was there because his dog's tail was run over by a bike rider on the sidewalk.
Better keep those bikes on the sidewalk & out of bikelanes then..
http://gothamist.com/2010/10/16/anti-bike_lane_protest_small_full_o.php
"Yesterday's anti-bike lane protest drew a small but kvetchy crowd to the corner of 1st Ave and 14th St. Organizer Leslie Sicklick was joined by a handful of concerned citizens with a variety of cycling-related complaints, most of which revolved around a common anti-Bloomberg theme. Some were more personal: Michael O'Connor, 63, was there because his dog's tail was run over by a bike rider on the sidewalk. The gaggle of protesters was met by about ten bike lane supporters, who carried "Love Your Lane" signs while debating the anti-laners."
was there because his dog's tail was run over by a bike rider on the sidewalk.
Better keep those bikes on the sidewalk & out of bikelanes then..
This Leslie sounds like a real intelligent person. Just read the flyer. Not only is it filled with numerous grammar and spelling errors, she has an AOL email address...
flyer is worth posting
NYC is full of psychotic note-leavers and flyer-posters. This looks like one of them
Those "Dangerous Bikes Riders" are such a menace compared to the safe Cars Drivers.
Also curious what the "new" stations are?
At one point I read that these protests are essentially about parking spaces. For New York, this makes sense.
I love NYC and try to visit at least once a year...but I simply don't understand why parking is an issue.
And by that I mean: why the flip would you want to drive in NYC when there is such good public transportation, bike lanes and cabs. Seriously. Do these people really think they are getting anywhere FASTER by driving?
If I lived there, I'd gleefully give up my car, car payment and insurance bills and get a much nicer bike.
As an aside, in my second job (which should be ending soon YAY!!), I work with an open source code base called OpenCore which was developed for the Livable Streets Initiative to run their site.
54% of NYC residents do not own cars, add tourists to that and the number of people in NYC not driving is quite large compared to those who are. Pretty sure it is the goal of the DOT to get even more people to give up their cars. All of the changes happening in NYC are in support of the majority, which include the tourists.
This protest was by a flake, no question.
OTOH, if bikers start making large inroads, we can expect to see protest for real. Folks will hit the streets if we effectively campaigned for enforcement of stop signs and speed limits.
@rsprake - but don't ignore the commuters.
Is the figure 54% of residents or 54% of households? Does that include Staten Island?
Even more so, commuters should not be relying on or expecting free parking in the city. If they want to commute by car they should expect to pay big bucks for the right to do it.
"Manhattanites are the most car-free; 78% of households there do not have a vehicle. In the Bronx, the car-free share of households is 60%. Brooklyn is also majority car-free, with 54%. Only Queens and Staten Island have car-free minorities: 34% and 20%, respectively."
I got the figure from somewhere else and can't find it, but it is available here as well.
Only 46% of residents isn't half bad. I think I'm just cranky. I had to drive in to work today because my lower back is killing me... and as my co-workers have noted, I'm always in a foul mood when I have to drive.
Y'know, if they'd install a bike corral in a parking space, and someone double-parks next to it, it might be doing the bikes a favor. Less likelihood of someone mistaking it for an actual car parking space and wiping out a bunch of bikes.
@myddrin - Have you ever heard of Dr. John Sarno? His books changed my life. Good luck.
I wonder how many of those car-free households are pleased with being car-free, and how many would gladly say they wished they could own a car if only they could afford the parking space.
This was my favourite part (the original article had the wrong part emboldened, IMO)
"Bloomberg did these bike lanes not for environment or for people, but to get back at drivers. Someone at the Department of Transportation told me that," Sicklick told us.
@Morningsider -- I haven't. I normally (since the weight loss) don't have back problems. If this keeps up though, I'll definitely give them a read.
When Joe Montana broke his back? He did 3000 crunches a day for rehab. It worked well enough for him to get two more rings.
I was gonna do some crunches this morning, but I decided to eat another bowl of Frosted Flakes instead.
maybe they should pull out the Look campaign again