Now, hold on.
a lot of background is being dropped here in favor of perception, not supported by facts.
I agree that CM has a terrible public image, and some of that is caused by the riders, but . . .
I work on the critical mass issues in Portland.
I work really hard on them.
There is a monthly sit down between the Portland Police and the Portland Critical Mass participants. It happens at my office, open to the public, anyone can come, let me know I will add you to the email list, really.
Because of a lot of hard earnest work from both sides, Portland has a pretty mellow, non-confrontational critical mass.
Aside from being an attorney here in Oregon, I am from NY, admitted to practice law there, and I used to work for Transportation Alternative in NY, so I have some background on these issues.
NY critical mass was a pretty mellow event, that, contrary to your perception did not block traffic, was not very heavily policed, and went on and on for years with no problems.
Then came the Republican National Convention in NYC, (2003-was it that long ago?). Happened the same weekend as the monthly critical mass. CM definately had more participants than usual. The NYC police went crazy, used nets to trap entire blocks of participants. arested people who were walking on the very block they lived on. Not much fun for anyone.
since then NY CM has been really bad. The Police have been trying to "crack down" on CM and the federal courts have reminded them about freedom of assembly and the like.
now NY CM does block traffic. no question about it, but the reason is not b/c of the cyclist alone.
and fwiw, there is also a CM in Brooklyn, that was started by some folks who were sick of the manhatten police tactics, and if I can find the link I will send it back to this list. It is a CM that is nothing but happiness and light, really. Including police on bicycles. Just like they use in dear dreary Portland.
I could go on and on, but I'd rather just stop.
Mark Ginsberg
Daniel Watson wrote: My horse is only about 55cm off the ground, not that
high... :)
I'm just talking about reality here, this is the
perception from everyone else, the majority that
doesn't commute, or race, or pedal around the park.
And that perception isn't going to change by a bunch
of people clogging up the traffic on their bikes
during critical mass.
I ride, and feel the friction between cyclists and
motorists, we aren't treated that well on our bikes
when mingling with traffic, but stopping traffic to
demonstrate doesn't help matters.
When I hear comments about cyclists or critical mass
type movements, I take that as the uneducated
non-cyclist perspective. And it resounds throughout a
lot of the general non-cycling public.
If you happen to take part in critical mass type
activities, think of where you could better spend your
time. You do change the world with critical mass, but
not in our favor. Maybe volunteer to spend the equal
amount of time working and donate that money toward
something like obra or other institution that benefits
cyclists. Think of how many positive experiences and
lives are changed by experiencing a bicycle
race/event.
-d
--- "Malcolm, Gary"
wrote:
> No need for the high-horse!
>
> Many people use bicycles for many different reasons
> and it's not our job to
> bust heads, leave it to the NYPD. Some folks don't
> like cars and that's OK.
> Some of us just like to race, some like roll around
> the local park, others
> want to change the world one pedal at a time.
>
> You know what? It's all OK.
>
> When you use terms like 'wasted energy',
> 'disruption' and 'aggravate' you
> bring a ton of animosity to the discussion. I can
> imagine how one might not
> feel a unanimity with Critical Mass without being
> disparaging.
>
>
> Gary Malcolm
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daniel Watson [mailto:pourdan@yahoo.com]
> Sent: November 17, 2006 4:05 PM
> To: GEORGE SCHRECK; evanm@ci.hillsboro.or.us;
> obra@list.obra.org
> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] NYC spends $1.3M to stop
> critical mass
>
>
> It's not like the cycling community benefits from
> critical mass demonstrations. All they do is harden
> the general public against a certain group of
> people,
> and aggravate the public against what they see as an
> inconvenience during their day. Reference back to
> the
> radio hosts who have expressed their dislike for
> cyclists, and then think of what a critical mass
> does
> to the cycling image in their minds.
> Those thinking of organizing a critical mass here in
> the future should put their energy toward
> maintaining
> or building more bike paths like the springwater
> corridor here in Portland. It isn't finished yet,
> and
> their wasted energy could be set to something
> useful,
> while keeping more bikes off the narrow Portland
> roads.
> Unfortunately for the cause, most of the critical
> mass
> group seem bent on disruption rather than solving
> anything. Which is why spending that much money in
> a
> city like NY makes sense. Stop the
> disruption...some
> people actually work and need to get around in a
> timely manner.
>
> my $.02
>
> -d
>
> --- GEORGE SCHRECK wrote:
>
> > This is interesting. I think the bicycle
> advocates
> > may have miscalculated (no pun intended) the
> impact
> > of releasing these figures. They intended it to
> > show the misdirected priorities of the police and
> > the city, but instead it may serve to enrage
> members
> > of the general public against bicyclists and
> furhter
> > alienate them. Instead of viewing the numbers as
> > evidence of misplace priority, the public may view
> > it as bicyclists breaking the law and costing the
> > city $1.3 million of their tax dollars.
> >
> > ----Original Message----
> > From: evanm@ci.hillsboro.or.us
> > Date: 11/16/2006 2:57 PM
> > To:
> > Subj: [OBRA Chat] NYC spends $1.3M to stop
> critical
> > mass
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
http://www.streetsblog.org/2006/11/16/nypd-spent-132m-to-suppress-monthly-bi
> ke-ride/
> >
> > Submitted for your reading pleasure only.
> > I am not attempting to start a discussion thread.
> > There are a few links to other bike-related
> stories
> > also. Not a bad blog!
> >
> > Evan
> >
> >
> > ------------- __o
> > ---------- _ '\<,_
> > ----------(_)/ (_)______Get on your bikes and
> ride!
> >
> >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > OBRA mailing list
> > obra@list.obra.org
> > http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> > Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
> >
>
>
>
>
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