Critical Mass
Streetsblog Basics
Jan Gehl: Half of Manhattan Trips Could be Done by Bike
If you haven't heard it already, WNYC's Arun Venugopal has an outstanding piece on New York City's rapidly changing transportation policies regarding bicycling. We hear from T.A.'s Noah Budnick, Copenhagen's Jan Gehl, DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, NYPD Chief Ray Kelly, Judy Ross of Times Up, and a moron in a huge SUV. Click here or press the play button below:
October 31, 2007
Ciclovia: Is NYC Ready?
With a successful Bike Month now behind us and a spectacular Tour de Brooklyn completed, we perhaps have an opportunity to dream bigger for how we can celebrate our bicyclists, our streets and communities in this city.
June 6, 2007
Friday Ride Yields Mass Police, Media Coverage
Up to 200 cyclists gathered Friday evening for the first Critical Mass since the city law took effect limiting unpermitted bike rides and other public events to fewer than 50 people. With all the professional and citizen journalists on-hand to witness the "showdown" between cyclists and the NYPD, one wonders if the restriction might be extended to the media.
April 2, 2007
Mass Movement on Two Wheels
Chris Carlsson, one of the original founders of the Critical Mass bicycling movement, writes, "a funny thing happened during the last decade of the 20th century. Paralleling events that transpired a century earlier, a social movement emerged based on the bicycle."
February 26, 2007
Driving Mrs. Kelly
Police columnist Len Levitt of NYPD Confidential has an interesting piece on Commissioner Ray Kelly's use of his official security detail to chauffeur his wife on personal trips at taxpayer expense. My first reaction would be a big "So what?" except for three things:
February 7, 2007
Time’s Almost Up on New Parade Regs
After months of debate, the NYPD's new parade regulations aimed at pedestrian and bicycle demonstrations which critics say were designed specifically to target Critical Mass rides were quietly filed on Jan. 26, and the 30-day clock has started ticking on their implementation. The new rules require a parade permit for any "procession or race which consists of a recognizable group of 50 or more pedestrians, vehicles, bicycles or other devices moved by human power, or ridden or herded animals proceeding together upon any public street or roadway."
January 29, 2007
Ding Dong Bruce Smolka’s Gone
Newsday is reporting that NYPD Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka has filed for retirement. Smolka is reknowned for his needlessly aggressive tactics in breaking up peaceful political demonstrations, his disregard of basic civil rights and his all-too-frequent abusiveness towards women. In one infamous video he was caught kicking a female demonstrator in the head at a May 2003 sit-in.
January 24, 2007