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  Myra1 message

  Fwd: Re: Ebenezer Recommended

  Jack, Pls. see article below. MM -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Re: Ebenezer RecommendedDate: Sat, 2 Nov 2019 11:37:04 -0400From: Richard Lewis To: Myra CC: Smith, Ebenezer Please read the following article from the November 1st issue of the Brooklyn Eagle Newspaper: https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/11/01/seniors-take-over-crown-heights-bike-safety-forum/ =============================== Seniors take over Crown Heights bike safety forum November 1, 2019 Kelly Mena Claris Ferguson, 55, and Carey Tan, 34, speak about the street safety measure at a recent public hearing in Crown Heights. Eagle file photo by Kelly Mena A Crown Heights town hall aimed at expanding bike access for communities of color was quickly overtaken by seniors looking to shift the focus from bike safety to senior safety. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, whose district covers Crown Heights and parts of Brownsville and Sunset Park, hosted a “Bike Equity” town hall on Wednesday night, which included a panel of women of color promoting bike access. But within half an hour, the conversation had shifted to senior mobility issues. The City Council passed a $1.7 billion bike safety initiative dubbed the Streets Master Plan on Wednesday. The plan, praised by cyclist advocates, is set to add 250 miles of protected bike lanes to city streets, alongside other major street design changes. Elderly residents of Central Brooklyn voiced their concerns on Wednesday over modifications that, they feared, would prioritize those on two wheels instead of those on two feet. “You guys are kind of young now, but I think if you wind up breaking your leg, or as you get older, you’re not going to feel so attached to that bike,” said local resident and car owner Janet, who refused to give her last name “So please, I am asking you to open up your mind and not think selfishly, but think about everybody in your community.”
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Mandatory Helmet Use-cycling
NTSB wants mandatory bike helmet laws. Bike advocates don’t. NTSB wants mandatory bike helmet laws. Bike advocates don’t. The National Transportation Safety Board also called for improvements to road design, lower speeds where bikes a... Josh- NY Daily News Did you see this? Finally some rationality is entering the arena. Please let me know if you will run It's Not East Being Green- and about when. The main reasons for the bike bedlam and all the repercussions are due to the fact that the bike advocates neglected to advocate for a responsible bike culture. They avoided participation in a cooperative effort to to same. They fought the use of helmets-all to -increase ridership- in their opinion. Is this rational? I think NOT. If as they assert the more riders the safer the streets-why then are cycling deaths increasing? Why are the sidewalks and streets unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians? The fault dear Josh lies with the zealotry that has build a remorseless house of cards- Irresponsible bike culture-congestion-congestion tax- a bludgeoning of the quality of life. Loss in city business due to congestion. Not a pretty picture. Best- Jack Brown Coalition Against Rogue Riding former bike shop owner


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Cycle of Folly
https://nypost.com/2019/10/23/devine-eco-madness-may-be-reason-for-disastrous-boeing-737-max-safety-issues/ ( blurb at end of editorial) Cycle of folly Now the city wants to adjust traffic lights to suit cyclists and further slow cars and buses. It’s supposed to make cycling safer after a spate of deaths over the summer. But the inconvenience and economic damage will do nothing to address the real problem of lawless, entitled cyclists who run red lights, ride the wrong way down one-way streets and pose a lethal threat to pedestrians and themselves. Only 3 percent of New Yorkers use bikes as their primary mode of transportation, compared with 28 percent who walk and 40 percent who use cars or buses. It’s time to give the streets back to the majority and admit that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s bike revolution is a big fake flop.
Re: Hearing-Public Safety NYC CC 10/24/19


Hearing-Public Safety NYC CC 10/24/19
To all concerned. My name is Jack Brown. Former bike shop proprietor.The Hi Ho Cyclery 165 Ave A. As the Spokesman for the Coalition Against Rogue Riding I wish to make a brief statement. The self styled "visionaries" who have " moved fast and broken things" in Vision Zero have made a fatal flaw in their tactics. Transportation Alternatives has enabled a conflation of "going green"-being environmentally friendly with an out of control public safety problem. This was prevailing on then Mayor Bloomberg and continuing with current Mayor di Blasio to suppress enforcement of scofflaw cyclists.This undermined the authority of the NYPD and enabled a lawless bike culture which has generated an environment of jeopardy on the streets and sidewalks. The sense of entitlement on the part of many cyclists is aggressive.Pedestrians are treated like an obstacle course. The imposition of this practice was at best radical and by virtue of the increase in deaths, injuries and numberless close calls it is reasonable to characterize it as irrational. The motive for pushing for lack of helmets and lack of enforcement was to theoretically increased ridership. This diminished rider safety and likely pedestrian safety. I am not alone in calling this an exercise in zealotry. If a genuine collaborative effort to establish a responsible bike culture had been made-with enforcement as the backbone-New York City would assuredly be a safer bike and pedestrian and motorist friendly place. New York is last of the 100 largest cities in the USA as a place to drive a car. It is well out of the top 20 global cycling cities. Bike infrastructure set the table for world class congestion. Congestion caused a congestion tax. Congestion caused a loss in NYC business in tens of billions. The number of cyclists is about 1% of the commuters. How has all this dislocation and destruction been caused by so few? The quality of life in New York City has been bludgeoned. The zealots are pursuing what is manifestly a r


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Subject:	Seniors refocus Bike meeting to address safety-rather than more infrastructure.
Date:	Rationality prevailed over zealotry. This plus the FTSB proposing a Federal Law making helmet use mandatory for cycling demonstrates that the irrational approach
From:	employed by bike advocates (IE Zealots) suppressing enforcement to increase ridership-saying that more cyclists means safer streets-has been demonstrated to be a remorseless house of cards. The mayors-Bloomberg and De Blasio have enabled this sophistry of going green means subjecting the populace to bike bedlam. The pols have shown themselves willing to swallow the swill for campaign contributions and possible votes. Change gonna come.
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Seniors take over Crown Heights bike safety forum

November 1, 2019 Kelly Mena




Claris Ferguson, 55, and Carey Tan, 34, speak about the street safety measure at a recent public hearing in Crown Heights. Eagle file photo by Kelly Mena

A Crown Heights town hall aimed at expanding bike access for communities of color was quickly overtaken by seniors looking to shift the focus from bike safety to senior safety.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, whose district covers Crown Heights and parts of Brownsville and Sunset Park, hosted a “Bike Equity” town hall on Wednesday night, which included a panel of women of color promoting bike access. But within half an hour, the conversation had shifted to senior mobility issues.

The City Council passed a $1.7 billion bike safety initiative dubbed the Streets Master Plan on Wednesday. The plan, praised by cyclist advocates, is set to add 250 miles of protected bike lanes to city streets, alongside other major street design changes. Elderly residents of Central Brooklyn voiced their concerns on Wednesday over modifications that, they feared, would prioritize those on two wheels instead of those on two feet.

“You guys are kind of young now, but I think if you wind up breaking your leg, or as you get older, you’re not going to feel so attached to that bike,” said local resident and car owner Janet, who refused to give her last name “So please, I am asking you to open up your mind and not think selfishly, but think about everybody in your community.”

Protected bike lanes, which separate cyclists from vehicular traffic with physical barriers such as stanchions or parked cars, offer an extra layer of safety for cyclists. But some car drivers, like Community Board 17 Transportation Chairperson, Lee Burnett, say these lanes are now putting drivers in danger. The new design forces drivers to disembark their cars into oncoming bike traffic, she claimed.

“I almost got struck a couple of times by, because bikers just zip by. You don’t even see them coming,” Burnett said.

Wednesday’s City Council vote came less than three months after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his “Green Wave” plan — a $58.4 million project to increase the pace of bike lane construction.

There have been 25 cyclist deaths citywide so far this year — 16 of them in Brooklyn alone. In 2018, 10 cyclists were killed citywide through t

Cyclist charged with 2 cts reckless endangerment-death of Donna Sturm. CBS 11/7/19

Cyclist Charged In Death Of 67-Year-Old Woman Hit By Bike In Midtown

November 7, 2019 at 9:35 am

Filed Under:Donna Sturm, Local TV, Manhattan, Midtown, New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A cyclist was arrested Wednesday in the death of a 67-year-old woman who was hit by a bicycle earlier this year in Midtown.
Dameon Doward, 41, of Brooklyn, was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment.
Police said he ran a red light and struck Donna Sturm in a crosswalk on West 57^th Street back on April 24. She was rushed to Cornell Hospital with a traumatic brain injury and died 10 days later.
Her family released a statement after her death, saying, “Donna Sturm was a vibrant, energetic and wonderful woman who died as a result of carelessness and negligence.”
“She died because a bicyclist completely disregarded the law. She was crossing a street, in the crosswalk, with the light in her favor when she was struck. Unfortunately, she suffered horrific head injuries and, although the doctors tried their best over the last week, they were unable to save her life,” the statement continued. “Ted Panken lost his wife and his daughter lost a devoted, loving mother. Donna Sturm’s entire family is, simply put, devastated. They will never recover from this loss.”
Doward stayed on the scene and received a summons. He refused medical attention.

HELMETS to be MANDATORY for cycling? CBS News

Despite 27 deaths of cyclists-to this point in 2019-as opposed to 10 all of 2018 it took the NTCB
bring a proposed national law for mandatory helmet use to get wandering Mayor de Blasio to bring it home.
This is common sense-but neither Mayor Bill nor former Mayor Mike were employing a sensible
public safety tactic. All the cycling deaths and injuries over the past 2 -3 decades might have been
reduced if the cyclist wore a helmet. I myself have avoided serious injury at least 3 times because
I was wearing a helmet.
Another serious neglect was to establish a responsible bike culture. If cyclists adhered to the rules
of the road and conducted themselves in a law abiding predictable manner the streets and sidewalks would be much safer. There is no safety-all bike infrastructure to the contrary-without a responsible
bike culture.
TA fighting the mandatory use of helmets simply illustrates the irrational  drive to impose cycling
on the public. The politicians who have jumped on the bandwagon-conflating going green with
a lawless bike culture merely demonstrate their own susceptability to arm twisting and their
own negligence in serving the public responsibly.

Click on WCBSTV below and look for small  icon-Helmets about to become mandatory for interview.

Helmets About To Become Mandatory?

Program: CBS2 News At 6Categories: News, Local News, National News, Politics, WCBSTV

It's a grim static for New York City bike riders -- 27 cyclists have lost their lives on local streets this year, compared to 10 last year. Now, the federal government says something has to be done to end the carnage. CBS2's Marcia Kramer reports

Bob McManus on lack of law and order in Gotham

Bob McManus in the NYPost writes about a 17 yr old who was released on $6,000 bail.
Then proceeded to sexually assault a 12 year old girl. He references Santos "The Bowery Killer".
Puts it on the lefty radicals that have been arm twisting since Bloomberg. Flourishing under
de Blasio. Transportation Alternatives is one of the most aggressive and egregious. Since
then mayor Bloomberg acceded to their" visionary" wishes and suppressed enforcement
of the irresponsible bike culture the streets and sidewalks have never been the same.
It is like negotiating a daily minefield. The quality of life has been bludgeoned. The many dancing
to the tune of very few. Where is the common good? This has undermined the authority of
the NYPD. In my opinion this is not reasonable. It may not be rational. Yet the pandering pols
are braying about going green and the imperative of providing safety for lawless cyclists.
Read this story and save your crocodile tears.

Opinion

What does it take to get sent to jail in New York City?

By Bob McManus

October 15, 2019 | 8:11pm | Updated

Enlarge Image

Tony Johnson, a reputed gang member, was released on just $6,000 bail -- freeing him to allegedly sexually assault a 12-year-old girl.

More from:

Bob McManus

Does Tony Johnson, the Brooklyn 17-year-old who stands charged as a gang-banging crime tsunami, represent the future of New York?
Johnson now sits in a “secure youth facility” — whatever that means these days — having been busted on a 34-count street-crime indictment, turned loose by a soft-hearted, low-bail-setting judge and then, police say, getting right back to doing what he does best: brutalizing his neighbors.
His depredations seem to have ended with a particularly loathsome sexual assault on a 12-year-old girl in the basement of a Brooklyn housing project — but who knows for sure; the cops likely missed a mugging or two, and maybe worse.
Indeed, all that’s certain is that — thanks to New York’s new Raise the Age law — Johnson can’t be tried as an adult no matter how precocious his crimes.
So thank you, Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
It’s easy to criticize the judge here — the prosecution had asked for $225,000 bail and Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Craig Walker knocked that down to $6,000 — and surely some blame accrues.
But this is de Blasioville circa 2019, where the zeitgeist has it that the only thing worse than crime is locking up criminals; where Congress member AOC is a guiding light of the No New Jails movement — and where the top municipal priority seems not to be schools, infrastructure or public hospitals, but rather shuttering Rikers Island.
And as for bail, well, it’s a town where the latest thing in do-goodery is dredging up dough to spring low-lifes, no questions asked. (Randy Santos, the accused Bowery mass murderer, was twice bailed by nonprofit organizations that exist pretty much solely to do that sort of thing; Santos’ victims could well be protesting today, if they weren’t dead.)

see also

NYU nonprofit bailed out Chinatown 'killer' after he attacked a court officer

It’s only going to get worse.
The problem extends far beyond de Blasioville: Cuomo and the increasingly hard-left state Legislature in Albany this year went right to the heart of the pre-trial detention issue, mandating release without bail of suspects charged with a mind-bending array of charges, including intrinsically violent offenses.
Starting Jan. 1, for example, those charged with criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter, a wide range of drug-dealing offenses, weapons possession on school grounds, resisting arrest — even assault on a person less than 11 years old — will be shooed right back out on to the street.
Thus, those judges who do take seriously their responsibility to protect public safety (there really are a few in New York, you know) will be denied the bail-setting flexibility needed to do so.
Whence this insanity, and why?
All politicians pander, and you can learn a lot by studying who they pander to. And why they do it.
New York is a city in profound demographic flux. Its median age is 35 and 4.5 million of its 8-plus million residents are foreign born — which is to say, half the city has only the vaguest recollections, if any, of life before Pax Giuliana.
Meanwhile, newcomers tend not to be wave-makers, and Gotham’s streets tend to be tranquil compared to those many immigrants left behind — so all is good. They’ll learn better, of course, but it’ll take time.

see also

Tragic Chinatown murders come amid explosion of NYC homeless population

So with relatively little solid-citizen pushback, New York’s pols — in Albany, on the City Council and just hangin’ at the Park Slope Y — are falling all over themselves sucking up to activist progressive lefties and the folks they champion: the types who came so close to bringing New York City to its knees a generation ago.
Not literally the same folks, of course. The addicts, pushers, pimps, gangsters, gunsels and murderously insane vagrants who made life in pre-Giuliani New York such a pulse-pounding adventure have long since gone to the places where bad choices take people.
Jail was one such destination, and in large numbers they went. It was a dreadful necessity back then and likely will be once again now that that the Giuliani-Bloomberg urban-oasis interregnum seems to be nearing an end.
Certainly the bad actors are making a comeback, as New York moves to shed jail cells, backs away from quality-of-life law enforcement, cedes mass transit and other public spaces to threatening, often vicious vagrants — all to keep the progressive population and its dubious clients happy.
Cultures reap what they sow, of course, and this year’s crop includes Randy Santos and Tony Johnson. There’s two long months to go.
Bob McManus is a contributing editor at City Journal.

Filed under andrew cuomo ,  bail ,  criminal justice reforms ,  gangs ,  sexual assaults

      

"Heartfelt Heart Failure-a personal anecdote Oct 1,2019 Jack Brown

This is a brief description of an encounter with a man who I knew from working out
at The Dolphin. A gym on Fourth Street in Manhattan. He recognized me and asked
if I was still fighting against the out of control bikes? The description follows. I was
moved to know just how much it meant to a combat vet with congestive heart failure.

Heartfelt Heart Failure

This afternoon I was walking up First Avenue by the

Rite Aid across from Village View. A man walking in the opposite

direction said “ Are you still fighting against the out of control

bikes?” I said “How do you know? Did you see me on television?”

He was medium height. Broad shouldered and big chested. Very

short hair. Latino. He said “We used to work out at the same gym.

The Dolphin.” Then recognition. A former football player he did

keen stretches before working out. I adopted some.

He said “ I lived a crazy life style and wound up with congestive

heart failure. But if you change your ways-you get a second chance.”

As we talked he held onto a metal pole installed for construction.

Supporting his weight. I said that what was going on was really

crazy. Transportation Alternatives-well funded-well organized-

had exerted influence on Mayors Bloomberg and de Blasio to

suppress enforcement. To supposedly increase safety for bikes

with increased ridership. So too lack of helmets. The streets and

sidewalks are out of control. Shows that it is crazy-but it keeps

going.

He had to go to therapy. He is a combat Vet. His last words were

“Never give up. Never never give up.”

I haven't seen him for years. I may never see him again. But

I can't give up. I won't give up fighting to restore order and

balance to a public safety crisis. To honor a combat veteran

and a man who knows well the precious value of life.

Appellate Court decides 3/2 to allow DOT to ban vehicles on 14th Street 9/27/19

This is letter from 15th St Block Association.


Hello Neighbors. 

On Friday, the Appellate Court decided in a 3-2 vote to allow de Blasio and his Dept. of Transportation to go forward with their plans to ban cars from 14th St.   (NY POST article)  This means, W. 15th and just about every other downtown side street will be inundated with traffic starting this week. 

This is a sad time for us.  We've done everything possible to try to stop this from happening.  But the City is determined to take space away from cars and trucks and whether you believe in that ideology or not, pushing vehicular traffic off 14th St, a four lane crosstown state designated truck route, makes absolutely no sense.  And this will prove nothing.  Nobody cares how fast a bus goes as long as it's there to pick you up.  But something else is motivating this.  And it's not busses.  And that's what disturbs us more than anything because it's so clear the city is going about their business in a most catastrophic and, we'd like to add,  deadly way.  

Stay safe, Friends.  And become vigilant.  Photos and short videos will make for solid evidence.  We'll have more on that later.  

Bronx Cyclist smashes drive through Burger King window-ABC 9/26/19

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.



Thursday, September 26, 2019 4:44PMMOTT 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?