Sad news...14 year old biker killed in Bushwick by hit and run SUV.

14-year-old killed in hit-and-run next to his bicycle...Sunday morning.

Police search for the driver

Eyewitness News

(New York - WABC, April 29, 2007) - A 14-year-old boy is killed in a hit-and-run crash. Now police in Brooklyn say they continue their search for the person responsible.

Eyewitness News reporter Patricia Wu in the Bushwick section has the latest.
This is a heartbreaking story. You can see the family and friends of 14-year-old Anthony Delgado are still out at the scene.

They gave Eyewitness News the invitation, which is actually an invitation for a baptism party that took place in that brick house last night.

The teen was riding home, crossing through this intersection, when he was killed. This is what his devastated mother has to say to that hit-and-run driver.

"The only thing I really want to say is that whoever hit my son and if anybody knows information, please come forward," said the mother of the victim. "Let the cops know."

Fourteen-year-old Anthony Delgado was riding home on his bicycle. It was just after midnight when someone driving a black Ford SUV hit him at the intersection of Palmetto Street and Central Avenue and kept on going.

Witnesses say the car was going very fast. Investigators are still searching for that hit-and-run driver.

Anthony's mother also told Eyewitness News, he was very loving and he had dreams of growing up to be a car designer.

(Copyright 2007 WABC-TV)

Fixed gear explosion...hits NY Times.

In this Sundays edition of the NY Times is a lengthy article on fixed gears and the culture that has gone along with these unique bicycles.

Unstoppable, by Jocko Weyland, Author of the article and the book: "the answer is never: a skatboarders history of the world", does a good job of exploring people and independent buisness that have built this culture in NYC.

King Kog , fixed gear boutique in Williamsburg
and Johnny Coast , bicycle frame builder.

There is also an amazing photo series connected with the article...here are a few samples...

Jason Chaste, Gina Marie and Austin Horse in front of King Kog on Hope St, Brooklyn,


Delroy Walters, track champion, at the Kissena Queens velodrome


(from left to right) Austin, Morgan, Carlos and Yatika


There is also audio from the participants in this awesome photo slideshow.

Well, there goes the neighborhood. It has been a long time coming for the popularity of fixed gears to explode...If its good for bikes...its good for bikes. The only thing I fear is the police and the city council, with its infinite wisdom and lack of priorities...LIKE banning pedicabs...is now going to use this against us. We don't want to see the same thing that happened in Portland Oregon where the create a LAW on bikes without brakes. More fuel for the cops war on bikes...to now try and pass legislation that all bikes must be equipped with hand brakes...oh wait...that is a law. Will it be enforced?

Critical Mass takes off...on the Subway?

In a bizarre twist of spontaneous regrouping and the immediate need to not be lambs for the slaughter, a small group of legally gathered, un-permitted bike riders (less than 50) took another form of transportation...the subway to start the April Critical Mass. At around 7:30pm, April 27th, 2007 less than 50 people gathered at the North side of Union Square for the monthly critical mass bike ride. It was kind of sad really, that our numbers have been so whittled down by the tiresome antics of the NYPD. I haven't gone to critical mass in almost a year, but with the break in the action of foul weather and watching a lot of messed up video footage, I felt like it was time to attend. It has really gotten to the point of "not going" makes the police win in their war against a fun event, especially with all this talk of Green Initiatives and reducing global warming. I just get this feeling, that the bike riders are in the right and with persistence, we can be like that blade of grass breaking through concrete and thus eroding the system. I mean, lets not forget the basics...we started this ride, and after all...we are JUST RIDING BICYCLES!

So it was looking grim, there in Union Square, 40 of us die-hards who were starting to be out numbered by scooter cops, people with video cameras and those who came to support the ride, but didn't bring bicycles...just to see if there was any action, like mass ticketing or tackling. I know, I didn't want to leave Union Square and quickly have to dodge cops or watch my friends get ticketed for no reason. Is this what Critical mass has become? Ugh. Someone surfaced the idea that we hop on the 4 subway and go somewhere else. This idea became increasingly popular as the time moved away from 7:30, about when the mass gets started and no one had any intention of being the first to leave the park on bike. This is what eventually happened...and it worked! We all walked to the subway stop at the North End of Union square, picked up our bikes and went on the subway...amazing. As we searched for metrocards and passed through the turnstiles...a group of uniformed officers, desperate to have some sort of retribution, ran over to a few riders and questioned them about weather they swiped their cards...with enough erratic fervor that you could of sworn Richard Colvin Reid, the shoe bomber, had escaped Gauntanomo and was loose on the subway. "Stop, hey you, did you swipe your card?" Ridiculous. Other than that, we were scott free. We waited on the GREEN train platform, squeezed into multiple cars, which would have been a lot more difficult if we were more than 50 and headed to Fulton Street in the downtown financial district area. When we got downtown, we got out and gathered on Broadway and then began critical mass...POLICE FREE. This was truly amazing. We had one giant wheel unicycle, one tallbike and about 40 other riders. We had lost a few people along the way, some didn't go on the subway, some got off at the wrong stop and there was rumor that a group went to Brooklyn, thinking we meant the other Fulton St. For the most part, we were united as a group, taking up all the lanes of traffic and engaged in a fun critical mass. As we headed up Church St. towards Canal, it seemed that a lot more people knew who we were. There was a lot of friendly supportive honking from motor vehicles and crowd waving. We stayed mostly downtown and our numbers grew a little as others joined in and meet up from Union Square...I still think we were always just under 50...so we were technically legal.

It was a successful critical mass...no tickets, no arrests and no cops. Interesting. This new tactic of taking the subway and starting the ride outside of Union Square, seemed to work really well, but we were a tight group. It definitely brings up ideas of starting future rides elsewhere or meeting in a new spot all together...hmmm.

I say we start the multiple meet-up spots, or get back to the text messaging list where you don't find out the start till 7:30pm.
The thought process is that no matter what we do, the cops catch wind of it (with all their infiltration) and spoil our fun anyway. Its still worth a try and it was really amazing to have a successful critical mass.

We need to get the numbers up...so come to the next ride!

There is a video up already from last nights ride, made by the Times Up video collective and Team Spider.

¬

A28...Bush is Over!

Tomorrow is the national day of action to begin the impeachment process of BUSH. Bush is over if you want it.

go to a28.org to find out where the nearest action is.

It is a day to spell out impeachment for photo ops and to let the world know how you would like George W. Bush's career to proceed.

We will be at Coney Island tomorrow!

Check out this map of all the groups signed up to take action...

New coverage of Bike Polo in NYC

the bike polo coverage is non stop, and the East Side Invitational hasn't even started yet. Here is a video story from the NY Times

and here is an article

Critical Mass Tomorrow

Tomorrow is NYC critical Mass...check out this video from glassbead collective from last months ride.

on time's up video .

This was a collaborative effort of many volunteer videographers of the lame behavior of the NYPD.

Tomorrow ESPI

East Side Polo Invitational starts in NYC...

Bike Polo...
Check out this mallet cam...by Chris Habib



Here is a more detailed schedule:

Friday
Party and Registration: Bushwick Country Club
618 Grand St, Brooklyn
Happy hour until 10:00 for contenders.

Saturday
Qualifiers: Game play starts at 10:00am sharp.
Chrystie/ Broome St. Court.

Polo Sprints: After competion.
Three Sparks Night: Polo Alleycat. Starts at 8:00pm at
Chrystie/Broome St. Court.
Bonus points for drunkenness and Prom costumes.

Bike Prom: Get dressed the fuck up!
Prom at the Chunk Shack! 794 Broadway #2, Brooklyn.
Lloydski and Stachemaster DJing until the morning.
Prom Photos!
10:00pm on.

Sunday
Finals. Game play starts at 10:00am sharp!
Chrystie/Broome St. Court.
BBQ at night. Location to be announced.

Protest is alive and well in NYC...

Yesterday, activists gathered in City Hall Park to protest the head of the city council, Christine Quinn, who has taken a stance on the side of the police in the new parade rules which state...that no more than 50 people can demonstrate without a permit.

Gays, Lesbians and Transgender activists lead a small march of MORE than 50 people (possibly around 100) to show their outrage with such an unconstitutional ruling, especially apporved by the head of the legislative body of the city. Christine Quinn, a lesbian, once was willing to put herself on the front lines to fight for gay rights and issues surrounding HIV and AIDS, now believes it is a fair ruling. Its ok to protest in this city as long as you ask to police for permission...Yeah Right.

This is why the lead banner in the march was...Stonewall was and unpermitted action!


100 or so marchers came out of City Hall Park, flanked by an army of independent news videographers and the usual row of scooter cops, now synonymous with Critical Mass.

There was some pushing and shoving by the loose cannon police when we dared to take our march into the street for half a second...ooohhh, right around ground zero. There were 3 arrests...

If your wondering what happened to Chris Ryan's video about this demonstration...I was asked to remove it because of some inappropraite text in the video which claims Gays don't ride bikes...it wasn't in good taste.




Here is a link to the Glass Bead Collectives video of the same protest.

Once again, this video shows how the NYPD deal with demonstrations...permit or no permit.

First the demonstrators engage in civil disobedience...like when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat...they step into the sacred streets. Then the cops alert them to get on the sidewalk, by running over and shoving them...in this case a woman. When the demonstrators do not comply the cops push even more violently until one particular person (in the red track jacket) is on the sidewalk. The demonstrator tells the cops he is now on the sidewalk. The white shirted police sergeant says.."good now you are on the sidewalk," and proceeds to punch to person in the stomach. Then the cops pull the demonstrator with his bruised gut into the streets and proceed to dogpile on him with 5 cops...ohhh so tough.

Simple fascism in all its glory...the VIDEOS don't lie.

IF only we had a permit...this wouldn't happen....NOT!

Here are two photo links:

Times Up photo page
Flickr

Press links

NY1
and
Metro PDF

Support Bleeker St and Prince St. Bike Lanes

We need people who live and work in Community Board 2 to stand up and
support the Transportation Committee's resolution in support of bike
improvements on Prince, Bleecker AND Houston Streets!

Here are the meeting details:

Thursday, April 19th, 6:30pm
St Vincent's Hospital, Cronin Auditorium, 10th floor
West 12th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues
*Please arrive by 6:45pm
Sign a speaker's card and write "Yes to Prince and Bleecker bike lanes"
on it.

Without a solid showing of support from people who live and work in the
area, it is very likely that the full Community Board will not support
these bike improvements; the status quo will remain and the city will
not be any closer to becoming a more inviting place to cycle.

A small group of anti-bike, anti-change residents are putting strong
pressure on the full Community Board to reject the bike lanes. They will
be out in numbers on Thursday to decry these changes to make New York a
more bikeable city. If we do not fill the room with one hundred
supporters, we will lose this vote and lose these bike lanes.

If people cannot make Thursday's meeting, please write or call Community
Board 2 in support of the Prince & Bleecker bike lanes:

Manhattan Community Board 2
District Manager Bob Gormley
3 Washington Square Village, Suite 1A
Phone: 212-979-2272
FAX: 212-254-5102
E-MAIL: cb2manhattan@nyc.rr.com

Without support from the neighborhood, change will not happen. If more
people show up at the Community Board to shout down these bike lanes
than to support them, then the board will not support them and the
neighborhood will have lost the opportunity to help New York become a
better place to bike. Please show your support for this plan and speak
out at this important meeting.

You can see the DOT's presentation on the Prince and Bleecker bike lanes
at:
DOT presentation of bike lanes

To read more about those who oppose the bike lanes, see:
Streets blog

For more background on these planned bike lanes, see:
TA on bike lanes

I hope to see you on Thursday. Please e-mail or call me with any
questions.

Thank you very much!

Best,

Noah S. Budnick
Deputy Director
Advocacy
Transportation Alternatives
127 West 26th Street, Suite 1002, New York, NY 10001-4010
Phone (212) 629-8080
Fax (212) 629-8334
Direct (646) 873-6022
Mobile (917) 684-2912
Email: noah@transalt.org . www.transalt.org

Saturday, Time's Up EarthDay Ride

Sunday is officially Earthday...Time's Up is having an Earthday ride Saturday--April 21st.

1:00pm Union Square South

Join Time's Up! as we ride to an Earth Day Celebration at an Environmental School that is growing in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

The Urban Assembly School for the Urban Environment is a new junior high and high school that focuses on environmental issues.

Meet the kids from the Recycle Bicycle Ride Club
The ride will end at 70 Tompkins Ave (between Park Ave and Myrtle Ave) in Bed-Stuy for the school's annual Earth Day celebration. Bring food and fun!

I believe this was from last year...Thanx Harry B.

Velo Series is Back!

Ok, the Cycle Messenger World Championships are in lovely Dublin Ireland this year...the website August 3rd-7th.

There is a chance to win free tickets, on the track in three cities...Find out more Cyclehawk website

Check out this promo


The NYC event is at Kissena's velodrome...Sunday May, 6th, 2007

Then there will be an Alleycat from the track in Queens back into NYC...

It happens to a lot of us...Same as it everywas...same as...

Yes, it sucks...you come out of a building and find your pride and joy is GONE. Bike Theft. Recently it happened to musician David Byrne...former front man of the Talking heads.

Here is the article from Gothamist

Recently, Clarence Eckerson of Street films posted his video of a bike ride with
TA members and mayor of Bogota, Enrique Penalosa

David Byrne was on the ride.


David has a blog and is organizing an Alternative Transportation music fest in Oct.

Bike Polo in NYC.

Bike Polo is alive and well in NYC. This new sport, gained popularity in cities like Portland Oregon...there is a picture log on Mess Magazine (Bike polo pictures from Portland)

Now, its being played weekly in Lower Manhattan--Here is an artilce from a local NYC paper-Downtown This article is not found on-line, but a fellow biker, scanned it and put it up.




Trackstar , NYC's track bike boutique, is hosting the:

Eastside Polo Invitational 2, April 27th-29th. Looks like a great time to watch and check out what Bike Polo is all about...kind of like hockey and Polo... Teams of either 3 on 3 or 4's, depending on how many people show up. NYC teams have formed and are ready to do battle next weekend...check out the Trackstar website for more information....There is also a Bike Prom...
during the weekend.

John of Demon Cats on Reload's Race

Each year, Reload messenger bag company, maker of amazing custom bags like this one:


hosts an April fool's race (not only on the 1st of April) This is a scavenger hunt race, which is a great way to see Philadelphia and have fun on a bike.

Here is John,
from demon cats racing DC, report on the race which happened April 14th, 2007;

"AZ and I got a bit of a late start on our way to Philly and as we arrived 5 minutes before race time, we were confronted with a sea of humanity and bikes on the streets behind the R.E.Load headquarters.

Only two hundred spokecards and manifests had been printed. Three hundred racers showed up. Hmmmmm. What to do? Roland announced that the registered racers would get sent on their way. Unregistered racers could ride for free sans the t-shirts or spokecards. They would ride to a print shop Critical Mass style to get more.

As the race officials started handing out manifest, I stuck my hand out and ended up with a manifest. AZ got one from someone who didn't plan to race. Jacob S. gave me his spoke card for
the race, since he had DFL in mind.

Who do we ride with we ponder? We see Squid and mosey over. Since Squid won the race last year, he's a good bet to follow, since he has an uncanny knack for choosing good wheels in a city not his own.

The serious crews have since taken off and we see a good group moving out. We latch on, but at the first stop sign, one of their riders on a fixie falls over. Followed by another. And another.

A Philly rider named Jeff rides up on us and after a quick chat we decide to follow him. As he takes off FAST on his fixie I see the R.E.Load winner bag for the HOUR OF POWER race. Fuck, this is going to be fast and hard.

I've raced in five of eight April Fool's and have never had the opportunity to get in a good break.

This was a good break.

At this point the race becomes a blur. For me, it was to become a ride of constant gap closing and riding within sight, praying for traffic to slow down the front a bit for me not to permanently dropped. Early on our group was whittled to three as Squid dropped off the pace. After that, it was a ride of only twenty miles, but at the max and full of craziness.

There were five bar check points where the beer stops were much appreciated. Bob and Barbara's, The Tattoed Mom's and so on.
In one we had to write an essay to our female pseudo-East Block Female Prison Guards who kept us in JAIL for 5 minutes.

At another we wrote Haiku:

I bike messenger
I am always riding fast
I am always late

The Exercise Girls whipped us into shape with push-ups, jumping jacks and a two block bike portage- cyclo-cross style!

The skateboard ride while shooting at a spinning target, followed by a shot of tabasco or a shot of vodka. I discovered that the tabasco followed by the vodka leave a pleasant Bloody Mary taste in your mouth. Yummm.

The drag race back along the river for several miles back to the R.E.Load store to look for Bilenky Pat who was dressed as a Playboy Bunny. Anna Nicole had nothing on him! At least not now. That ride was run between 23 and 25 milles an hour through traffic! Jeff and AZ were constantly a good 500 feet in front of me and was the only gap I could not close down. Thank God for the checkpoint!

We stopped and made calls to Crown Fried chicken to check on the price of a 15 piece box. A beauty parlor to check on the price of a styling.

Finding the flyer for the NoteKillers show on a wall of flyers. Multiple signatures. A minimum amount of fake checkpoints for a change.

I must say that we worked the course really really good as a riding group.

Finish time was 6:15, so at about 6:05 we sprinted the last 20 blocks to the warehouse in North Philly where the party and awards ceremony. Later in the night a rave was to be going on, so we had to vacate the premises by a certain time.

It was nice to chill on a beautiful afternoon. Going to get some chinese. Having a safety meeting with good friends. Catching up on old times. The Mr. Softee Ice Cream truck and the Double Dip Double Cone. I hadn't had one of those since I was five years old in South Texas! Wow.

I poured a beer and set myself in a big comfy chair. Roland came up to me to clarify why he had two manifests with #106 on it. One with 10 points and one with 1900 or so on it. After taking my explanation and the fact that I had ridden with Jeff, I was left with the vague feeling that I might have done really well!

Awards came! The Top Six Men in reverse order:

6th- ME!!! DC. HA! That was an awesome race! My best April Fool's ever!
5th- AZ. DC. He rode absolutely perfectly!
4th- Eric? Philly.
3rd- Sharky- Philly.
2nd- Austin Horse- NYC- Top outta-town- The National Champ shows why he is the National Champ!

drum roll please-

1st PLACE AND 2007 APRIL FOOLS CHAMP- Jeff O'Neall!!! There couldn't have been a more deserving winner. He guided us through mile after mile of checkpoints on a trackbike no less. He won the beautiful RE Load Bag, a Fuji Pro Track bike and fork, crazy amounts of schwag and the crowd's applause and adulation and AZ's and my eternal thanks for a great race!!!

After the party, we rode back to the car and ended up at a small pizza take out on N.2nd called Rustico. Had a slice, while AZ got a sub. They allow you to bring in beer, so I got a big bottle of some Carlsberg special edition brew to celebrate.

We finally rolled out of Philly around 10 pm, spent from the day's event. AZ dropped me off. I walked into my quiet house. Sat at my new table, had a smoke and a glass of milk. It was time to climb into my big comfy bed and dream of First Place next year! Not! :)

Racing for Victory and free beer!!!

John

Le Directeur
Societe des DemonCats
Le Tour de Le District

www.demoncats.com
lesdemoncats.blogspot.com
tourdeledistrict.blogspot.com

______________

Chritine Quinn, parading and pedicabs

Christine Quinn, head of the city council, was just on the Brian Lehrer show (10:30am 4/17/06) She was defending her approval of the NYPD making parade regulations and believes that the new LAW, was a fair assesment of a lot of HARD WORK on the issues of free assembly. In other words Christine Quinn believes in free assembly and the right to protest as long as it is not more than 50 people. She also believes the police have the right to go over the city councils authority in order to put these laws in effect. It really seems after listening to her on this show that, once she was a vehement fighter for gay rights in NYC, then got into a position of power and is now all about regulations and catering to the corporate interests of the city.

This Thursday there will be a demonstration to oppose these new parade laws:

THURSDAY, APRIL 19th @ 4PM
City Hall Park, NYC

Calling All Queers, Allies and Anyone Affected by NYPD’s New Rule!!

Join us in the streets as we challenge the NYPD’s new law preventing assembly. Or cheer us on from the sidelines.

We’re going to assemble at City Hall Park to PARADE WITHOUT A PERMIT! Let Speaker Quinn and the rest of City Council know that the police don’t write laws! Bring your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers! Bring noisemakers, signs, and singing, dancing bodies to reclaim our streets and pronounce a big FUCK YOU to politicians like Quinn who sell our rights down the historical river for political gain!

more about this on the indymedia nyc website

This protest was also announced during the Brian Lehrer interview, who has really been on top of the issues of critical mass and parade rules.

Christine Quinn continued on the show about Pedi Cabs. She was upset with the recent Daily News op-ed which claimed she was striving to regulate the number of pedicabs in the city, despite Mayor Bloombergs veto, because she is friends with a lobist who works for the taxi industry. The taxi cabs are against the amount of pedicabs because of competition.

Once again, Christine Quinn, gave no real insight into this debate. She is for regulations and says that Yellow cabs have a cap so why can't pedicabs? Gee I don't know...maybe because PEDICABS don't pollute the planet!

Links back up

Ok, thanks to some help from bike blog fan Max, I have put the links back on. Please send me links of your bike events, bike sites and blogs so I can update my home page. Thanks.

Houston St. dilemma

Whats the story with Houston St? Its a mess, cyclists have died on it and it claims to be one of the most dangerous roads in NYC for cyclists and pedestrians. There has been a lot of city council and local community activity to get the Department of Transportation to make infrastructure for cyclists (bike lanes) on H street as part of what seems to be endless construction in this major thoroughfare

The DOT has said they are NOT going to put bike lanes on Houston Street, and that from an engineering point of view it is IMPOSSIBLE.

There is now a plan to put bike lanes one block North on Bleeker and one block South on Prince. Some feel that any bike lanes are a good thing but this doesn't address the unsafe issues of Houston St. and how the city continually refuses to take action against problematic traffic situations...especially when the construction is all ready underway.

Tonight there is a city council meeting of community board 2.

Time’s Up! encourages cyclists and pedestrians to attend the CB2 meeting Tuesday, and demand safe passage across the entire breadth of Southern Manhattan via Houston Street. A protected bikeway on Houston Street is both technically feasible and urgently needed. The exclusion of such facilities will only result in more unnecessary deaths.

Meeting Details:
CB2 Transportation Committee meeting
Tuesday, April 10, at 6:30pm
LGBT Community Services Center, 208 W. 13th St. between 7th Ave. and Greenwich Ave. (ask at the front desk for the room assignment).

More info from the Time's Up website, which has been working hard on this issue.

You have the right to travel safely on Houston Street!—This is a big issue for us and many others; Speak Up!

The city's Department of Transportation bureaucrats now say that moving bike lanes to narrow, congested side streets will somehow address the safety problems on Houston Street. Such a plan prioritizes Houston Street for cars and trucks rather than non-polluting cyclists and pedestrians, and is clearly not in the best interests of a city afflicted with staggeringly high rates of asthma and concerned about the effects of climate change and resource depletion. If you thought Houston Street was bad already, get ready for something far worse! Time's Up! supports any expansion of the city's bicycle network, but the community will not settle for lesser routes at the expense of long-overdue Houston Street facilities.

Despite the fact that Houston Street has been a proposed/designated bike route since 1997, nothing has been done to prevent ongoing injuries and deaths to cyclists. In 2005-2006 3 cyclists were killed on this street, and from 2002 to 2004 82 cyclists were struck. At a press conference in August, 2006, CB 2 Transportation Committee members, community groups and elected officials took a step in the right direction demanding safe bike lanes be worked into the DOT plan for Houston Street. That was a great start.

Unfortunately, measures to protect cyclists on Houston have now been suddenly deemed unfeasible. Abandoning the call for protection on this ‘boulevard of death,’ the new DOT plan calls for ‘alternative routes’ on narrow unprotected bike lanes, mainly on Bleecker and Prince Streets that zigzag through narrow, congested streets and do not provide continuous transit. As much as this may be the goal, the new plan does little to advance safety.

The reality is that cyclists will continue to travel on Houston Street even if it remains life-threatening for them and pedestrians. Houston Street already is known as one of the most dangerous streets in NYC. Nevertheless, it remains a preferred route for cyclists because in contrast to most other cross-town streets, it is wide, sunny, direct, and completely traverses a very wide section of Manhattan from river to river. It is also the most efficient route to a wide range of destinations, bridges and avenues on the east and west sides of Southern Manhattan, and in many cases the only viable route from one place to another.

Given the facts, it seems obvious that a protected bike lane should be the highest priority for NYC potentially providing a safe, non-polluting way to travel to shopping entertainment, and work in the East and West Villages, SoHo, the Lower East Side and East River Bridges as well as East and West side Greenways. Abruptly reneging on the 10-year promise for safe bike lanes on a newly paved 8 lane Houston Streets is quite literally, a life-or-death decision.

It is clear that this is not a question of technical feasibility, but rather a question of political priorities. Some of the D.O.T. engineers who would be involved in this project are commuter cyclists themselves, but these engineers have sadly been directed by their D.O.T. supervisors to propose mediocre “alternatives” on account of unproved claims regarding the technical feasibility of a Houston Street bikeway. We know that a safe, protected bikeway can be implemented on Houston Street and we know that D.O.T. engineers have the know-how and imagination to provide the community with what it really needs.

The Facts:

Bleecker Street is a favored route for double decker tour buses and charter buses while Prince Street is congested daily with street vendors, automobiles and pedestrians, all of which would impede bicycle through-traffic.

A major construction project for water-main replacement is currently underway along Houston Street and a redesign of the roadway, medians and sidewalks is slated to follow. This is best chance in decades the community is going to get to demand proper cyclist and pedestrian safety measures. So far, D.O.T. bureaucrats have been ignoring community pleas on this issue for years, but it's time to take a stand.

A bikeway can integrated with a system of traffic calming measures to create a safer, cleaner and more attractive Houston Street for pedestrians, businesses and residents. A median bikeway would allow for flexible travel both east and west, and a combination of electronic sensors and dynamic automobile turning restrictions could tame this Robert Moses playground that has historically been such a people-unfriendly thoroughfare.
The lanes on Prince and Bleecker wouldn't be physically-protected from automobiles, allowing police patrol cars, delivery trucks, and private cars to illegally park in the way of cyclists.

News links: The villager article from 2005.
streetsblog coverage of 2006 rally for bike lanes on Houston St.
The villager coverage of the rally.
Streetsblog shows the DOT reasons for Prince and Bleeker bikelanes

Friday the 13th...3 options

April 13th, Three options


The metalrace alleycat. Starts at McGorlick Park, in Greenpoint. Shotgun a Sparks to get a manifest...mmmm good.

There is also Skidface under the BQE

and Brooklyn Critical Mass.

Lots of bike events to choose from.

Villager Article on March Critical Mass

Jefferson Siegel reports on last month's critical mass in the latest villager newspaper. Here is a more detailed report at what went on at this pivotal critical mass ride.

villager article

Critical Mass videos-good enough for NPR crowd

Brian Lehrer, you know the voice. He informs you with indepth opinions and local guests speaking about NY issues on wnyc everyday. He has a blog where you can see Brian and listen to more opinions about the issues effecting New Yorkers everyday. On his Blog Brian has internet video picks of the week where he combines a lot of websurfing into one program, on the blog.

Number 1 this week? Critical Mass...love the attention!

Pictures from Slaughtertrauma--Richmond VA

Cutthroats know how to Kick Ass on bikes...here is some photos from Flickr about last weekends mutant bike fest in Richmond Virgina.
Picture links:
Lasertotheface
Chummy berry
Turner Gensum

Don't you wish you went? I do.

Video's 2 and 3 from Chris Ryan

Chris Ryan completed 2 more videos in continuation of last month's Critical Mass...
Part 2

Part 3

Chris Ryan made a video

This is Chris Ryan's video of critical mass, 3/30/07. It is Part one of his MNN television program...Team Spider Television, which will air on Wednesday. (I think)