NYPD: Stop Victim Blaming!!! Stop Violence Against Working Cyclists Now, #DeliverJustice for working cyclists!

Photos of NYPD officer shoving a bicyclist off his bike to give him a ticket, (photos by Chana Widawski). 

 

Some days, just riding to work  is a risk,  or

riding  home from  a  demonstration  about bike fatalities and victim blaming  by the NYPD. 

That was the case today.

Early today, I saw footage of an NYPD captain recklessly tackling a black cyclist on Thursday, Feb 7 in Midtown.

Police spent the day making baseless stops of other cyclists, mostly people of color and immigrant workers, after another cyclist was killed here by a hit-and-run driver earlier this week. Instead of defending vulnerable cyclists, police demanded their IDs and even confiscated their bikes on dubious legal ground. News story: https://bit.ly/2t9G6Yp

And invitations started pouring  in.

Join New Yorkers Outraged by the Overbearing Crackdown on Working Cyclists for a rally at NYPD Midtown North Precinct at 4pm to demand that NYC #DeliverJustice! 

My friend Dulcie sent another:

4 PM - RALLY AT NYPD MIDTOWN NORTH PRECINCT (306 W 54th St between 8th & 9th Aves).  Last night's appalling events - a person on a bike being thrown to the ground by a police officer on 9th Avenue, with more working cyclists and people of color being rounded up on the side of the avenue - came after a predictable stream of events that escalated during a 48-hour period. Earlier this week, we were pained to learn of the tragic hit-and-run killing of Joseph Chiam while he was riding a bike through a mixing zone on 8th Avenue. Now we're seeing a police response to that tragedy that is illogical, unjust, and unacceptable. While we can't change the fact that Mr. Chiam lost his life, we can absolutely demand justice on New York City's streets. Share this video so that the world knows that treating New Yorkers this way is unacceptable, and join your fellow New Yorkers today to send that message loud and clear.

Together with the Biking Public Project and the Asian American Federation, we'll be rallying outside the NYPD Midtown North precinct house, on West 54th Street between 8th & 9th Avenues, at 4 PM to tell our elected officials that we demand change. We demand that the city #DeliverJustice for delivery workers and all who rely on bicycles - and who are threatened by the traffic violence that took the life of Joseph Chiam.

At the action,  I talked with countles activists from Trans  Alternatives,  Right  of Way, and Families for Safe Streets.
My friend  Austin described a pattern of victim blaming by the NYPD. 

 in response to Chiam’s death, instead  of cracking  down on violent motorists.
How about police take this seriously and stop parking in the bike lanes, he
asked  a reporter.
The police stood across the street. 
We talked with  Chana, an activist from Families for  Safer Streets,  who filmed  the incident the day before. 
My friend Dulcie, who survived a horrible accident, was there. 
Others were planning to create a ghost bike for Mr Chain. 

I’d have my experience with victim blaming on the way home, riding  down Jay Street, where

the streets are clogged with police and  delivery cars parked in  the bike  lanes.

Riding up to Fulton,  a car opened  its door into me as I rode, the door jamming into my body before I could ride around.

And sure enough the drivers inside told me I needed to look out for them.
I'm in a bike lane, I told them.
If I drive further out, I'm with the cars. 

You are going to end up like that driver, noted my wife as I left for the  action.
It's just a matter of time. 
Another  cyclist hit by a car in  the streets.  

I hope she’s not right.

Sometimes I  worry she  might be.
All night I had my Huck Finn visions of what it would be like if it happened to me.
“Human beings can be awful cruel to one another," wrote Mark Twain. 
In Amsterdam,  drivers have  duty to look out for cyclsts.
Yet, this step has not come to New York. 
Instead we blame each other. 
And the police https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2013/07/22/how-nypd-bike-enforcement-is-making-streets-less-safe/get  in the way.
Still driver accountability is a concept whose time has come. 
Corey Johnson,  speaker of City Council, tweeted.
"Whatwe saw in this video shared yesterday is deeply concerning. We need answers on exactly what happened this week. When a cyclist is killed by a driver of a vehicle, the response from the police should not be the systematic targeting of cyclists.
I am working with both the NYPD and street safety advocates to get to the bottom of this situation and to ensure that our cyclists and pedestrians are protected from traffic violence."

We all  need  to look out for each other here.

But car drivers are killing  people.