I’m with the NYPD on this one
One of the nuisances of big-city living is the ubiquitous presence of bicyclists. Not content with simply obeying traffic rules, following traditional standards of courtesy, and getting their daily exercise by zipping around town, many bicyclists are bent on pushing the envelope.
It’s not enough that these characters are so obnoxious - shaving their legs to minimize wind resistance (as if that’s a big deal when rolling down 2nd Avenue), dressing like court jesters, sticking their derrieres out like the Fleet is in town, and giving dirty looks to drivers and pedestrians as they show little respect for traffic rules.
Enter Critical Mass, a grassroots event that started (where else) in San Francisco. Essentially, on the last Friday of every month, a bunch of bicyclists converge and make a mockery of traffic laws, for the purpose of raising awareness of the self importance of bicyclists.
A common practice is ‘corking,’ a bicyclist stopping the flow of traffic at an intersection so the Critical Massers can roll freely. I suppose to the simple minded this is all cute and defiant, but if there is an ambulance or other emergency vehicle 12 cars down, I am sure the passengers in that car don’t find it very cute or amusing.
So recently, this lawlessness was going on in NYC, and one of the NYPD had enough and body checked one of the court jesters to the ground. This is long overdue - they brazenly break the laws and create a public hazard. While some may see the video and find their sensibilities shocked, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to the cop - that cyclist may have said something untoward or otherwise antagonized the police officer.
This reaction by law enforcement (and indeed, the law-abiding citizenry) is long overdue!
In solidarity with that NYPD officer (who has been benched pending an investigation), I say we each body check or otherwise attack an obnoxious bicyclist. If we each did it once a day, every day, many 1,000s of these assclowns would be shelved and they might develop a healthy fear of breaking the law.
Excelsior!
This is one of those litmus tests: when you see a clip like this, you either side with the police or the “victim.” I, too, without knowing more, side with the police. It seems very unlikely to me that a cop would randomly attack a rider without provocation, in front of so many witnesses, to boot. A picture always takes the place of thought, though, so the cop is guilty in the public’s eyes before the clip ends. Maybe he is in the wrong, but I won’t decide that based on that clip. Let’s see if details emerge.
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True, we don;t know the whole story and I’ll wait it out until we get all the facts.
I just harbor a strong dislike for sucky cyclists on city streets. Mountain biking is fine, so is cross country. Take your bike to the park and enjoy, I have no problem with that. Stationary bikes are ok in my book, too.
City street cyclists are an obnoxious breed, though, straddling the line between pedestrian and vehicle. Brazenly breaking traffic rules. They are the worst, so when I see one of NY’s Finest flattening a mad cyclist, I admit I’m fine with it, brother!
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