On the morning of November
2, 2015 a group of cycling advocates set out to address perhaps the greatest
hindrance to safe cycling in New York City: cars illegally parked in bikelanes. The City of New York recently
celebrated installation of more than 1,000 miles of bike lanes, but they areoften impeded by motor vehicles, all too often police vehicles, flouting the law.
Catherine, Dulcie, Paige, and radical historian LA Kauffman in a cameo appearance outside Ft Greene Park. |
The cyclists with The Public Space
Party met in Fort Greene Park, where they talked
about this ongoing problem and what needs to be done to generate heat. While the City has laid out a model of Vision
Zero policing, lack of enforcement of traffic violations in bike lanes, many
caused by vehicles illegally parked in bike lanes, impedes these steps forward,
creating unsafe riding conditions. The
cyclists headed out to the busy corner of Hoyt and Schermerhorn in Boerum
Hill, where multiple vehicles belonging to police were double parked in bike
lanes across the street.
Carrying air horns and wearing colorful clothes, cyclists crashed
into the cars parked in the bike lanes, holding out signs declaring, “Warning:
Cop in Bike Lane!”, giving police in bike lanes tickets, and calling 311
reporting bike lanes illegally blocked by NYPD vehicles, including outside of
NYPD precincts.
Cars illegally u turning and |
According to the Rules of the City of
New York, it is plainly illegal to park in a bike lane RCNY § 4-08 (e)(9) states
that, “It is against the law to park, stand or stop within
or otherwise obstruct bike lanes.” Yet, police vehicles are parked in bike
lanes all over the city, from Schermerhorn Street, to Jay Street, to Coney
Island, to Sixth Ave. On Schermerhorn Street, the police went as far as painting
their own parking spots over the bike lane.
Throughout the action, the Public Space
Party (PSP) group drew attention to this illegal and dangerous practice by the
NYPD, and how it relates to the greater culture of lawlessness in the City’s
police department. Each car parked in a bike lane was given a PSP “Bike Lane
Parking” “tickets” reminding them of NYC traffic rules. Some 25 cars, six belong to police, were given
tickets for illegally parking in a bike lane.
Brennan Cavanaugh photos of the Public Space Party in action. |
Brennan Cavanaugh video. |
At the corner of Hoyt-Schermerhorn in Boerum Hill, the
police acknowledged that they were in violation of the law. Asked why they were not informing the other
motorists double parked there not to park in the bike lanes, they explained
that it was a lot of work to do so. The
police there promised to do more in the future.
Other police were less interested in taking part in a conversation and
walked off.
“Impunity is a key ingredient in the police violence and malfeasance
being outed now in social media,” notes activist Owen Crowley, of the
Public Space Party. “This is exercised in many different ways that I witness
almost daily. Police cars running red lights without cause, personal cars
parked illegally and encroaching into the street in front of police stations,
police cars parked or standing in bike lanes. This creates hazards for
pedestrians, cyclists and civilian drivers. On top of that, it is an exercise
that reinforces a culture in which police are above the law.”
“With climate change looming, New York
needs to move toward sustainability,” notes Benjamin Shepard, of Public Space
Party. “A simple first step is safe, non-polluting transportation. Cars in bike
lanes create dangerous conditions on the streets, discouraging cycling. Getting
cars out of bike lanes is an essential first step in Vision Zero policing.”
"Our of the bike lanes, into the streets," cyclists declared riding down Jay Street, talking with car drivers parked in bikes. Many were unaware of the danger posed by their actions.
"Our of the bike lanes, into the streets," cyclists declared riding down Jay Street, talking with car drivers parked in bikes. Many were unaware of the danger posed by their actions.
Through the ride, cyclists thanked us for what we were
doing.
Others talked about doing something again after the city failed to cope with the problem.
Others talked about doing something again after the city failed to cope with the problem.
Of course, this is not the first bike lane liberation ride
for all of us. Ten years ago, we started
these rides when the city was first laying out its bike lane program. Back in 2005, the city was a year into the crackdown on
Critical Mass bike rides. Part of the
purpose of the bike lane liberation rides was just organizing a fun and meaningful group ride after critical mass became seemingly untenable. Over the years, we created a mythology and
storyline of the bike lanes, using the streets as places for theater, graffiti,
agit prop, and public performance. Sometimes we borrowed from the Surrealists
and Situationists on our rides, remapping the fading bike lanes of the city
with chalk, in our 21st century model of derive and
detournement. I found myself quoting
Herbert Marcuse on bike rides, suggesting there has to be more to urban life
than a means of necessity. Our wanderings throughout the city, beyond work,
mean something. We have to be able to get there.
Scenes from Critical Mass and the bike lane liberation rides over the last decade. Top photo 2005 ride by Fred Askew. |
Yet, over the years, the comic quality of the streets
changed, as the police continued to impede the utility of the bike lane
program. And deaths in the streets escalated. The traffic justice movement with Right of Way and Families for Safe Streets pointed to a new more urgent cycling activism. While cyclists viewed the bike
lanes as public spaces, offering the sorts of eyes on the streets that Jane
Jacobs applauded, the NYPD seemed to follow the Robert Moses
playbook, clogging the bike lanes with cars, emblems of an outmoded model of
urbanism, framed around cars, rather than non-polluting transportation.
The Bureau of Organized Bike Lane Safety. 2010, our spin off group.Photo and story, NY Times. |
Today, the problem of police in bike lanes may be
changing, with activists taking the problem into their own hands, changing the
discourse of urban cycling. Yet,
there is a lot of work to do to educate drivers and police alike. On my way home from our action, I ran into a
police car parked on the bike lane on Hoyt Street in Brooklyn and gave it a ticket.
We’ll have Monday morning rides throughout the coming weeks,
in which we’ll continue to address this problem, taking it to bike lanes where
police park throughout the city of New York City.
We’ll be at Jay Street and Myrtle at 9AM for another bike
lane liberation ride next Monday. Join us for a morning coffee and group ride where we'll take on other spots throughout Brooklyn the police have blocked the bike lanes.
Hope to see you then.
Great action, scintillating post. Terrific mashup of text & pics; theory & action; past, present and future. Really inspiring!
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