Cyclists claim e-bikes &scooters make riding more dangerous NYC Gothamist

https://gothamist.com/news/cyclists-say-e-bikes-scooters-are-making-nyc-bridges-more-dangerous-with-laughable-enforcement One rogue group accuses another rogue group. The responsibility lies back 20 + years when Transportation Alternatives prevailed on then Mayor Bloomberg to withhold enforcement by the NYPD. And refused to participate in a cooperative effort to establish a responsible bike culture. How do they like the taste of their own cooking?

Traffic Fatalities*112* Cylist Deaths *18* First half 2023--Patch

Patch seems to be a TA publication. These are indeed troubling statistics. However consider that Transportation Alternatives was so zealous to put spokes on the street and apparently sidewalks that it actively opposed a responsible bike culture. With a rogue culture it astronomically increases the probability of accidents. Increases the level of stress and aggravation for all.Pedestrian, Cyclist and motorist alike. The reckless disregard for public safety makes Transportation Alternative morally liable for a massive percentage of the deaths and accidents and numberless near accidents experienced by the public since the first Bloomberg administration. And the elected public officials who truckled and faciltated the sophistry are like MAGA hat wearing "Progressives." Que lastima. https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/traffic-crashes-kill-112-nyc-during-first-half-2023-study?utm_term=article-slot-2&utm_source=newsletter-dai

E-bike bills require licensing and make ECorps responsible Village Sun July 21,2023

https://thevillagesun.com/e-bike-delivery-persons-would-need-license-plates-under-new-bill-apps-would-be-fined-if-riders-go-on-sidewalk

Response to Village Sun Editorial by Steve DiLauro by Jack Brown June 2, 2022

Brown gives an account of how the reckless disregard for public safety was promoted by the irrational zealotry of Transportation Alternatives. I have written in the Sun previously. The social contract was broken when Michael Bloomberg was Mayor. I was told by then-Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh in 2010, “THE REASON THERE IS NO ENFORCEMENT IS BECAUSE TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES DOESN’T WANT IT.” TA based their zealotry on — I was told — some apocryphal study done in the outback of Australia — “THE MORE BIKES ON THE STREETS, THE SAFER THE STREETS FOR BIKES.” Well not only — if true — was there no correlation between rural Australia and the Big Apple, but that fancy has proven to be deadly wrong. Bloomberg didn’t need the campaign contributions but he did want to attract the Tech (FANG) industry — and not incidentally give the real estate values a boost. Techies like to ride bikes. Requiring helmets or having the law enforced would dampen enthusiasm, ipso facto NO ENFORCEMENT FOR PUBLIC SAFETY. For cyclists it’s all the rights of the road and none of the responsibilities. Hence bike bedlam. Charles Komanoff, a self-described visionary, is the sophist in chief of TA. I spoke to Prof. John Pucher, an internationally recognized transportation expert and biking advocate. When I told him about TA arm-twisting about law enforcement, he said emphatically, “I TOLD THEM NOT TO DO THAT.” Bloomberg told DOT Commish Sadik-Khan, “Do whatever you want. Just don’t screw up.” Well, hubris given license knows no bounds. Anarchy prevails. In my view, as a veteran of the bike industry and spokesman for Coalition Against Rogue Riding, this demonstrated a reckless indifference for public safety and human life. The grandiosity of Charles Komanoff is akin to that of Donald Trump. Only Komanoff couches it in statistics and intellectual pretension. If anyone has any doubt that NYC and other areas have been affected by Komanoff’s meglomania, see a recent article in the Washington Post. It leads with reference to Komanoff’s 180-degree reversal on the value of nuclear energy. At one point he was perhaps the leading detractor on the value of nuclear energy, he has now seen the light. Realizes that climate change needs the more efficient energy nuclear provides. At the same time he was cooking up his animosity to nuclear energy, he was dreaming of an Big Apple without motor vehicles — where the NYPD only enforced the law against the evil motor vehicle and let two-wheeled rogues run wild on the streets and sidewalks. So now the NYPD has been undermined. Lawless two-wheeled culture has expanded and jeopardizes every step we take. The parks are not safe. With the dining shacks, the sidewalks are even less safe than prior to the pandemic. Let us all recognize Charles Komanoff for the Donald Trump-like snake oil salesman he truly is. Dollar Bill De Blasio went along with TA for the votes and campaign contributions. He too kept the NYPD on a short leash. This is the underbelly of one of the signal boils in the Big Apple’s Progressive Paradise. Let us all recognize the inept arrogance of one of Harvard’s ignominious alums, Tribecca’s Charles Komanoff.

Who Broke the Social Contract? -Steve Di Lauro Editorial ::Village Sun

https://thevillagesun.com/bicycles-and-politicians-who-broke-the-social-contract Playwright Steve Di Lauro descibes his personal experiences with lawless bike riding. Makes interesting points and observations. Suggests ways to manage the e-bike crisis. Interesting comments follow. https://thevillagesun.com/bicycles-and-politicians-who-broke-the-social-contract

International News---- Kent England- Order to "crush" e-scooters *** The telegraph

Order to "seize and "crush" unlawfully ridden e-scooters. Anywhere on public land. ‘Seize and crush’ e-scooters, policing chief tells officers

Ya-Ting Liu Public Space Czarina-plans to reclaim space from cars etc** Bloomberg!!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-11/nyc-adds-bike-lanes-and-pedestrian-plazas-to-reclaim-space-from-cars?srnd=citylab This is the grand plan to plan public space for the immediate future. Read it and try to conceive of how this will improve on congestion. Public safety and quality of life. Consider how all this may be effected without enforcement. An undermined NYPD needs to be resurrected. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-11/nyc-adds-bike-lanes-and-pedestrian-plazas-to-reclaim-space-from-cars?srnd=citylab