Comments on: Judge Rules Against NYC Critical Mass

By: boz

boz — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:00:41 +0000

It’s funny how short people’s memory is in a place like SF, where the average resident has lived there only 5 years. Is Chief Gascon an old-timer? I mean this is exactly, precisely the rhetoric that we heard 13 years ago. And all of the funny things we did at the time would still work — the legal version of Critical Mass, in which everyone just rides around and obeys traffic laws would still be a very appropriate response. Especially given commenters like those at

http://www.good.is/post/san-francisco-might-shut-down-critical-mass/

who all seem very “concerned” that massers be more law-abiding. Great! Go for it! They’ll see how that turns out…

One thing, though, Hugh – the cops can arrest many more people at once. SFPD has a century of experience in mass arrests, and just because each one leads to a nice settlement with its victims doesn’t stop them from persisting with this tactic.

By: Mellow Yellow

Mellow Yellow — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:11:59 +0000

Please follow the current CM related happenings in NYC at http://criticalmasspanic.blogspot.com/ to see what harassment occurs these days, how police attempts to control or shut down the ride succeed and fail, and why the court ruling seems totally irrelevant given the size of rides in the winter.

Ride Safer

M.Y. N.Y.C.

By: hughillustration

hughillustration — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:24:19 +0000

Thanks for your comment, UltimateSteveo. I’m happy to publish negative comments like this, so long as the language is reasonable and there are no threats.

One thing I think you have wrong is your characterization of the type of people that ride on Critical Mass. I have been riding with Critical Mass for almost 18 years, I am personal friends with hundreds of them, and I have had conversations with thousands of random people on the ride over the years. The “selfish” and “angry” types you’re mentioning are such a tiny minority that they are hardly worth mentioning. If you come out with us some night on your bicycle, I think you will meet nice people who love their city, who are not out to ruin anyone’s night, and who have a real sense of humor about themselves and what we’re doing on Critical Mass.

I’m sorry to hear that you had some bad experiences while stuck on the ride. I don’t know if it’s any consolation, but there are many of us — including the folks who started this ride and have been involved for years — that make a habit of confronting this sort of bad behavior when we see it (which isn’t often).

I don’t own a car, but I do borrow cars from time to time (and now I use CityCarShare). On two occasions I have been in a car on the last Friday when Critical Mass rolled by, and I got nothing but good energy and hi-fives from the other riders (none of whom recognized me, so far as I know). It might have helped that I did not try to ram my car into the midst of the cyclists, and that I was cheering them on from my car window. Maybe you could try that next time you encounter us?

By: UltimateSteveo

UltimateSteveo — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:22:12 +0000

Critical Mass is not about sharing the roads. The current Critical Mass movement in San Francisco seems to attract a large number of juvenile, selfish, and down-right angry individuals. I love bikes and support riding as a preferred method of transportation, but many of these people apparently have an agenda of anarchy and violence. I’ve experienced some form of either being yelled at, my wife has being yelled at, having my car kicked, spit at, or witnessed absolute disregard for the law at every unfortunate CM event I’ve had the displeasure to be stuck in. You’ll get no pity from this cyclist if the day comes that your participants are hauled off in buses, bikes confiscated and donated to those who chose to ride them responsibly. Don’t get me started on the dregs of suicidal bike messengers whining about automobile traffic… have you considered sharing the crosswalks with those slower, clearly annoying pedestrians? I assure you that no respectful and peaceful riders will be arrested for simply riding their bike in a group, this is specifically targeted to allow enforcement to reduce the indigent, anarchist, Che loving, cyclists that are causing problems. IMO, Critical Mass is an organized mechanism seeking to exact revenge on the average automobile driver, nothing more.

By: Nero

Nero — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:11:34 +0000

“right to peacefully assemble” I’m pretty sure that the NYC ruling violates that constitutional right.

By: drooderfiets

drooderfiets — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:07:04 +0000

=v= The NYPD, of course, continues to harrass CM even when less than 50 people are involved.

I don’t understand how you can be arrested just because you cycle. Is that linked to any complaint?

By: John Henry

John Henry — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:14:41 +0000

Maybe you should get off the bikes and take the street with feet

By: james

james — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:47:28 +0000

hughillustration — there’s a lot of yelling at motorists that happens. I’ve been yelled at both in a car, and on a motorcycle, where a bicyclist actually made a motion as if he were going to charge me and knock me over bodily. I’ve been sitting in my car, waiting for CM to pass, as riders passed trailing a burning strip of material, dropped and left in the street to burn. Bicyclists stand in front of cars to block traffic over the course of several light changes. I’m all for raising awareness of those around you. Cars don’t wait for me as a pedestrian in a crosswalk, but neither do bicyclists. Motorists can be terribly unaware of what’s around them, but the bicyclists need to obey traffic laws as well. They tend to be a rather smug, self-rightous lot.

By: Jym Dyer

Jym Dyer — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:18:13 +0000

=v= The Times blog entry isn’t written very well. The Times has over the years been rather good about the fact that Critical Mass is not an organized event, so I trust they’ll fix it when crafting it into an actual news article.

The NYPD attempted to declare it an organized event in 2004, solely their pretext for harrassing participants was that organizers needed a permit. That bogosity was shot down in Federal court. (So, you know, screeching “nuh-uh” in blog comments is just a waste of time.)

They cooked up this “50 participants” rule after that Federal decision. The rule was challenged in a suit filed by the Five Borough Bike Club, which has nothing to do with Critical Mass. Bike clubs in NYC have been having 50 or more people in organized rides without permits since the velocipede craze of the 1870s, after all. Judge Kaplan’s decision ignores this fact.

=v= The NYPD, of course, continues to harrass CM even when less than 50 people are involved.

By: sarah

sarah — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:50:46 +0000

cyclists are not the problem here.
motorists are not the problem here.
assholes are the problem here- and it seems assholes move around on any number of wheels.
unless we can get past this unilateral blame game and deal with each other on an individual basis, there will be no ‘share the road’.
the word sharing implies mutual respect, and as long as we insist upon applying kneejerk stereotypes upon both camps there is no respect.