An Amusement & Diversion for The Genteel Cyclist. Daily.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Forced to behave like adults: CMNY

Last month, the City of New York passed a law requiring cyclists to apply for a permit, if they were going to conduct a ride with more than 50 riders. Clearly, the city wanted a legal tool for busting up NYC Critical Mass rides, and that's precisely what they did as soon as the law went into effect. But the official reasoning behind the law is so that police can close roads and regulate traffic.



During the February ride, members of NYC Critical Mass were ticketed and forced to behave like regular citizens and sue the city, but that lawsuit was dismissed today.

Whether you agree or not with Critical Mass (my own feelings rise and fall according to the ambient level of self-righteousness on any given ride; here in Minneapolis, the unkindest thing I've ever heard said to pedestrians and car drivers is, "Have a great Friday!"), you have to be troubled by any government regulation of the People's Right to Gather on Goofy Looking Tall-Bikes.




On the other hand, maybe Critical Mass NY should go ahead and get a permit, then maybe they can put the police to work for 'em, rather than agin 'em.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If they want to be legit, a permit makes sense.

However, CM started as a form of civil disobedience, so I doubt they will get it and would be against the spirit of the whole thing in the first place.