Eyes on the Street: Who Will Protect the Protected Bike Lane From NYPD?

Reader David Holowka sent these photos of NYPD breaking the law and putting cyclists’ lives at risk on Eighth Avenue, across from Madison Square Garden near a massive Citi Bike station.

“Here’s the scene in front of the Main Post Office this morning,” Holowka writes. “I watched several cyclists diverted into car traffic. A nice tragedy and lawsuit against the city in the making!”

Holowka is a regular bike commuter on Eighth and Ninth Avenues, and says police routinely use both protected bike lanes on this block, between 31st and 33rd Streets, “as a rush-hour NYPD parking lot.”

“On my commute home, the Ninth Ave. bike lane behind the Post Office is often blocked by NYPD traffic police cars or postal vehicles, despite plenty of room for them to park elsewhere,” he writes. “It’s done so brazenly as to suggest sanctioning by NYPD.”

The photos below were taken on July 3, in the middle of the NYPD bike-ticketing blitz — when police were blocking bike lanes and issuing criminal charges against cyclists who attempted to ride around their cars. Holowka, who posted some of the pics on his blog, says all four cyclists pictured were “forced into busy vehicle traffic in 40 seconds” by parked and double-parked NYPD vehicles.