar participants from
publicizing the ride.

The event -- held the last Friday of each month in Manhattan -- gained
notoriety last summer, when police made dozens of arrests at a ride
held several days before the start of the Republican National
Convention.

Last December, the city filed a lawsuit to require cyclists to obtain
parade permits, saying the rides threaten public safety by creating
traffic chaos. But a federal judge dismissed the case, saying the
issue should be resolved in state court.

Cyclists argue that since no one claims to organize the event, the
issuance of permits is unnecessary. They say they do not need a formal
organization because they have the same rights to streets as motorists
do.

The bike rides are designed to make a statement about cyclists' rights
and to protest urban areas' reliance on motor vehicles.

=v= And, might I add:

| ... a monthly bicycle rally through Manhattan that typically
| brings automobile traffic to a standstill.

Completely inaccurately editorialize much?

=v= Stay tuned for another similarly fact-laden "hoardes of
drunken cyclists" smear editorial in the _Daily_News_ and/or
an op-ed piece in said tabloid from the NYPD, repeating all
those lies they never had a shred of evidence for the *last*
time they went to court. But hey, what's a tabloid for if
not to publish the sort of screeching falsehood that won't
fly in a well-run courtroom?
_Jym_

Jym Dyer wrote:
[Also Sent to critical-mass]


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...OL-?SITE=NYNYD

City again seeks to require permits for monthly bike ride
New York Daily News | 25-Mar-2005, 3:12 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- The city has filed a complaint seeking to require
permits for a monthly bicycle rally through Manhattan that typically
brings automobile traffic to a standstill.

Oh, maybe they mean like traffic lights? Or the delivery truck
blocking the single traffic lane on cross streets? I'm quite sure that
no one in their right mind would use the media to deliberately foist
their agenda on the public.

R

You are the organizer "Jym"


"Jym Dyer" wrote in message
...
[Also Sent to critical-mass]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...OL-?SITE=NYNYD

City again seeks to require permits for monthly bike ride
New York Daily News | 25-Mar-2005, 3:12 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- The city has filed a complaint seeking to require
permits for a monthly bicycle rally through Manhattan that typically
brings automobile traffic to a standstill.

Summonses were issued Tuesday to four participants in the Critical
Mass ride, ordering them to respond to the complaint, The New York
Times reported in Friday editions.

The city wants to require permits for use of city streets and of Union
Square, the rally's starting point, and to bar participants from
publicizing the ride.

The event -- held the last Friday of each month in Manhattan -- gained
notoriety last summer, when police made dozens of arrests at a ride
held several days before the start of the Republican National
Convention.

Last December, the city filed a lawsuit to require cyclists to obtain
parade permits, saying the rides threaten public safety by creating
traffic chaos. But a federal judge dismissed the case, saying the
issue should be resolved in state court.

Cyclists argue that since no one claims to organize the event, the
issuance of permits is unnecessary. They say they do not need a formal
organization because they have the same rights to streets as motorists
do.

The bike rides are designed to make a statement about cyclists' rights
and to protest urban areas' reliance on motor vehicles.

| ... a monthly bicycle rally through Manhattan that typically
| brings automobile traffic to a standstill.

It's the cars, stupid!

Charles Komanoff of Right of Way found that "on an annual
basis [Critical Mass] rides add just 0.002% to New York City
'gridlock'"

See http://rightofway.org/littera-scripta/CMTestimony.pdf for
the analysis.

--
Steven O'Neill

You are the organizer "Jym"
Exactly right.

=v= I admit I do organize part of the ride. Specifically, I
organize the sequence of gears that my chain shifts to. If
my organization offends you, I could switch to a track bike.
_Jym_

Jym Dyer wrote:
Cyclists argue that since no one claims to organize the event, the
issuance of permits is unnecessary. They say they do not need a
formal
organization because they have the same rights to streets as
motorists
do.

They certainly do have the same rigths as motorists. A demonstration
consisting of a large pack of cars would need a permit under the same
rules. (Taxi drivers do this from time to time.)

You can pretend it's just a bunch of legal road users who
"coincidentally" happen to be at the same place at the same time. You
can also pretend you're a chicken. But that doesn't make it so.

They should apply for a permit. The city should grant one, and the
police and the demonstrators should all obey the law.

As for me, I'll be legally riding my bicycle somewhere else, hoping no
leaderless masses of cyclists get in the way.

-Apr

On 29 Mar 2005 12:55:20 -0800,
wrote:

Jym Dyer wrote:
Cyclists argue that since no one claims to organize the event, the
issuance of permits is unnecessary. They say they do not need a
formal
organization because they have the same rights to streets as
motorists
do.

They certainly do have the same rigths as motorists. A demonstration
consisting of a large pack of cars would need a permit under the same
rules. (Taxi drivers do this from time to time.)

You can pretend it's just a bunch of legal road users who
"coincidentally" happen to be at the same place at the same time. You
can also pretend you're a chicken. But that doesn't make it so.

They should apply for a permit. The city should grant one, and the
police and the demonstrators should all obey the law.

As for me, I'll be legally riding my bicycle somewhere else, hoping no
leaderless masses of cyclists get in the way.

-Apr

But it isn't a demonstration. It is a bunch of bikes all going the
same place. Cars do it all the time and block up roads all over.
Perhaps you've even seen it happen. I've seen blocks so choked with
cars that an ambulance couldn't get through! If they had been biking
instead, there would have been plenty of room.

On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 16:31:54 -0500, dgk
wrote:

On 29 Mar 2005 12:55:20 -0800,
wrote:

Jym Dyer wrote:
Cyclists argue that since no one claims to organize the event, the
issuance of permits is unnecessary. They say they do not need a
formal
organization because they have the same rights to streets as
motorists
do.

They certainly do have the same rigths as motorists. A demonstration
consisting of a large pack of cars would need a permit under the same
rules. (Taxi drivers do this from time to time.)

You can pretend it's just a bunch of legal road users who
"coincidentally" happen to be at the same place at the same time. You
can also pretend you're a chicken. But that doesn't make it so.

They should apply for a permit. The city should grant one, and the
police and the demonstrators should all obey the law.

As for me, I'll be legally riding my bicycle somewhere else, hoping no
leaderless masses of cyclists get in the way.

-Apr

But it isn't a demonstration. It is a bunch of bikes all going the
same place. Cars do it all the time and block up roads all over.
Perhaps you've even seen it happen. I've seen blocks so choked with
cars that an ambulance couldn't get through! If they had been biking
instead, there would have been plenty of room.

How many cops were arrested when they blocked the streets around city
hall because they didn't get a raise? Did someone say zero?

How many cops were arrested when they blocked the streets
around city hall because they didn't get a raise? Did
someone say zero?

=v= By an astonishing coincidence, zero is *also* the number
of cops who applied for a permit for that gathering.
_Jym_