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September 29, 2004
The Villager: Critical Mass rides again, vows to keep on rolling
From The Villager
By Lincoln Anderson
In an event deemed a critical test for the future of Critical Mass, the monthly group bike ride with an environmental message, about 1,000 bicyclists rode from Union Sq. to the 50s and back again last Friday night, for the most part not hindered by police.Afterwards, members of Time’s Up!, a nonprofit, environmental, pro-bike group, hailed the ride as a success, despite the arrests of eight riders and seizure by police of about 40 bikes that had been locked to poles — some of these by riders who had feared arrest — after police sawed through the chains.
For the last several years, Critical Mass, which occurs in cities worldwide, has been held in New York the last Friday of each of month. However, in August, on the Friday before the Republican National Convention, 5,000 riders participated, and police made 264 arrests, many of these outside St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery at 10th St. and Second Ave., dubbed “Anarchist Central” during the R.N.C., where Critical Mass planned its after-party.
Speaking before the riders headed out last Friday, Brandon Neubauer, 26, a member of Time’s Up!, said that they wouldn’t be put off by the arrests and that Critical Mass isn’t going away. The mayor will just have to accept — as San Francisco and Chicago have — that fighting Critical Mass is a losing battle.
“The reality is they’re going to have to learn to live with Critical Mass sooner or later,” Neubauer said. “What’s happening now is what happened in San Francisco in ’97. Frankly, it just doesn’t look good to be arresting peaceful cyclists each month. We’re part of the solution.”
As for whether there would be arrests, he offered, “I have not idea what’s going to happen.”
Before the ride, police handed out information flyers noting it is illegal to ride in a bike procession without a permit and that “bicyclists must ride in usable bike lanes or near the curb or edge of the roadway, and not ride more than two abreast.” Violators would be subject to arrest and bicycle seizure.
The mayor had warned that arrests would be made, but Time’s Up! members said media pressure probably made him back off.
Although the bikers in their 20s and 30s may have resembled messengers, with hardened chains wrapped around their waists and sacks slung over their shoulders, many were professionals — who commute to work by bike.
Christy Thornton, 24, an economics researcher from Brooklyn, said she enjoys Critical Mass as a social event and for its message that bikers too deserve a right to safe streets. She noted that while commuting to work that morning a female pedestrian cursed at her.
“Obviously, she thinks I’m a messenger,” Thornton said. “She doesn’t know I have a master’s degree.”
Last month’s arrests were a deterrent for some.
A green tree tattooed on her shoulder, Sady Sullivan, 28, an N.Y.U. cultural criticism student, said, “I know about 60 people who didn’t come out tonight because they don’t want to get arrested.”
Reverend Billy was exhorting the crowd through a college-cheerleader-size white megaphone.
“This is a ritual event,” he observed.
One of the performance artist preacher’s disciples, Monica Hunken, 23, a member of Reverend Billy’s First Amendment Choir and an N.Y.U. graduate student in educational theater, was going on her first ride, and not looking forward to being arrested.
“I hope not, I have to work tonight,” said Hunken, a cocktail waitress at Asylum on Bleecker St.
In the end, the ride went smoothly for the most part. The riders departed to cheers from onlookers at Union Sq. Police on scooters blocked traffic on sidestreets for the pack as they wended up Park Ave., passing over the Park Ave. Bridge and through the tunnel under the Helmsley Building.
“Still We Ride,” read the back of a shirt worn by a woman on rollerblades. One man zipped along on a Razor scooter. Some rode custom-built, double-decker bikes that probably needed a ladder, or at least a step up on a lamppost, to mount.
The riders drew mixed reactions at one corner. “Yeah, bike maniacs!” one man yelled mock sarcastically. “Take back the streets!” a woman nearby shouted in support.
Police on scooters forced some of the riders to turn left on 53rd St., but this group later re-merged, with victorious cheering, with the main group as they both converged at Times Sq., then headed down Broadway back to Union Sq.
As the pedalers entered the home stretch, Reverend Billy urged them on at 17th St. with wild ululations through his megaphone.
At 14th St. and Union Sq. E., a police supervising officer in a white shirt told the bikers to wrap it up.
“Go back to the park,” he said. “Return to your rally point.”
However, not all riders had had enough. A group of 200 had splintered off and were making their way down Seventh Ave. S. at Bedford and Commerce Sts. Above them, a police helicopter with a searchlight tried to keep track. This group headed east on Eighth St., then over to Tompkins Sq. Park. The last remnants of the ride skirted furtively up Avenue A with a group of police on scooters in hot pursuit. The officer leading the scooters ordered them to turn left on 14th St. and return to Union Sq. Would there be arrests? “Enjoy your night,” the officer said, peeling off down Second Ave.
“Yay, we’re not going to get arrested!” the riders cheered.
Toward the end, there were some Keystone Kop-like interactions. Abby Wilson, press secretary for Councilmember Eva Moskowitz, recounted how one of the Critical Mass riders going up Avenue A had called out, “Where are we going?” To which one of the scooter cops retorted, “I thought you were supposed to tell us.”
Police generally seemed tolerant, though there was a report of one officer griping that because of the ride he was missing spending time with his family.
Yet, the clipping of the bike locks of a group of riders who had split off in the 30s when the ride stalled, then out of fear of arrest, chained up their bicycles, remains a hot-button issue. At a press conference at Time’s Up!’s new space on E. Houston St., civil rights attorney Norman Siegel condemned the police’s action, calling it unprecedented. Also at the press conference, Lieutenant Eric Adams of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, said members of his group plan to ride along in solidarity on the next Critical Mass. October’s ride, always one of the more popular, will see bikers dressed in Halloween costume.
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September 25, 2004
NYDN: Cyclists roll out peaceful protest
From NY Daily News BY KERRY BURKE and MAKI BECKER with Tony Sclafani
Protestors on bicycles took to the streets of Manhattan last night, but it was a smooth ride compared with what happened before the Republican National Convention.The 800 cyclists who turned out yesterday wheeled around town for about an hour to promote environmentally friendly forms of transportation. There were eight arrests for disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic at 36th St. and Fifth Ave. and one more at Union Square, police said. Cops seized about 33 bikes abandoned on Seventh Ave.
On Aug. 27, more than 5,000 bicyclists brought parts of Manhattan to a standstill, and cops made more than 230 arrests.
Dubbed Critical Mass, the group rides have been staged the last Friday of every month for years, but none put the brakes on vehicular traffic like the one before the convention.
Last night, police helped keep the ride going by stopping traffic with their scooters.
The ride started about 7:25 p.m. at Union Square, headed uptown along Park Ave. and then down on Seventh Ave. and Broadway, but some groups splintered off.
"This ride unifies everyone who cycles," said Carl Hopkins, 36, a security guard who lives in Manhattan. "This is the most biker-unfriendly city there is. We want to take back the streets from the cars."
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NY Newsday: Lots of bikes, but far less drama
From NY Newsday Reported by Sean Gardiner, Dan Janison, Rocco Parascandola and Graham Rayman; written by Beth Holland
Closely watched by police on the ground and in helicopters, about 700 bicyclists rode from Union Square through midtown and down Fifth Avenue Friday night in the first Critical Mass event since before the Republican National Convention.By 9 p.m., police said they had arrested eight people on East 36th Street near Fifth Avenue and one person in Union Square. Those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic, police said. Forty bikes were confiscated, most of them left at West 36th Street and Seventh Avenue by riders who did not want to be arrested, police said.
Two of those arrested may not have been involved in the ride, said a witness. "They started arresting people who were walking on the sidewalk with their bikes," said Caitlin Hawke, 39, of the Upper West Side, who was walking her bike and watched as a friend and fellow cyclist was arrested. "They were totally overzealous."
Earlier Friday, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly declared that cyclists who violated traffic laws would be arrested and their bicycles seized.
"If they want to have a peaceful demonstration, we'll help them," Kelly said at One Police Plaza. "But we can't have them go - perhaps as many as 1,000 bicycles - where they want to go, ride up on the sidewalk, stop traffic, bring about violent confrontation. We've given them, I believe, fair warning."
At Union Square, where cyclists assembled, officers handed out fliers warning participants of the consequences if they violated traffic laws.
The Critical Mass ride began at 7:20 p.m. at Union Square Park North and ended at 8:30 p.m. The route is not set in advance.
The monthly rides have been held in New York since 1998; similar events, all geared to promoting pollution-free transportation, are held worldwide.
The Aug. 27 event, organized by the nonprofit bicycle advocacy group Time's Up!, drew about 5,000 cyclists. About 250 were arrested that night for obstructing government administration, unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct. While Critical Mass rides generally are nonpartisan, many riders at the August event expressed opposition to President George W. Bush.
Matthew Roth, an organizer with Time's Up!, said police officials tried to get his group to apply for a permit for Friday's ride. He said he noted that Critical Mass has no organizers, and that police had not applied strict enforcement before August. "The police have been hands-off, until the convention."
Copyright 2004, Newsday, Inc.
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September 23, 2004
NYDN: Cops: We'll break cycle of protests
From NY Daily News BY GREG GITTRICH and PETE DONOHUE
Cyclists and cops are headed for another showdown in the streets tomorrow night.Bike riders who take part in large group rides called Critical Mass the last Friday night of each month are vowing to pedal the pavement again - even after cops arrested more than 230 riders Aug. 27 for blocking traffic.
The police are ready to crack down again.
"We're going to take a stance," a high-ranking police official said. "It's in the interest of public safety that the bike riders comply with traffic regulations. After the number of bike riders the last time, it would be irresponsible of us not to act as a deterrent."
Critical Mass rides began in the city in 1998 and have grown from about 60 riders a month to more than a 1,000 per ride in the months leading up to the Republican National Convention.
The largest ride came Aug. 27, with about 5,000 cyclists. It ended in the East Village when thousands stopped riding, blocking several intersections. Police moved in, cuffed riders and confiscated bicycles. Cops complained that several ambulances were delayed by the cyclists.
"Manhattan's car-clogged streets will be reclaimed by thousands of cyclists this Friday," the group Time's Up!, which bills itself as an environmental advocacy organization and promotes the rides, declared in a statement.
Matthew Roth, 27, a Time's Up! volunteer, said last month's bumpy ride has some on edge.
"People are concerned about being arrested," he said. "No one likes that. But the feeling is Critical Mass is such a part of New York City ... if they do crack down, they do crack down."
He added: "It's a celebration of what our city could look like when we promote bicycle riding as rational, nonpolluting transportation as opposed to automobiles."
Just as they did before the convention, police are reaching out to the organizers and issuing warnings. But Roth said there are no real leaders or organizers of the monthly events. He did say, however, that riders had arranged for lawyers and legal advisers to be present to negotiate with police, if necessary.
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September 15, 2004
The Villager : Critical Mass to regroup for ride
A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney on Tuesday said people whose bikes were confiscated during the Republican National Convention will be able to get them back. Barbara Thompson said the D.A.’s office will start photographing the bikes tomorrow for arrest evidence and that the bikers will be able to pick them up from the police by the end of the week.Of the more than 1,800 protester arrests during the convention, about 410 were of bike riders, according to Brandon Neubauer, R.N.C. organizer for Time’s Up!, a nonprofit, environmental group advocating bike use.
“Bikers were really targeted,” he said. “It was obviously politically motivated, even though Bloomberg was telling people to ride bikes to ease congestion.”
A total of 264 biker arrests came on the Friday night before the convention, when Critical Mass was holding its monthly ride.
The Critical Mass rides never encountered problems with the police before, according to Neubauer. Last August for example, there were 1,200 people on the ride. On this Aug. 27, however, there were 6,000 to 7,000 riders, stretching 20 blocks and running red lights and blocking car traffic. Police made arrests at several points along the route, including W. 14th St. and on Second Ave.
The test will be later this month on Sept. 24, when Critical Mass will gather at Union Sq. and attempt to ride again, he said.
“We’re defending the Mass. It’s always at Union Sq. N., the last Friday of every month. And it’ll be that way for the next 50 or 100 years. Bikes aren’t going anywhere.”
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CUNY Advocate: NYPD Targets Cyclists During RNC
From the CUNY Grad Center Advocate by Anonymous
"A few days before the Friday, August 27 Critical Mass bike ride, the NYPD issued a letter to a representative from Transportation Alternatives, a bicycle advocacy group here in the city. The letter warned that cyclists’ routine breaking of traffic laws during the monthly ride would not be tolerated during the RNC, and requested that Transportation Alternatives essentially help police other riders. The letter functioned as a familiar attempt by authorities to divide “good” activists over and against “bad” activists. The NYPD’s language falsely assumed that Critical Mass is an organization, when in fact it is a semi-spontaneous phenomenon with (usually) no leaders or pre-planned routes."
More, including photos, at The Advocate
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September 02, 2004
The Villager: I want to ride my bicycle
Bikers converged on Union Sq. last Friday evening for the monthly Critical Mass ride. There was one difference this time, however — there were thousands of them. Mostly in their teens, 20s and 30s, they came from all over to participate in what was billed as a bikers’ bloc against the Republican National Convention. Charging that the bikers were blocking traffic, police made over 200 arrests, many during a notable confrontation outside St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery on Second Ave. The ride was led by the nonprofit environmental group Time’s Up! In response to the charge that they were blocking traffic, the group said, “We are traffic.”Photos at The Villager.
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