The Coalition Against Rogue Riding (C.A.R.R.) demands strict enforcement of traffic regulations for all street vehicles, including bicycles, and supports measures that will enable these regulations to be enforced reliably and efficiently.
A Bronx cyclist at 149th-Mott Haven section of Da Bronx was not satisfied with refused service at Burger King. Smashed window. Drive by smashing. Tutored by Sean Avery?? Try Mickey D.
MOTT HAVEN, The Bronx -- A man got violent when he couldn't have it his way at a New York City Burger King.
The
man, who was riding a bicycle, shattered a Burger King drive-thru
window with a chain when he was told he wasn't allowed to use the
window, police said.
The man was at the fast-food chain's Bronx location on East 149th Street on August 27 when he lashed out on a teenage employee.
The
19-year-old employee told the cyclist he was not allowed to pick up
food at the window because he wasn't in a car. Video shows the man
getting aggressive and shouting at the employee. Police said he then
takes out a chain to violently smash the drive-thru window.
ice-or lack there of-because he was NOT DRIVING a motor vehicle. The rules are the rules-What Micky D says goes. Well this apparently interfered with said cyclist customer sense of entitlement-"All the rights and none of the responsibilities of the road" Said dissatisfied customer took a chain and shattered
the drive through window. A drive by smashing. Was he tutored by Sean Avery?
Apparent members of Transportation Alternatives attempted to disrupt and nullify a community
meeting in Park Slope. The topic was the protected bike lanes installed under questionable circumstances by the NYC DOT. A common tactic of the TA dupes is to create such a ruckus
that order and discussion cannot prevail. The organizer Myra Manning a neophyte at this started.
A documentary by film maker John Halpern-Betrayal on 14th Street ignited the disruptors.
A small physical encounter ensued. The bike advocates acted like groundlings at the Globe Theatre in London throwing vegetables. Former lead investigator for the office of the Public Advocate and
longtime Brooklyn community activist Ralph Perfetto stepped in in his suit and took over the reins
of the meeting. Thereafter it proceeded in a relatively orderly fashion. Salient points were made about the DOT study that showed only 1.1 % of commuters travel by bike. Further comment was made by a retired FDNY Lt about the lack of check off with the FDNY about the bike lanes-which was claimed. Further I contributed There can be no safety without a responsible bike culture. Enforcement
is the backbone of a responsible bike culture. Trans Alt has exerted undue influence and prevailed on Mayors Bloomberg and De Blasio to suppress enforcement-to "increase ridership" and allegedly create safer streets.
A forum set up against the 9th Street bike lane devolved
quickly when it was started with a bizarre video against a Manhattan
bike path. (Anna Quinn/Patch.)
PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A meeting organized against the bike
lanes on Ninth Street quickly devolved into screams, shoves and a mutiny
of the forum's moderator after it bizarrely began with a video against
street changes in Manhattan.
Dozens of people packed into a
church basement Wednesday for the "Town Hall" meeting, the second set up
by Ninth Street resident Myra Manning after she started collecting petition signatures protesting the bike paths earlier this year.
But
the crowd soon grew confused, then outraged, when Manning handed the
meeting over to John Halpern, a filmmaker who said he'd give the room a
preview of his new movie about a "heinous, unethical thing" — the busway
and bike lanes on 12th, 13th and 14th streets in Manhattan.
"We came here for Ninth Street not 14th Street," one person yelled from the crowd.
"That
is defamation!" another shouted as Halpern began making claims that
advocacy group Transportation Alternatives is funded by Steve Ross, a
"crony" of Jeffrey Epstein (Ross' name is not on a list of the
nonprofit's funders found here). Matters
only became worse after the 15-minute film played when the crowd
protested Manning acting as moderator because her "introductory remarks"
bashed the bike lanes.
In the hubbub, Halpern ended up flipping
off the crowd and shoving cycling advocate Doug Gordon, who got up and
started reading the names of the people killed on Ninth Street,
including two children who died last year and prompted the addition of the bike path. The
rest of the meeting included a dozen or so people getting up to share
their thoughts, at the direction of new moderator Ralph Perfetto.
Some
were neighbors from Ninth Street who, like Manning, said they worried
about emergency responders being able to fit down the street and
cyclists who they say don't always follow the rules of the road.
But others who live on or use the street contended that it has become a lot safer since the bike lanes were put in.
Department
of Transportation Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Keith Bray told the
crowd that FDNY had signed off on putting in the bike lanes, but that he
planned to reach out and make sure they hadn't had any problems.
"The
bottom line is...We do feel and stats have shown that when we put in
protected bike lanes injuries go down for everyone," Bray said. "If
there are any concerns [FDNY] have about the bike lanes I have not heard
them — and they do talk to us — but I will proactively reach out to
those agencies to see if there are issues."
Eric McClure,
chair of Community Board 6's Transportation and Public Safety Committee,
told the crowd that the community board had approved the bike lanes
unanimously.
He added that, noting he was speaking as a resident
not on behalf of the board, that the width of Ninth Street makes it so
there is room for two SUVs, two UPS trucks and a firetruck if need be.
"The
flyer for this meeting created kind of a scary scenario where emergency
response vehicles might not be able to reach a fire or a person in
need," he said. "You can deny [the measurements] but I will go out there
and measure it with you."
The DOT is plowing ahead with palns to add 80 miles of protected bikes lanes in Brooklyn
despite community board opposition. Despite cyclist deaths. Some electeds are proclaiming its
about safety. Actually its about the lack of a responsible bike culture and common sense.
There needs to be an independent study done to restore reason and balance to the exercise in zealotry
perpetrated by Transportation Alternatives and their Koch Bros. like offshoots.They've conflated
"going green" with a lawless bike culture that has both damaged the environment and created a public safety crisis. So much for disrutpive "visionaries".
Here are some other stories (having nothing to do with BdB’s campaign) that you may have missed last week:
And just maybe he can bring balance and reason to the "remorseless pursuit of a house of cards"
with the toxic public safety crisis brewed by the visionaries of Vision Zero.Blind is a blind does.
Of course that's after he finishes at the gym.
Christopher LeGras-Attorney-muckraker-truth teller has punctured the Vision Zero bubble yet again.
Now that NYC Mayor de Blasio has reckoned with the reality of a Zero confidence in his quixotic
presidential bid-perhaps he can come back to earth on Vision Zero. The highs the lows the political hypocrisy. Hey Charles Komanoff it looks like you and that "very stable genius" in the White House
have a lot in common. Robert Moses must be rolling in his grave with mirth. Here's hoping you don't
have a bike accident and need an EMS to come a whisk you to the hospital-or maybe you don't ride a bike anymore.Don't hold your breath waiting for the responsible bike culture some wing nuts got to
Billionaire stable genius Bloomberg and current flyboy de Blasio and got them to with hold enforcement by the NYPD. Maybe you can rent a drone eh Charlie?
SUICIDE MODE?
New York City firefighters union calls out
Vision Zero, bike lanes, and road diets: “You’re basically eliminating
the ability for emergency service vehicles to get around”
Will firefighters unions in other cities follow suit?
(QUEENS, NYC) An FDNY truck trapped on the Skillman Avenue road diet in Queens. Photograph courtesy of Dorothy Morehead.
After four years of lane reductions, arterial bike lanes, road diets,
and other so-called “traffic calming” measures on the streets of New
York, the country’s largest firefighters union is saying enough. The New York Post reported
yesterday that the Fire Department of New York’s response times have
risen dramatically over the last year, and that the city’s firefighters
union – the largest in the country – says that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
Vision Zero initiative is a major cause.
Bobby Eustace, the United Firefighters Association’s recording
secretary, told The Post, “Vision Zero is fully intended to save lives
from traffic accidents, but by [the city] adding in concrete barriers
and flower pots and everything else like that, you’re basically
eliminating the ability for emergency service vehicles to get around.
Intersections are now gridlocked, and our guys just can’t get around.”
The union’s public statement is a significant development in the
national discussion over the future of urban planning and
transportation. There are Vision Zero programs in scores of U.S. cities,
and virtually everywhere they are having severe impacts on emergency
response times. Firefighters, paramedics, and police officers in Los
Angeles, Santa Monica, Seattle, Oakland, New York, Boston, and elsewhere
have confirmed to The All Aspect Report that lane reductions,
particularly so-called “road diets,” have increased their response times
dramatically. In L.A., for example, operational response times at Fire
Station 62, located on the infamous Venice Boulevard road diet,
increased by 26 seconds between 2016 (the last full year before the
diet) and 2019. In 2016 the station’s average response time was 6 minutes 38 seconds. So far in 2019
it is 7 minutes 4 seconds. As any first responder will attest, those 26
seconds cost lives. And Station 62’s experience is far from unique in
the city.
The UFA’s statement comes in response to the release of the annual Mayor’s Management Report,
a sort of longform state of the city document. The administration
boasted, “The City’s investment in Vision Zero, now funded with over
$1.6 billion through Fiscal 2022, has ensured resources will be
available to continue an accelerated pace of redesign and reconstruction
of New York City streets as well as for enforcement and education
initiatives to deter unsafe driving and promote safe walking and
biking.”
This “accelerated pace” of change is having devastating impacts on emergency response times. According to the report:
Combined average response time to life-threatening medical emergencies increased 15 seconds compared to 2018.
Average response time to life-threatening medical emergencies by ambulances increased 24 seconds compared to 2018.
Dispatch
and travel time only to life-threatening medical emergencies for
ambulances and fire companies combined increased 19 seconds compared to
2018.
Dispatch and travel time by ambulances to life-threatening medical emergencies increased 28 seconds compared to 2018.
“We had a company in the Bronx [traveling at night last month] hit
one of these barriers going 30 miles an hour, and it almost flipped the
rig because they had no idea it was there,” Eustace said. “That was the
first they saw it. They were simply trying to go around a person
[while] responding to a structural fire, and they smashed into one of
these [concrete barriers].-
New York’s experience is typical of Vision Zero cities
The FDNY union is the first to go on the record, but fire departments
around the country have been experiencing identical problems for
several years. As we reported in the Wall Street Journal
earlier this year, Oakland, California Fire Captain Henry Holt reported
that he learned of a road diet half a block from his station one
morning when he arrived for a shift. “I wasn’t even sure if I was
allowed to drive in those new green lanes,” he said. The city never
consulted the Oakland Fire Department, much less his station, before
installing a project that dramatically impacts his crews’ dispatch
procedures. The road diet has been so bad that at times he’s instructed
his drivers to go into what first responders call “suicide mode,”
driving down oncoming lanes to get around gridlock. Departments in other
cities have reported the same experiences.
Popular music producer James DeSalvo riding bike in Wayne NJ hit by truck tire. Knocked off bike.
Critical head injuries. According to reporter "not wearing a helmet."We hope for the best.
By Eyewitness News
WAYNE,
New Jersey (WABC) -- A music producer from New Jersey is fighting for
his life after he was struck by a tire that popped off a dump truck
while he was riding his bicycle.
It happened around 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday on Black Oak Ridge Road in Wayne and left 53-year-old James
DeSalvo in critical condition.
"The
person on the bicycle going over the handlebars and coming down with a
major impact," witness Sheila Ziemba said. "You could hear it."
Police
say the 2007 Mack truck was traveling south on the roadway when one of
its tires blew out, which caused the wheel to dismount.
It
careened into DeSalvo, a producer who has worked with "Yes" lead singer
Jon Anderson and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, among other acts.
He was taken to St. Joseph's University Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition.
"The
family and all of the support from the community has really helped them
keep their hope alive," family friend Ruth Ozbolt-Cleary said. "Jim's
biggest accomplishment in life is his kids. He has been there for them
from the very beginning."
Friends describe him as a beloved father of two known for his kind personality, but now, his family is praying for a miracle.
"Next
week will be their 20th wedding anniversary," friend Beth Schafer said.
And we just hope that they can celebrate somehow together."
The driver of the truck, 68-year-old Eugene Petitt, was not charged.
"It's really difficult to see this happen to this family," friend Frank Kulow said.
Cyclists on CPW on a recent Sunday. (
Photo: Janet A. Davis)
New
York City is a residential, business and an industrial city. It stays
vibrant and ahead of other great cities around the world with new ideas
and fierce competition. We are not a still quiet doll’s house where
people and cyclists can go anywhere they wish without consequence. Most
pedestrians are mindful of the dangers of crossing between huge
tractor-trailers and simple cars. Bikers, however, seem to thrive on
taking chances and then condemning others when they are hurt or killed.
It is indeed a tragedy when someone loses their life in traffic.
We
are a city where multi-ton equipment is moved to building sites
everyday. Certain avenues are where these behemoths travel to get the
equipment and building materials to the construction sites. Should the
streets where trucks carry equipment and materials be used by bikers?
Cyclists should be banned from these streets. Cars and trucks jockey for
lanes as they move towards their goals. It is nearly impossible for the
average driver to find a way to get into the proper lane, let alone an
unprotected biker. And the city does not seem to care. Bike lanes with
barriers are not the cure for this lack of safety as we all know that
serious bikers flaunt the barriers and lanes. The city needs to ban
bikes from certain roads completely.
Spending $54,000,000.00 on
bike lanes sounds good, but it is a big splash meant to impress. When is
the city going to spend the necessary money to require all bikes to
have visible licenses so they can be accountable? When will the city
require bikers to know the rules of the road? Why not have a rear view
mirror, such as a small mirror located on the handlebar near a grip.
There should be classes across the city to teach bikers safe driving and
learn state regulations. The young woman from Australia who lost her
life by pulling into the traffic lane on Central Park West had no
experience driving on the right side of the road, as in Australia they
drive on the left, where she would have pulled towards the sidewalk.
This major difference in driving patterns can be confusing for all
drivers.
Some of the mayor’s $54,000,000.00 needs to be spent on
setting up a system to educate bikers for their safety and for
pedestrian safety. Bikers fly through intersections, fly through red
lights and threaten pedestrians all across the city. Not all bikers
drive this way, but pedestrians need protection from bikers, too.
Under pressure Manhattan BP and CM Carlina Rivera pressed to retain an independent expert to
assess the City's September Suprise-The 10 foot dump of landfill on the stripped East River Park.
This after renovating the running track at a cost of $3 1/2 million. The "Dirt Bomb" would shut down the ERP for about 4 years. Cost 1.45 Billion plus possible cost overruns. More than the Dutch style BERM developed by the community. Like the overstepping 14th Street permanent solution to a temporary problem devised by Transportation Alternatives to exploit the L train shutdown-this "Dirt Bomb" must give way to a better approach.
The community plan would shut down one lane of the FDR on a temporary basis. The park remain open. Good for people. Good for the environment. The cost less than the "Dirt Bomb's" $1.45 Billion.
If by some thrilling act of cynicism the Dirt Bomb were to be constructed this puts Transportation
Alternatives squarely in bed with the zealous advocate of the automobile-Robert Moses. The very
person who they claim to be trying to extirpate from the throne of zealotry. Here's why---
The bike infrastructure and quieting zones pushed by TA set the table for congestion. Congestion begat a congestion tax. Once implemented the tax will divert traffic to flows outside the zone. By shutting down one lane of the FDR occasionally some bright light in DOT or Construction may have
decided that the Dirt Bomb was a better way to go. Hence that line of thinking puts TA and Robert Moses in the same bed. Advocating for the auto. It seems TA is too well funded to divert from its
self righteous and remorseless construction of a house of cards that reveals a reckless indifference to human life. A shutdown of the ERPark would be bad for the environment and bad for people. TA made its bones on conflating "going green" with bike bedlam. Shutting down the ERP would be a slap in the face of being environmentally conscious. In fact it would stink like some bloated fish
floating in the East River.
THE CITY 9-10-19 Rachel Holliday Smith
Dear New Yorkers,
The City Planning Commission is expected to vote Sept. 23 on City Hall’s
$1.3-billion plan to flood-proof the east side of Lower Manhattan.
Among the features: a flood barrier 10 feet high, from Montgomery Street
to East 13th Street, that would bury recently reconstructed portions of
East River Park.
That’s rankled some, still upset the de Blasio administration scrapped a
previous, much less expensive proposal that would have kept the
shoreline accessible.
On Monday, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera decided to go Dutch.
Linda Stasi weighs in on a bike lane in the Waterside Area.She shows that it is a danger to kids.
This is typical of the approach publicly expressed by then Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan in 2010.That being to push through as much bike infrastructure in as short a period of time as possible and make it as difficult for future administrations to remove it. With that level of hubris-and that
level of push it is not remarkable that competence is an afterthought by the NYCDOT.
Rider down. Critical. Helmet? E Bikes currently NOT legal in New York City.
E-bike rider critical following crash in New Springville
;
Police
responded to a commercial stretch of Richmond Avenue on Saturday for a
report of a man injured after crashing an E-bike, according to an NYPD
spokesman. (Anthony Spennato for the Staten Island Advance)
STATEN
ISLAND, N.Y.-- A 52-year-old man remains in critical condition Sunday
after losing control of an electric bicycle on a commercial stretch of
Richmond Avenue.
Emergency personnel
responded just after 7 p.m. Saturday to a report of a one-vehicle crash
on the southbound side of the highway, near the 2500 block in New
Springville, according to an NYPD spokesman.
The bicyclist was attempting to change lanes on what police described as a Stealth B 52 E bike.
An E-bike is a bicycle with an integrated electric motor that can be used for propulsion.
E-bikes are illegal to ride on New York City streets, though, as of Sunday, police said no charges had been filed.
New York has world class congestion. Bike bedlam. Is #100 ( LAST) of the top 100 cities in USA
for motorists to drive in. As of Sept 5,2019 20 cyclists have died-and finally the man who would be president is MULLING requiring helmets for C bike riders-many of whom are inexperienced tourists
beguiled by a ride on the wild side. Come spend your discretionary dollars-play a two wheeled version of the old Coney Island game "shoot the freak"---and YOU'RE THE FREAK.***
Also New York City was found to miss the top 20 cycling cities in the world.
TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE??
Perhaps its a "VISIONARY FANTASY" turned into a "NIGHTMARE". Perhaps its a result
of consciously avoiding establishing a responsible bike culture from or before the beginning
of the bike push. Perhaps its a refusal on the part of BIKE VISIONARY ADVOCATES to
cooperate with NYPD or FDNY or EMS services. Perhaps its a result of Visionary arm twisters
exerting undue influence on 2 mayors to SUPPRESS ENFORCEMENT by the NYPD on rogue riding. PERHAPS its the emphasis on alleged ridership reduction base on the use of helmets.
As someone who has been saved from serious head injury by the use of a helmet my opinion is that
anyone who ceases riding a bike because of mandatory helmet use doesn't have a brain within their
cranium worth saving. My opinion is that the bike advocates who operate in the e commerce have
constructed a remorseless house of cards by using the "move fast and break things ethos". The politicians who have leapt on the bandwagon to appear to buy into the illusion of "going green"
and acquire votes and campaign contributions have done a disservice to the city. Other cities
clearly have a more realistic and enlightened approach. CLEARLY.
Marcia Kramer on CBS News asking questions on helmet, licenses.....
This professional study finds NYC at the bottom of the top 100 cities to drive in in the USA.Bright side 8 others finish lower overall .Below methodology & link.
Methodology
In order to determine the best and worst cities for drivers,
WalletHub compared a sample of the 100 most populated U.S. cities across
four key dimensions: 1) Cost of Ownership & Maintenance, 2) Traffic
& Infrastructure, 3) Safety and 4) Access to Vehicles &
Maintenance. Our sample considers only the city proper in each case and
excludes cities in the surrounding metro area.
We evaluated those dimensions using 30 relevant metrics, which are
listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on
a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable
conditions for drivers. Data for metrics marked with an asterisk (*)
were available at the state level only. For metrics marked with two
asterisks (**), the square root of the population was used to calculate
the population size in order to avoid overcompensating for minor
differences across cities.
Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all
metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to
rank-order our sample.
THE KICKER: New York has the worst traffic and infrastructure of the 100 cities that made WalletHub’s Best & Worst Cities to Drive in list. On the bright side, eight other cities did poorer in the overall rankings.
In an act of vigilante justice redolent of Texas an SUV driving stand your ground
motorist who" thought" he saw a bike riding " would be thief" tampering with cars-ran down and crushed said possible bike riding perpetrator. Now then. Even if the act of deterrence was fueled
by accumulated road rage from close encounters with scofflaw cyclists in the humble opinion of this
correspondent-the punishment did not fit the possible criminal intent of the deceased.Please call 911. Even if the world class congestion slows emergency vehicles * if you call* the NYPD will respond.
They might relish cleaning up the mess of a doubly scofflaw cyclist. After years of being held back
from doing their job by Mayors Bloomberg and De Blasio they have had their authority undermined.
They have been disrespected by the arrogance and sense of impunity enabled by said short leash.Cops have feelings. 9 have suicided this year at last count. Not a healthy environment.
********************
UPDATE: Two Brooklyn dudes with 40 and 38 prior arrests respectivley had a confrontation.
******************
Korey Johnson 41 was leaving Woodhull Hospital with his girlfriend at 6AM Monday morning.
He said he observed Donald Robert 47 trying to break into vehicles parked on Marcus Garvey Blvd.
This included Johnson's Jeep Cherokee. Johnson confronted Robert who proceeded to slash Johnson's girlfriend on her arm with a screwdriver. Robert hopped on a bicycle and jetted. Johnson
mounted his Cherokee and drove against traffic in pursuit. On Broadway and Ellery Johnson caught up to Robert. The Jeep hit 3 parked cars and then rammed into the rogue rider. Johnson who has 40 prior arrests was taken to the 83rd Pct. Robert 6 years older had 2 fewer arrests. He was deceased on the scene.The screwdriver was recovered at the scene.Things are getting a little messy in Brooklyn.
What saeth the "Visionaries?"
Red lights are just part of the scenery to Central Park
cyclists. Nowhere else in town do bikers ignore traffic signals in such
mass numbers and with such flagrant disregard for human beings on foot.
Of 68 bikers who approached red lights on the Park Drive at East 85th
and East 90th streets over a 20-minute period Friday morning, an
astounding 54 rode through the red. That’s 79 percent.
Laws? What laws?
Bike advocates say there shouldn’t be lights in the park at all —
just let riders and walkers yield to each other as conditions require
and everyone will be happy.
Sure, let’s also yank the lights from the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, and let good common sense prevail!
Cyclists don’t care that the park’s traffic lights already wildly
favor them over pedestrians. Walkers at East 85th Street had barely a
minute to cross — and often had to press a button to get a green signal
at all.
But the green for cyclists and motor vehicles lasted at least three
minutes (although cars are banned, Parks Department and emergency
vehicles can still use the drives).
The red-runners included helmet-wearing jocks easily exceeding the
park’s 20-mph maximum speed; a slow-moving family of four who
inexplicably stopped when their light was green, only to hop into gear
when it turned red; and a distracted young couple who laughed their way
through the red after his wheels bumped into hers.
Since novice Citibike users and Tour de France-wannabe daredevils
alike blow through park red lights with impunity, is it surprising
they’re scarcely more responsible on the streets?
Cyclists routinely complain that police give them a hard time. But
I’ve never seen a cop stop a red light-running biker in the park, even
though NYPD cars are always there.
I decided to take a count after years of watching flagrant
red-running at the two East Side Park Drive crosswalks, which I often
use en route to the Reservoir running track.
Cycle traffic is naturally much higher on weekends, when packs of
signal-snubbing riders scare the wits out of joggers, families, children
and sight-seers trying to cross the road.
It’s mob rule on two wheels and City Hall couldn’t care less.
Are the arms so twisted that no amount of reason and hard facts will allow them to hang loose
and sensible anymore? The current mayor cannot run again. He is lagging definitively-except perhaps in his own mind in his quixotic quest to become president of this country. What does he have to lose by altering his stance on the rapidly failing bike build out? Losing face? Losing compaign contributions? His obduracy-and that of some of the would be mayors -constitutes a reckless
indifference to human life.
