Streetsblog New York City

But why? Certainly they must have some claim that they were breaking the law in some way. They can’t just ticket bikers for being bikers.

Transportation Alternatives and the Adopt-a-Bike-Lane Initiative are working hard to win necessary safety improvements for cyclists along Delancey Street, particularly at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge. This is the most popular bridge for cyclists in NYC and the number of riders will only continue to grow in the coming months and years.

Anyone who travels through this intersection regularly knows that it needs multiple crossing guards to ensure any amount of safety for pedestrians and cyclists during rush hours. Red light running and speeding are rampant. An intersection at the base of this crucial commuter corridor that needs crossing guards to function with any ounce of safety, is an intersection that is not functioning at all.

Contact bike@transalt.org if you would like to get involved in the Delancey Street Adopt-a-Bike-Lane Campaign. We will be holding regular bike commuter pools regularly during the spring and summer to encourage safer commuting for cyclists.

I didn’t ride it this morning but have noticed that cops DO ticket people going onto or off the bridge periodically. Or at a minimum stop them, check IDs, summons for not having lights, blocking traffic, etc. Not sure what the issue was today tho.

I would like more info too, but would guess this is just another case of police setting up shop somewhere that it is easy to spot minor violations. They seem to do the same thing for automobiles, pulling over people from one intersection for a few hours (though there are few driving violations I would consider minor, given the outsize potential for harm). Anywho, handing out a bunch of tickets in one place on one day is not going to solve real or perceived safety problems. It’s just the easiest way to increase the summons totals.

i don’t believe it even qualifies as an “account,” surely your john doe at least said what he was ticketed for?

it is certainly worth fleshing out into a story, but where is the rush?! more info! what’s the complaint? it’s worthy of becoming an article, it’s nothing right now.

that’s better, thanks! (maybe next time wait to run until more info)

so your source was ticketed for failure to yield to ped? based on what? crazy. they should all contest ticket and obviously say this is what the police told them. frustrating. thanks for the update

In response to the attacks on the quality of the journalism, this wholesale bike-ticketing, especially at the Williamsburg Bridge, is a periodically recurring problem, and I would bet that’s why Streetsblog posted it without a ton of detail: I think they assumed that many if not most readers would remember hearing about previous incidences of it. Also, it looked to me like a “breaking news” kind of thing (much like tiny articles AP and Reuters often put out), that might actually be helpful to much of sblog’s audience. I think it was worth posting–even without the update–and especially considering the potentially improper police practice of pulling over a whole class of road user without witnessing violations first. (I don’t actually know whether such police practices are improper or not, but they sure sound wrong.)

I guess you guys complaining about the “article” weren’t riding over the WillyB into Manhattan this morning.

I didn’t ride over the willy b, my commute goes over manhattan bridge, but I don’t see that that is relevant. Frankly, I don’t see how it would have helped me, as the source reported that he did nothing wrong, which I am greatly concerned by. I was merely pushing for more information, as Mr. Fried also wanted more information, and questioned whether posting it without any real information was better than waiting for more. There is nothing wrong with criticism. Were you among those ticketed? If so, I would be curious to hear more, but the fact I didn’t come over the bridge and was a whopping quarter mile away really doesn’t impact my thoughts on the matter.

Saw this same activity in person today. At 9:15 a.m., I touched down on Manhattan side of WB bridge and, with traffic stopped at its red light on West-bound Delancey, made my way across top of the crosswalk, with ped signal, and turned West, heading towards Bowery.

I saw in front of me, on the right side of the road, two uniformed NYPD who had stopped a rider, and the rider was showing them ID. And I could tell that this was their assignment by their body language (I’ve seen it too often)…one was looking at the ID and one was watching other bikers. I did not see what preceded the stop.

They weren’t there to control traffic…..DOT traffic agents were up the street, and the DOT van was blocking the space that the bikers need at the far right of the traffic lane, just after Suffolk St.

I saw other bikers exiting the bridge and riding the far left side of Delancey, hugging the median. I bet this is the safer way to avoid being stopped. Hide behind trucks.

One doesn’t really know what is the ticket-proof way of proceeding. Does one exit the bridge and then stop behind the crosswalk at Clinton St. until the light turns green for West-bound traffic? Or is it fine to cross with the peds to get to the far side of Delancey and then turn West? Other people posting here make it sound as if the stopping is random.

-pm

“And, you might want to stick around for this agenda item:
4. DOT: Bike lane installation on Ave A from E Houston to E 14th St”

This has already been painted. Not sure why they are discussing it now.