You know trees have s too and its not a dirty word.

http://www.petermoskos.com/oped/feet_on_street.html

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/04/car-patrol-vs-f.html

You said that you were recently run over by a cyclist. I've no doubt it was an unpleasant experience, but at least you are here to tell us about it. Would that be the case if you were run over by an automobile instead? I don't think so. This is the essential difference between safety violations committed by drivers vs. by cyclists.

Best,

--Ian Turner

This sounds like a spectacular early spring afternoon.

We have this discussion every few weeks on Streetsblog.

Conditions on the street change over time. One minute, your bike lane is blocked by a UPS truck; the next, it's clear, and a car wants to do 30MPh, so you move into the lane; then you see a pothole, or a bunch of Chinamen or tourists waiting to cross the street by standing seven feet into it, ignoring your bell.

I have a phobia about my fingers being crushed, as it'd destroy my income potential and utterly change my life; and I have a good friend who was doored by a cabbie and lost much of the movement in his right index finger; thus I am thus skittish about being doored. Bike lanes on the right side of the road adjacent parking are invitations to get doored.

Thinking of yourself is only human. Thinking of what's best for others is tyrranical. Thinking of how your interests can align elegantly with others, so that everyone gets what they want, is enlightened.

Incidentally I'm a member of the NRA (or was 'til recently), watch it

I'm honestly inclined to take you up on the offer to sit and watch the street. Let's make sure we bring a six pack and a camera. People are idiots, and their stupidity is only sometimes tragic; usually, it's hilarious.

Yes individual cyclists have intention. Groups have the interests of their members and should work towards attainable goals and educate their members as well as non-members. More times than not, groups only think of themselves (see NRA) rather than another point of view. I'm just passing along my POV as a bit of contrast to the cyclists' view of "We want to share but they don't want to!"

I'd be willing sit with you and watch on any street corner and count the number of cyclists weaving and riding erratically and causing more problems than the cars do.

Trust me, I don't hate cyclists. I hate careless drivers who weave and taxis who block up bus lanes, etc. The fact is that people are too damn selfish and think it's their right to do whatever they want, when they want. If we all stopped for a minute to think what the other person amy be thinking, we may actually get somewhere as a species. Maybe we just need this guy Rob to spread the love give us all high fives:

http://improveverywhere.com/2009/02/09/high-five-escalator/

Cyclists as a group don't have intention, individual cyclists do.

Same thing goes for drivers, incidentally; not everyone piloting a 3K LB machine is irresponsibly bad at it.

But it's definitely not the law that cyclists must use the bike lane. I looked this up recently, but I fail at Google right now; iirc, the law says, you must use the lane if /you/ deem it safe.

Often I do, often I don't. That's how it's supposed to work, yeah?

Underpaying the officers means we hire dudes from Suffolk, who don't live here and aren't like us. It's like a weird form of '50s bussing, a la schoolkids, from poor to richer districts.

It's strange, I manage to blame both Albany and the NYPD simultaneously for this state of affairs. I couldn't be more cynical about our chances for improvement, either.

I myself have been run over by a delivery person (I won't say what type of delivery, sex, race or idenifier since it shouldn't matter). Cyclist going northbound on Broadway (it's a one way south at 40th and Broadway) without a green light for those traveling in the correct direction. I'm trying to walk across Broadway eastbound when he slams into me. Should I have him arrested?

Also, in my neighborhood in Bay Ridge, there's a perfectly resurfaced bicycle path separated by benches from the pedestrian path yet cyclists insist on riding on the pedestrian path. (Located along side the Belt Parkway between exits 1 and 2.) How about cyclists showing a little love for the joggers, walkers and assorted other no cyclists? You're quick to blame everyone else for your troubles but unwilling to accept that you're as guilty of failing to adhere to the rules.

I agree that motor vehicles should share the road but if the cyclist doesn't obey the same safety measures the vehicles must follow, someone will get injured and it won't be the multi-ton vehicle. I'm sure if a full study was done on MV vs. bicycle accidents, it would be 50/50 on who's at fault.

Thanks for reading.. oyu may now go back to condemning everything over 50 lbs.

When Dinkins ran for mayor, crime was still considered rampant, so one of his main campaign promises was to control crime by hiring more cops. He was elected, went to then-Gov. Cuomo, got the money, hired the cops, and put them on the streets of my neighborhood. After years of seeing cops on my streets at most a couple of times a year, I began seeing them several times a day. I was amazed -- I hadn't known cops had legs!

When Giuliani ran against Dinkins for the second time, he cut an endorsement deal with the PBA. A year after he took office, foot patrols on the UWS dropped to their pre-Dinkins level -- practically nonexistent. That's how it's been ever since.

Incidentally, Giuliani also fired Ray Kelly, who implemented the Community Policing program for Dinkins. It still exists but appears to have been repurposed to depend less on foot patrols, at least in my neighborhood.