Looks pretty nasty, but having seen Sean last night, I can say that it appears that he’s making a quick recovery.

Yeah, but you should have seen the guys fist.

Judging by posts by and about Mr. Sweeney on Streetsblog, I’d guess it’ll take a lot more than that to knock him off his game.

Maybe he should’ve posted it as his Streetsblog avatar. It’s a little late but he still might’ve won the booby prize.

My bike can handle cobbled streets and often enjoy them; while walking my bike other places, more than most, primarily for safety reasons. Very often cobbled streets are in low-use areas without people on the sidewalks; often not the situation in SoHo and cycling so close to Sean Sweeney was wrong and dangerous. It’s really easy for most to become proficient in cycling while not being proficient in safe practices especially when other people’s safety is at stake; all of which palls in comparison to safety concerns when dealing with cars, trucks, and buses.

It does not make much sense to stay off the sidewalk if that is preferred or walk a bike a block or more when no one is around and there is no likelihood of someone popping out unexpectedly or if a cyclist is going very slow and people are not close. In the immediate sense, just came from a ride where all these things were done on and around cobbled streets and surrounding sidewalks; some isolated; some not completely. No dangerous situations. No one grabbed my handlebars; with smiles and pleasantries on a very nice day.

Most cyclists prefer streets and there are usually good reasons when they do not use them. This is the public transportation system the people of this city have to live with today which the city seems to have vowed to fix and make safe and hopefully common sense will prevail.

Looks pretty nasty, but having seen Sean last night, I can say that it appears that he’s making a quick recovery.

Shea and I were in Trondheim, Norway this week, where there is a 15-20% mode share of bikes, yet nearly everyone rides (generally, slowly and carefully) on the sidewalks. We hated that. We rented bikes for a day and rode just as we would in NYC – following traffic rules and in the street. We found drivers to be cautious and courteous – certainly much more so than in New York. Though there are almost no bike lanes, there are many, many pedestrian streets that were shared with bikes and were very comfortable for walking and slower-paced riding.

Can’t imagine why they find that sidewalk usage acceptable… it’s not how I would arrange things!

I definitely agree that bikes do not belong on the sidewalk. NYPD also agrees, as this is perhaps the only biking rule that is consistently enforced. As with most campaigns to cultivate a certain behavior, in this case not biking on the sidewalk, you need a carrot and stick approach. The stick is enforcement: the NYPD ticketing and TA Biking Rules campaign. The carrot should be space on the street that is comfortable for bikers.

The way you feel when a bike comes whizzing at you while walking on a sidewalk is similar to the feeling cyclists get when a cab darts into the bike lane and stops. While I’m not saying that these dangers excuse sidewalk riding, they certainly don’t encourage riding on the street. That is why cyclists were so happy about things like the Ninth Ave and Grand Street bike lanes. I hope we can work together for streets and sidewalks that meet the needs of all users.

Those are (mostly) good ideas, but not exactly in Sweeney’s areas of expertise.

Cobbled streets are just something you have to deal with once in a while. If you or your bike can’t handle it, you should walk it on the sidewalk.

Great idea! And, perhaps you’ll initiate several campaigns advising jwalkers to quit their evil ways; cars, trucks, and buses that come dangerously too close and fast to cyclists sufficient to kill; suitable vias for bikes across damaged and or cobblestone streets; and town hall meetings on how it usually takes two to start a fight.

Most of us do.

Ian Dutton told me a story the other night about getting punched while on his bike by a guy who was walking in the bike lane. I might start wearing a football helmet with a faceguard. Can’t we all just get along?

I’m sorry you had to deal with such an asshole. I do my part by yelling at other cyclists that ride by me on sidewalks*.

*unless they’re much, much bigger than me, or if they look deranged.

To clarify some misconceptions voiced by commenters:
The news story didn’t make clear that the guy was cycling quite fast on an empty sidewalk and we coincided at a narrow bottle-neck of an obstructed sidewalk. I assumed he would either slow down, pull aside or go into the sidewalk to permit a pedestrian to proceed. He didn’t.

Instead he kept peddling to literally within an inch or two of my body. It was only after he had stopped did I grab the handlebar and yell at him to get off the sidewalk. He responded by coldcocking me.

I realize this nut does not represent the typical cyclist, but I do urge all cycling advocates to admonish other cyclists riding on the sidewalk and running lights because it does not win people over to the cause.

No question that going fast down a crowded sidewalk is dangerous but this action would have increased the danger if the situation was as described.

More effective would have been to signal him to slow down and take care; although going fast on a bike down a crowded SOHO sidewalk somehow doesn’t seem possible.

Kind of reminds me of this old coot honking his horn violently in front of a hospital on a quiet tree-lined street at a cyclist slowly safely going through a red light calling the cyclist a dummy completely oblivious to his much more serious $350 fineable offense and that on an annual basis nobody is killed by bicycles and about 250 people are killed by cars.

I remember once about eight years ago I was riding my bike into work at Comedy Central, I was making a right hand turn when a well-dressed pedestrian – completely and totally unprovoked (to this day I still wonder why) ran off the curb at me, punched me right in the gut and then sprinted down 8th Avenue. Back then I had a better set of abs, and was able to recover enough to ride a few minutes later. (Strangely a senior for some reason offered me a mint while I was recovering, like that would help…)

Point is I don’t hold a grudge towards pedestrians for it. Sweeney should chalk this up to some temperamental nut job on a bike. There are emotionally disturbed pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and even, yes, some Terminators (if you see the new movie.)

We’ve got a chicken and egg paradox here, Captain!

The perp in this astronomically convenient story shopped to a friendly neighborhood rag (item!) sounds a lot like a curmudgeon’s caricature of a Streetsblog reader. Except for the part about riding on soho sidewalks, asking if people want trouble, and punching them—it could be me! Strange, but … published. [Too Good to Check]