Criticle Mass Shut Down in NYC
Thread started by
Foldie at 02.17.10 - 9:58 am
Yesterday a Judge ruled that a group of cyclist that are 50 or more will need a parade permit to ride.
Story
here
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So, if they kept their mouths shut and simply rode past the GOP shin-dig, then none of this would've happened?
I guess it is better to maintain political neutrality when rolling through the streets in large numbers, keep that shit confined to the threads.
bentstrider02.17.10 - 10:04 am
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this is the portion of the article we need to worry about:
“The court,” he added, “recognized that the policing of Critical Mass rides was not based on any attempt to infringe First Amendment rights, but rather stemmed from Critical Mass bicyclists’ lawless behavior, which included intentionally blocking traffic, riding through red lights, and cycling the wrong way on both one-way and two-way streets.”
barleye02.17.10 - 10:17 am
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Critical Mass is, and always has been, a political action, and it's protected by the 1st Amendment - period. If history mattered to you, you'd know that the GOP shin-dig is just one of many things that CM was intended to target.
Let's hope that NYC C-massers protest this unconstitutional decision with a really huge bicycle ride.
In fact, lets bring LACM back to it's roots and make a protest out of it, as it should be!
p.s. Critical Mass is an autonomous action, you can't shut it down or cancel it! It doesn't have leaders, and it doesn't have an organizing body to "shut down". So good luck with that.
the reverend dak responding to a
comment by bentstrider
02.17.10 - 10:36 am
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that's serious bullshit. Because that's EXACTLY WHAT CM is, an assembly and an exercise in FREE SPEECH. Using the excuse of deterring the "intentionally blocking traffic, riding through red lights, and cycling the wrong way on both one-way and two-way streets." is just that, an excuse. Civil Disobedience, motherfuckers.
the reverend dak responding to a
comment by barleye
02.17.10 - 10:42 am
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oh man i hope thay dont bust that shit here in LA
Huey55502.17.10 - 10:48 am
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Definitely a bad sign, but it should come as no surprise.
I think it will be interesting to see if they turn the NYCM into a Critical Manners instead.
If police start ticketing them for lack of parade permits, but NOBODY is behaving lawlessly, that would make for a stronger First Amendment violation case.
DJwheels responding to a
comment by barleye
02.17.10 - 11:05 am
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Well, I never paid any attention to this at the time simply because it was never reported on any media outlets I was going through(and if anyone says Faux Noose, they're sadly mistaken).
As far as I was concerned, I was always under the guise that CM was all about asserting the recognition of cyclists as members of traffic, not being relegated to one particular side of politics.
If anything, protest the fuck out of something and I could care less.
It's just that when you drag politically neutral parties into your cause, you're fucking up the experience for what could've been a good, long-lasting thing for them.
For me, I stay away from blatantly obvious protest movements in general, no matter what side of the political fence they're on.
All they seem to do is either get animal blood or glass shards blown all over your porch.
Much easier to find a seated political official that's not tied to any one issue and hand-write then sign a series of letters to them in regards to a specific matter.
bentstrider responding to a
comment by the reverend dak
02.17.10 - 11:18 am
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Critical Manners (Civil Obedience) is far more powerful a statement.... 10 packs of 40 riders will fuck up traffic even worse ( if that's their goal.) the question in my mind would then become how does the state define a group? if 10 separate groups met at 10 different intersections and rode autonomously and then converged or criss crossed intersections.... does that mean that they are still one giant collective group?
Roadblock responding to a
comment by DJwheels
02.17.10 - 11:46 am
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And what if you were riding by yourself and got engulfed by a mass of riders, would that mean you would have to get of your bike to not be associated with the mass? Wouldn't that be infringing on solo cyclists rights?
buckchin responding to a
comment by Roadblock
02.17.10 - 11:53 am
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yup.
the only real solution is to do it like they do in SF and facilitate the ride.
Roadblock responding to a
comment by buckchin
02.17.10 - 11:58 am
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Whoa...they probably shouldn't be considered one giant collective group, but you never know what a ticked off cop is gonna do.
I think what should matter to the cops is if people are acting lawlessly at that point of convergence. Even if they converge at an intersection at the same time, they would still have to obey whatever traffic signals there are.
No circle of death, no blocking opposing traffic, no running reds, no wrong way riding, no sidewalk riding if also prohibited...they would just have to go through the intersection like any other vehicle.
DJwheels responding to a
comment by Roadblock
02.17.10 - 11:58 am
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In fact, lets bring LACM back to it's roots and make a protest out of it, as it should be!
oodlesofpoodles
responding to a comment by the reverend dak
02.17.10 - 1:23 pm
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Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the rights of New York cyclists to peacefully demonstrate and I hope this ruling does nothing but bolster their ride...but LACM is so far from what it's really supposed to be. it's supposed to be a demonstration of our rights to share the road with cars, not to run over pedestrians on the sidewalk--but that's the culture that has evolved.
how do you deal with such negative publicity? it does us more harm than good! i think critical manners is a good idea in theory, but i highly doubt that you'd be able to get more than a few dozen people to show up for it, and 12 cyclists riding legally are just 12 more marginalized cyclists being threatened at rush hour.
i think you raise an important question:
how can you possibly keep LACM focused on a goal of social reform when so many of the riders know nothing about what CM is or is supposed to be? i agree that it would be a great thing to do, but it would be very difficult if not impossible to make it happen, let alone to make it fun.
oodlesofpoodles responding to a
comment by the reverend dak
02.17.10 - 1:23 pm
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What we need are either trunked radios that can't be picked up by common scanners, or some dedicated Nextel to ensure the leeches don't come slithering in full force.
bentstrider responding to a
comment by DJwheels
02.17.10 - 2:16 pm
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DON'T WORRY MY FELLOW RIDAZZ
I WILL MAKE SURE YOUR RIGHTS ARE NOT INFRINGED UPON
I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF CM
YES WE CAN RIDE EN MASSE ON CITY STREETS
YES WE CAN SHOW THAT BIKES ARE A MORE EFFECTIVE FORM OF TRANSPORT
YES WE CAN...DO ALL OF THE ABOVE WHILE WE'RE SHITFACED
BECAUSE WE ARE TALENTED LIKE THAT
YES WE CAN...
GOD BLESS YOU AND MAY GOD BLESS THE MIDNIGHT RIDAZZ
-PRESIDENT OBAMA
PRESIDENT OBAMA02.17.10 - 2:21 pm
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New York City has been becoming more and more Soviet over the years. This is just another ruling that proves the power of the Apparatchik system. Unless the riders in New York City organize and exert their rights, they will lose their rights...and no one will give a damn.
328rides4ever responding to a
comment by PRESIDENT OBAMA
02.17.10 - 3:14 pm
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They should just do a bunch of 49 person rides all over the city.
When they reach a certain number of riders just take off in whatever direction.
Next 49 take off in another direction, etc. maybe meet up somewhere later to shuffle the deck.
trickmilla02.17.10 - 3:47 pm
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http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/
Gav02.17.10 - 6:00 pm
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