An Amusement & Diversion for The Genteel Cyclist. Daily.

Monday, June 4, 2007

New York: Trying, but let's face it, just not a great place to ride a bike


We didn't intend to make it Pick on New York Day, but a couple more stories came over our desk today that... well, let's just say they make us happy to not be in New York on the old Garden Weasel anymore, and happy to be in Biketown, Minnesota.

First, New York's finest apparently went nuts last Friday with the grinders and removed dozens of bikes--many of them parked legally at DOT bike racks--from 6th Street in Manhattan. The intention was allegedly to get rid of abandoned bikes that were, y'know, being eaten by trees. But a cursory glance at photos from the incident make it pretty clear that either the NYPD has no idea what it's doing, or they were feeling a bit expansive about what's an abandoned bike.

On the other hand, perhaps they were just getting their dander up for Critical Mass.

All we can say is this: Go West, young man. Go West. Bring your bike and your film festival, there's plenty of space here, and the cops have better things to do than worry about your safety.

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