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October 30, 2004
NYTimes: 33 Arrested in Mass Cyclist Demonstration
From NYTimes.com Reported by THOMAS J. LUECK
A day after a federal judge denied the city's request to block a monthly Critical Mass bicycle protest ride in Manhattan, more than 1,000 people took part in the ride last night. When it was over, tensions with the city had hardly subsided, as 33 of the participants were arrested for running red lights and other violations.The demonstration, held on the last Friday of every month and intended to promote nonpolluting transportation, has been a focus of criticism by the city since Aug. 27, just before the Republican National Convention, when thousands of riders took part and more than 250 were arrested. A smaller ride on Sept. 24 led to nine arrests.
On Thursday, in a ruling that appeared to buttress the riders' claims of overzealous police enforcement, Judge William H. Pauley III of the Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled that the city could not stand in the way of last night's ride although no police permit had been issued for it.
The judge also granted a request by lawyers for the riders that prohibited the police from seizing bicycles as long as the owners were not charged with anything and the unattended bikes did not block traffic.
But last night, after most of the arrests took place along 11th Avenue, 42nd Street and elsewhere in Midtown, the police issued a statement condemning many of the riders for a "breach of faith."
"Whatever the court's expectation, Critical Mass demonstrated a breach of faith that posed unacceptable safety hazards," said Paul J. Browne, deputy police commissioner.
Bill DiPaola, executive director of Time's Up, an environmental group that promotes the monthly ride, responded last night, saying he was surprised by the arrests. "Given the victory in court, we were shocked at the police presence," he said.
Witnesses said that at least four more people were arrested early this morning after about 200 of the cyclists gathered for a post-ride party at the storefront office of Time's Up on Houston Street.
Although the circumstances remained unclear, the witnesses said that a large contingent of police officers suddenly arrived at the storefront, apparently responding to a report of overcrowding.
As it has in the past, the ride began from Union Square, where many of the participants turned out in festive Halloween costumes. They were met immediately by a large contingent of police officers, police vehicles and loudspeakers warning them that arrests would be made if riders violated traffic laws.
The police also distributed fliers indicating a route they had approved for the event leading north from Union Square. But less than 30 minutes after the huge column of participants, which included skaters and bicyclists, set off from Union Square, it appeared to spontaneously break into smaller groups of 10 to 100 or more riders, moving in directions not prescribed by the police.
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October 29, 2004
Indymedia: Arrests at CM afterparty at Time'sUp!
Details here.
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Indymedia: Critical Mass Harassment Continues
Despite days of legal wrangling, NYPD harassment of Crticial Mass escalated last night, with reports that between 33 and 47 people were arrested.More arrests occurred at the CM after-party, with IMC writers charging that "as of 12:30am, police had apparently unsuccessfully tried to seize control of the Times Up space and were making a number of arrests. Many people in the space or on the street are understandably upset. The police appear to be closing part of Houston St in the process."
Another party-goer wrote: "as we vacated, about 20 of us, cops grabbed their chain slicer and started to cut locks off bikes, even though we videotaped it with the news and even though the federal judge said no."
The conflict between Critical Mass, which is a largely spontaneous, unregulated monthly bike ride, and the City of New York, which since Giuliani has attempted to regulate every last ounce of spontaneity out of the City, appears to have reached a boiling point.
Original Indymedia post (and comments) here, photos here.
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Newsday: 47 arrested in mass bike ride
From Newsday Reported by Luis Perez and Rocco Parascandola
More than 700 bicyclists, fresh off a victory in federal court, hit the streets of Manhattan Friday night, with police making 47 arrests and accusing riders of a "breach of faith that posed unacceptable safety hazards."Police, who escorted the bicyclists from Union Square into midtown and back, made 10 arrests at West 11th Street and Seventh Avenue, apparently because they were beyond the route the NYPD had established and were interfering with traffic. The other arrests were made elsewhere along and off the predetermined route, police said.
Critical Mass, as the monthly ride is known, has taken place the last Friday of each month in the city since 1998, but it generated little media or police attention until the weeks leading up to the Republican National Convention. It has since become a flashpoint between bicyclists who say they are just looking to promote pollution-free transportation -- though a small percentage are vocal about their opposition to President George W. Bush -- and City Hall and the NYPD, which are adamant about maintaining law and order.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge William Pauley III denied an injunction sought by the city to bar Friday's ride unless the cyclists obtained a permit. The judge, however, did stress that police may enforce the law or seize unattended bicycles that obstruct traffic.
Police did just that, with Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, the department's top spokesman, noting in a statement that "those arrested rode against oncoming traffic and stop signals and otherwise violated the law."
The federal ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by five riders whose bicycle were seized during a Critical Mass ride involving 1,200 cyclists on Sept. 24. That night, police cut the locks of 30 to 40 bicycles secured to lampposts and parking meters at West 36th Street near Fifth Avenue and confiscated them. The bikes had been left there by some ride participants who dispersed on foot when the police began making arrests.
A month earlier, just before the start of the Republican National Convention, 5,000 cyclists participated and 264 were arrested.
Before Friday's ride, Peter Lang, 23, an administrative assistant from Staten Island, suggested that the hundreds of police officers -- including some in helicopters -- assigned to the event were an overreaction.
"This situation has to stop," he said. "There's bigger things out there than a bunch of peaceful bicyclists."
Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.
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NYTimes: Judge Refuses to Halt Mass Ride and Forbids Police to Seize Bicycles
From NYTimes by By COLIN MOYNIHAN
A federal judge in Manhattan denied a request yesterday by the City of New York to block a mass bicycle ride scheduled for tonight without a permit.The judge also granted a request by bicyclists to prohibit the police from seizing bicycles as long as the owners have not been charged with anything and unattended bikes do not block vehicles or pedestrians.
The bicyclists had filed suit in response to events the night of Sept. 24, when the previous monthly ride, known as Critical Mass, was held. That night, the police cut the locks of 30 to 40 bicycles secured to lampposts and parking meters at West 36th Street near Fifth Avenue and confiscated them. The bikes had been locked there by some ride participants who dispersed on foot when the police began making arrests.
Last week, two lawyers, Norman Siegel and Steven J. Hyman, filed a complaint in Federal District Court on behalf of five cyclists contending that their constitutional rights and rights to due process were violated when their bicycles were seized.
On Monday the city responded by asking the judge, William H. Pauley III, to enjoin cyclists from participating in a group procession without a permit.
In partly ruling for the cyclists, Judge Pauley wrote: "A preliminary injunction is warranted to prevent a reoccurrence of bicycle seizures as they occurred on Sept. 24."
He wrote that the police had violated due process by seizing the bicycles without notice. The judge ordered the police not to seize bicycles without issuing charges or providing notice, but added that his order would not bar the police from seizing unattended bicycles that block vehicles or pedestrians.
Judge Pauley acknowledged that recent rides had been turbulent, but he also noted that the mass rides were nothing new.
"With only two days to respond to the city's application, the plaintiffs are prejudiced and the court is short-changed," he wrote, adding that "the city's delay is one of the equities that argues strongly against granting its application."
The Critical Mass rides, which promote nonpolluting transportation, are held on the last Friday of every month. Participants say that the rides have no planned routes and that they have no formal organization or leaders.
The rides have taken place in New York City for about 10 years but have grown in size recently and commonly include a thousand riders or more. At times the police have arrested riders for blocking traffic or disobeying signals. At other times, though, officers have escorted the ride through red lights and halted traffic to allow the procession to pass.
The ride received widespread attention shortly before the Republican National Convention, when thousands of cyclists turned out for the Aug. 27 ride, in what was said to be a demonstration against the convention. More than 250 riders were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct.
City lawyers said in their papers that on some rides, bicyclists had engaged in dangerous activity; for example, bicyclists at a July ride were said to have swarmed onto Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive.
In his conclusion, Judge Pauley urged the bicyclists and the police to agree on routes during future rides. "Critical Mass appears to be a surging phenomenon in New York," he wrote. "However, the event's success is spawning potential dangers."
Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Siegel, Mr. Hyman and three bicyclists left the federal courthouse at 500 Pearl Street, where they said they had spent two hours talking with Judge Pauley and with city officials.
"We are pleased with the judge's decision," Mr. Siegel said. "We were very concerned with the city's extraordinary request for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the Critical Mass ride."
Sheryl Neufeld, a lawyer for the city, said in a statement: "We are disappointed by the ruling." The statement added: "The city is considering all its legal options, including if appeal is warranted."
After the ruling, the police issued a statement emphasizing that the injunction from Judge Pauley did not restrain officers from enforcing the law or seizing unattended bicycles that obstruct people or vehicles.
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October 28, 2004
Federal judge declines to stop Critical Mass
The ruling isn't as wholly pro-CM as it's being made out in some places, but it's definitely a step in the right direction - especially in its apparent confirmation that the first amendment applies! Read the ruling (in PDF form) here.
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October 27, 2004
Chris Carlsson writes in support of NYC cyclists
Chris Carlsson, one of the founders of the Critical Mass movement, has written a statement of support for the cyclists countersuing the NYPD to ensure that future rides are possible. Here's a short extract from his statement:
"A narrow interpretation of the law as presented by the City will ill serve the spirit of the law, the quality of life in New York, or this vital urban space for peaceful, creative dissent. As Lt. Albano notes, the guiding philosophy of Critical Mass is that there are no leaders, no organizers, and that for its duration it is self-organizing. Naturally some people are louder and more assertive in sharing knowledge of this remarkable experience, this unprecedented public space, and from the narrow point of view of the police department, that makes those people responsible. But this is to fundamentally misunderstand the new and profoundly democratic impulse that animates Critical Mass.It is precisely impossible for Critical Mass, a non-entity, but a recurring organized coincidence, to apply for a permit. It is profoundly inappropriate for any individual or group to try to assume responsibility for a self-guiding social phenomenon. Critical Mass is a monthly experiment in direct democracy, in reshaping the city, in reconnecting New Yorkers with New York, a broad, occasionally wild, but always peaceful and pleasure-oriented exercise in living together creatively."
The complete statement is at < a href="http://criticalmassrides.info/ny-carlsson.html">criticalmassrides.info and is DEFINITELY worth a read!
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Indymedia: CALL TO OBEY TRAFFIC RULES DURING CRITICAL MASS
This argument makes a lot of sense - except that the police like to arrest people while they're stopped at red lights!
From Indymedia by "William"
As a regular CM rider and having followed this legal battle closely I hereby call for all participants in tomorrow's ride to obey all traffic laws during the ride for these reasons:1) It has been established in court that we are allowed to fill up the whole street. So we should.
2) If the cops block off intersections for us they are acting on judgement and we have the legal right to ride through red lights.
3) If we run red lights when the police do not permit it and block cars we will be breaking the law which would be a setback to our case at this time. The cops will be looking to enforce laws wherever they can after having been made to look like fools by stealing people's bikes.
4) By keeping the mass tight but obeying traffic lights we will be more legally disruptive than we would be by blocking intersections. The police and drivers will be more impacted by our presence as a result.
5) Have fun and celebrate our victory in court!
I don't think this would be contrary to the spirit of Critical Mass, rather it makes tactical sense to show good will and good sense and that's how we can convince people that bike-riding in the city is a good idea. Too many pedestrians complain about reckless bikers while we complain about reckless drivers. Let's show the people (not the city or the police) that we respect their rights so that they will respect ours. To ride a bike is a right, to drive a car is a priviledge but to drive a car through a green light is a right. Get it? Still we ride!
Original article (with comments) here.
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Villager: City: Permit is critical for mass ride
From The Villager
By Lincoln Anderson
In an effort to rein in the freewheeling, monthly Critical Mass bike ride, the Bloomberg administration on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court, asking a judge for an injunction against this Friday’s Halloween-theme sortie on the grounds that the event does not have a permit.The bike-advocacy rides — drawing 1,000 to 3,000 participants each month — have no set route and last about an hour to two hours, wending through city streets, while blocking automobile traffic.
The previous Wednesday, civil rights attorney Norman Siegel filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. The plaintiffs include five individuals whose bikes were confiscated at September’s Critical Mass after they had dismounted and locked them to poles and police sawed through the locks. In total, nine people were arrested at last month’s ride and 40 bikes confiscated.
The bicyclists’ lawsuit seeks an injunction against police seizures of locked bikes.
Siegel said the city has taken what was a specific complaint — the confiscation of locked bikes — and opened up a much broader debate.
According to the bikers and Siegel, monthly Critical Mass rides happen in six continents in 400 cities.
“This is a worldwide event and only in New York is the city asking a federal court to enjoin it,” Siegel said on Monday two hours after receiving the city’s legal papers. “This ride has been going on for six years. What’s happening in New York City that is so different from the rest of the world — and why is the Bloomberg administration requiring a permit for bicycle riders to ride through the streets of New York City?”
“It’s totally unbelievable that they would come back and bring a class-action lawsuit,” said Michael Roth, a volunteer for Time’s Up! a pro-bicycling group that publicizes but does not organize or lead Critical Mass rides. “It’s intimidation tactics. It’s trying to criminalize biking. The mayor’s saying that New York is one of the most bike-friendly cities, but he’s attacking one of the traditions that’s most important to bicyclists around the world.”
The cases will be heard by Judge William Pauley, III, on Wed., Oct. 27, at 3 p.m., at the U.S. District Courthouse at 500 Pearl St. Bicyclists plan to pack the courtroom. Pauley denied a permit for use of Central Park’s Great Lawn for a protest during the Republican National Convention by ANSWER and the National Council of Arab Americans.
Calls to the Mayor’s Office and Police Department were referred to the city’s legal department, the Corporation Counsel. Asked to clarify the city’s action, Robin Binder, deputy chief of the Corporation Counsel’s Administrative Law Division, in an e-mailed statement, said: “The City is seeking an injunction against the Critical Mass bike ride to require them to get a parade permit. In recent months, the Critical Mass bike rides have grown tremendously in size: in July there were more than 3,000 participants, in August there were approximately 5,000, and in September, there were more than 1,000 bike riders. During these rides, cyclists take to the streets en masse, in violation of traffic laws, interfering with vehicular and pedestrian traffic and causing other safety problems. If a parade permit were issued, the group would be given a prescribed route and would be allowed to proceed en masse through traffic signals with a police escort. However, the Police Department has been unable to find a ride organizer with whom to negotiate a parade permit. Moreover, information disseminated to the public over the Internet suggests that it is the group’s philosophy to resist getting a permit. Because these rides have gotten extremely large and out of control, the Police Department is seeking an injunction requiring the group to get a parade permit.”
Binder said that under the state’s vehicle and traffic law, bikes must either ride on the right-hand side of the road or the edge, and if they ride in the middle, must ride no more than two abreast.
“If they asked for something that would work, the Police Department is willing to work out the details of the permit, including the route,” Binder told The Villager. She added that, as is done for parades, avenues would be blocked off for the riders.
If the city wins the injunction and the bikers ride they could be held in criminal contempt, a misdemeanor, a higher charge than the usual disorderly conduct, Binder said.
However, Roth countered that the rides have been this size for about a year and police have often facilitated them. It was at the August ride the Friday before the R.N.C. that police first cracked down, making about 254 arrests of the bikers, many at Second Ave. and 10th St. outside St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery where Critical Mass’s after-party was planned.
Also, there is no leader to negotiate a permit with, Roth noted. Three days before last month’s ride, according to Roth, a Lieutenant Albano came to Time’s Up!’s E. Houston St. headquarters and tried to convince Time’s Up! members to get a permit for the event.
“It’s not going to work, because we don’t organize the ride,” Roth said. “They were trying to get someone from Time’s Up! to say they were responsible for Critical Mass and that’s not the case.
“This isn’t a procession, this isn’t a protest — this is traffic, riding on a road…. This is BMX crews, messengers, lawyers, dads and moms, people enjoying that sense of community you get so few other places in New York.”
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NYDN: City wheelie going after bike protests
From NY Daily News by Thomas Zambito
The city wants to shut down a mass bike ride scheduled for Friday, saying the monthly event has grown so unwieldy that organizers should apply for a parade permit.But the riders say they deserve the same access to city streets as cars and have refused to apply for a permit.
"Cyclists should have equal access to the roads," said Matthew Roth, a spokesman for Time's Up, an environmental group that supports the Critical Mass rides. "If you have 1,000 cars in the street, it's not considered a protest."
A hearing has been scheduled for today before Manhattan Federal Judge William Pauley.
The city's request for an injunction barring future rides comes in response to a lawsuit filed last week by five cyclists who had their bikes seized during a mass ride in September that attracted more than 1,000 cyclists.
In August cops seized bikes and arrested more than 230 during a 5,000-rider event staged days before the Republican National Convention.
Critical Mass rides take place across hundreds of cities at the end of every month as a way to promote environmentally friendly transportation.
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October 26, 2004
Interactivist: NYC Sues to stop CM
"New York City filed a lawsuit today in an effort to stop the monthly critical mass ride. They are asking a judge to grant them an injunction enjoining "all other participants in Critical Mass bicycle rides form engaging in conduct that requires a permit without having first obtained such a permit".This of course begs the question: does riding a bike require a permit? Critical Mass has been a feature in New York City for nearly a decade, but over the last three months the city's commitment to stopping the ride has deepened since they set their sights on riders at the August Critical Mass which coincided with the start of the Republican National Convention"
The original article at info.interactivist.net includes links to all the original filings in the lawsuit, which make for fascinating reading. And remember - if you don't read them, you're at the mercy of everyone else's misreadings - and people seem to think all kinds of things are at stake that aren't involved in this particular suit. So Go read them!
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October 19, 2004
NY Daily News: Cops should ease up
A terrific guest editorial from renowned energy economist Charles Komanoff in today's Daily News.
Drivers don't get arrested for interfering with traffic. Some huge SUV may be blocking a bus or slowing an ambulance somewhere upstream, but no driver is ever expected to justify his presence in the road.But let a bunch of bicycle riders show up together, filling a few blocks with nothing more lethal than their bells, yells and sweat, and the NYPD lunges into action. In August, a police dragnet at a mass bike ride through midtown landed 264 cyclists in jail. On a September ride, police turned their wrath on the bicycles themselves, sawing the chains from 40 and taking them into custody.
These Critical Mass rides, as they are known, have been happening once a month for the last five or six years in New York without this kind of interference. Now, however, the cops and Mayor Bloomberg, apparently galvanized by the security worries during the Republican convention, have decided that Critical Mass is an attack on law and order. The next ride is slated for a week from Friday, and it's a good bet there will be the same kind of overreaction.
But Critical Mass is not an organization, and its participants are there for all kinds of reasons. It is nothing more than a bunch of people on bikes, just as "traffic" is just a bunch of people in cars.
The rides originated with handfuls of bike commuters seeking camaraderie and safety on their evening ride home. As cyclists experienced the power of numbers, these initial happenings grew into monthly "organized coincidences."
Drivers want to be the only people on the road, but cyclists like having other cyclists around. For good reason: Bike-safety specialists have documented that cyclists are safer where there are more of them - their larger presence compels drivers to take notice of them.
There are no Critical Mass rides in Denmark or Germany, because they are not needed; in those countries, cyclists' right to the road is enshrined in law and behavior. In U.S. cities, Critical Mass rides are virtually the only time cyclists can relax in the safety created by their numbers.
Every hour of every day is a cars-and-trucks Critical Mass in New York. So why is a bicycle version such a threat?
I'm kidding, of course. Critical Mass is indeed subversion. But in a world filled with automotive pathologies, from oil wars to obesity, this is the kind of subversion we need.
Posted by at 11:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 02, 2004
Counterpunch: Attention Bicyclists!
From Counterpunch by James Davis
Apparently, once you displace whatever is in the road you are traffic. With this in mind 1000 cyclists gathered at Union Square in New York for the annual Halloween Critical Mass bicycle ride. Participants were rakish as ever but found themselves besieged by an enormous police charm offensive at Union Sq. Officers in fall-casual baby blue rain jackets handed out fliers affirming that riders should follow a designated route and that "bicyclists who do not follow the routeare subject to arrest." The Flier also declared that bikes left locked on the sidewalk or street might be removed. A sound truck and white shirted officers with bullhorns repeated the same statement and caddishly wished participants a good time.The current escalation on New York streets emerged out of events during the Republican National Convention in the city two months ago. The August 27th Critical Mass set off with 5000 participants and rode for two hours before ending up outside St Marks church on Second Ave. The ride was the biggest ever east of the Mississippi and was swollen by new people stepping up to unwelcome the republicans. At St Marks police attacked the crowd and arrested scores of bikers and passers-by. The tally of arrests for the night ran to 260. At the same time officers were using bolt cutters to take bicycles locked in the area. This tactic was repeated during the week of the convention but that night more than 40 bikes were seized. Many of the bikes belonged to neighbourhood residents who assumed their bikes had been stolen. 5 of the victims sued in federal court on the grounds that their fifth amendment right to due process had been violated when their property was seized without any charges being brought against them.
The city denied the claims of the bike owners and countersued seeking an injunction to prevent the Halloween Critical Mass ride from happening last Friday. On Thursday Lawyers for the city and the 5 aggrieved riders faced off in front of Judge William H. Pauley III. Civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, and co-counsel Steven Hyman argued for the bike owners that the NYPD could not confiscate property without bringing charges against anyone.
Skinhead police commissioner Raymond Kelly wrote in The Daily News on the morning of the hearing that Critical Mass had been taken over by extremists precipitating a police crackdown. Judge Pauley had earlier denied United for Peace and Justice Coalition's application for a permit to rally in Central Park after the big RNC demonstration on August 29th, that may have encouraged Kelly in feeling anointed.
However, Pauley was sympathetic to the plaintiffs arguments in court. He granted a preliminary injunction preventing the police from seizing bikes without informing owners, giving a reason and indicating the course of appeal. Cops can take bikes that are obstructing sidewalks or streets but not punitively as a means of discouraging participation in rides. On the question of the countersuit by the City seeking an injunction preventing Critical Mass from happening on Friday, Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka outlined the Police Department's rationale. He wrote that while the rides had been going on for several years they had grown in the last year from "fewer than a hundred' to rides 4 or 5000 strong and "because the rides were so disruptive to normal traffic flows it was extremely difficult for the department to move around the mass to control the event." For this reason the rides need to be permitted.
Norman Siegel argued that it was unfair to force the 5 plaintiffs whose bikes had been appropriated by the police to carry the burden of the permit issue. He also noted that the permit issue does not belong in Federal court and, in any case, Critical Mass is not illegal and so it doesn't need a permit.
Judge Pauley had done some research and knew that unpermitted rides of 1000 or more bikes were relatively common over the last few years both in NY and elsewhere in the country. He wondered why the police were seeking an injunction now when they hadn't had a problem with Critical Mass in the past. To ride in Critical Mass is, he pointed out, to engage in "expressive association" to wit "[T]he right to associate with others in pursuit of a wide variety of political, social, economic, educational, religious and cultural ends" which enjoys First Amendment protection. Therefore it would appear that Critical Mass is traffic and speech, in as much as the Boy Scouts is speech.
The Judge turned down the city's application tp outlaw the Critical Mass because the rides had gone on in the past without objection. He added, "This court declines the City's invitation to wander into a Serbonian bog before a state court has had the opportunity to illuminate the path". A Serbonian bog relates to the lake of Serbonis in Egypt, which by reason of the sand blowing into it had a deceptive appearance of being solid land, but was a bog.
A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog . . .
Where armies whole have sunk.- Milton.
So by Thursday afternoon it was 2 for non-polluting transport promotion and zero for the City. Cops couldn't steal bikes and Critical Mass didn't need a police permit to ride. Pauley did commit both parties to agree upon a route before the ride began though. Thus the police fliers at Union Sq on Friday. The 'official' route was not agreed by both parties, it was a unilateral order from Bloomberg's enforcer, Commissioner Kelly. Nevertheless, riders in Halloween garb set off up Park Avenue accompanied by scooter mounted police outriders, police SUVs and three-wheeled traffic police electrocaddies. The mood was quieter than usual, a little nervous over the police intimidation. There were noticeably fewer older people along perhaps because people had been discouraged by the arrests and the bicycle thefts. But people meant to have a good time and 1000 bikes are hard to repress. By the time the ride reached midtown participants had had enough police interference. Officers blocked all the side streets expecting cyclists who wanted to leave the route to dismount and walk their bikes. Police tactics were reminiscent of demonstrations in the city where barriers are used to coral marchers and break them up into individual blocks. The scooter fleet purchased with RNC security loot worked as mobile barricades, but only in isolated pockets.
Once the official route broke down the ride split up into smaller groups and kept moving. Police scooters flew around trying to block riders and began making arrests, 30 in all before the ride wound down a couple of hours later. By then there were up to 10 different splinter rides around Manhattan between Midtown and Union Square, they split up to regroup spontaneously at a different junction later on. The ride was a big success and participants thrilled pedestrians and on-lookers. As is customary an excess of police force was frustrated by the agility and creativity of Critical Mass.
Critical Mass has been seizing US streets for more than a decade. During the Summer of 1997 Willie Brown of San Francisco was traveling in his Mayoral limousine when he became ensnared in the middle of a passing ride. It was a slow news Summer for the Mayor so he decided "to declare war over this". Chris Carlsson, one of several Critical Mass originators in the city recalls the Mayor convening a meeting to which participants were invited. Carlsson declined to attend but those who did were harangued by City functionaries. Immediately afterwards one of Browns PR men appeared before the press claiming that there was agreement and that Critical Mass would apply for permits from then on. When rides continued without approval Brown instructed the police to stop them. SF police were unsure what to do so they attacked riders and arrested more than 100. No arrestees were convicted of crimes and one of them, Howard Besser, sued the City for unlawful arrest and won. He beat the City again when they appealed to a superior court.
Afterwards the Police backed down and Brown moved on to other targets but 7 years later Critical Mass is booming in San Francisco. Last weekends Halloween ride had more than 2000 cyclists who visited the picket lines of locked out hotel workers from Local 2. The details of this most recent SF ride bear on whats happening in New York. Because the event is established in these cities (as it is elsewhere) it is a simple matter to coordinate it with issues happening locally, like the hotel lockout in San Francisco or the Republican Convention in New York. On his website Carlsson continues,
All this is to say that the new composition of work and production, spread widely through temporary and precarious employment (the hotel workers of Local 2 themselves are almost all immigrants from South America or East Asia), is giving rise to a new set of tactics for resistance and revolt. Rather than workplace occupation, the diffused nature of economic organization-globalization in a word-has moved our collective power from specific worksites to the arteries of economic life, the roads.
Its clear that New York cops became preoccupied with Critical Mass in the lead up to the RNC. Commissioner Kelly is a Marine Corp Vietnam Vet and probably remembers all that better than most of us. It wakes him late at night to dream of a late Spring evening with 10 or 50 000 bikes against the war in Iraq seizing the city's thoroughfares willy nilly. As with Iraq "to control the event" becomes more and more improbable. The defeat in court simply compounds the issue, Judge Pauley's mention of "expressive association" opening a Pandora's box of inference and precedent that makes any legal remedy inaccessible. If Britain in the 90's invented Reclaim The Streets parties as a way out of ever retrenched opportunities for political and social expression then Critical Mass has created a similar outlet in the contemporary American scene.
On Friday night in New York the police, having no other option, reverted to force and attacked the after party in at the Times Up non-polluting-transport-promotion-space on Houston St. Police later claimed that an undercover lieutenant had been struck in the face when she confronted people with open containers at the storefront. There was "no sign of injury" and the assailant was "a person unknown" but the policewoman and her colleagues called for backup when they found themselves "surrounded". Reinforcements closed down Houston St. and its sidewalks for several blocks. 7 people were arrested on the street as events unfolded. A cop appeared brandishing a shotgun pointed skyward and at one point undercovers tried to bum rush the party but were kept out by revelers blocking the door and others singing "we do not consent to a search". Outside police behaviour was becoming dangerous while inside some people were fleeing over the back wall as others, oblivious to events at the door, continued dancing in the basement.
The police laid siege to the store for almost 2 hours. Negotiations allowed people to leave but when Mandy Hu did a cop pushed her as she walked away, she objected and was arrested. She spoke at a press conference at the space on Sunday afternoon. Tahura Faune Alfword who was videotaping outside and "obeying police orders" by walking backwards as she taped, was lunged at by a female undercover as other uniforms tried to take her camera by striking her hand. According to Norman Siegel the police were "extremely agitated" displaying "outright hostility" and that "there appears to exist selective enforcement of law targeting Critical Mass Bike riders."
Siegel was summoned from his bed at 1.30am on Saturday morning by Times Up volunteers. He came and negotiated with the police to allow the last of the party goers leave unmolested locking the shutters behind them. No doubt all this will come before Judge Pauley in federal court before next months ride. And there may be a few more charges on the docket. As soon as the Times Up space was empty cops began clipping the locks off bikes parked on the sidewalk. These guys never learn. The police don't have a whole lot more to throw at Critical Mass in New York, short of large scale repression. They are tactically baffled and incapacitated by tight turning and by Deleuze. As Chris Carlsson has it,
"Young urban bicyclists, many of whom survive as members of the burgeoning 'cognitariat' and/or at the margins of steady employment, come together monthly to affirm a new way of living, a new way of being together in city life."
This doesn't mean that the police are likely to back off in NYC any time soon, but Critical Mass has displayed a rare intelligence and it remains several moves ahead of any net that might be cast to capture it. Next months ride will be significant in this regard. In the past during similarly tense moments rides have sometimes 'ridden to rule', obeying all traffic signals and directions scrupulously. Critical Mass's ingenuity and energy mean that it has lots of options. Lets Roll!
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