Blog: August 2005

On Friday, I was walking along Sixth Avenue with a friend looking for a restaurant, when a crowd of cheering bicyclists rode by. My friend, who knew nothing about this ride, commented, "how wonderful!"

A minute later, I heard loud and insistent honking; a single sedan sped up and squealed to a halt, nearly hitting several people. A man threw open the car door and stomped out, face purple with anger.

"That guy must be really angry because he had to wait behind some bikes," I thought. "How sad that he is overreacting so badly - and how dangerous that he almost hit those people. I hope the police saw that and stop him for reckless driving."

But no. That man was the police. Because a second later, a couple of marked police squad cars also drove up, and the officers inside, at the command of the angry, dangerous man, started arresting bicyclists. The angry man quickly stomped back into his car and, with a screech of tires, sped off. It happened too quickly for me to get a picture. Could the angry man have been Bruce Smolka, NYPD Assistant Chief and ardent opponent of civil liberties? It's definitely possible, but there are a lot of burly bald men in the force.

"Why are they being arrested?" my friend asked. That's a very good question, and one the NYPD won't answer satisfactorily. Unlawful assembly? Parading without a permit? Mike Bloomberg and NYPD top brass have been on a senseless crusade to stomp out freedom of assembly ever since last year's Republican Convention.

I was on 40th Street earlier in the day and the street was completely packed with vehicles going much slower than the bikers, and making a lot more noise. Why didn't The Angry Man screech up and tear those drivers out of their cars? And last weekend, as I was biking (all by myself, apparently the only legal way to do it) down Seventh Avenue after a nice refreshing ride through the Hudson River Greenway and Central Park, at least five drivers (mostly yellow cabs) honked at me, because I was in "their" lane. Mr. Angry NYPD Man, why isn't your police force protecting me, a law-abiding citizen, and my right to use the streets?