Critical Mass

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Anonymous's picture
Anonymous

So I'm walking to Union Square train station last night and saw Critical Mass - well actually I didn't see any riders, rather police everywhere. I hadn't seen it since election time. Un-&^*&@%#-believeable! It looked like a police-state. All this nonsense, wasted money and resources because a couple hundred people decide to go riding their bikes. It has to be the stupidest thing I've seen in a long time. I know, there's nothing new here, I'm just venting.

Anonymous's picture
Carol Wood (not verified)
Getting physical
Anonymous's picture
Carol Wood (not verified)
Critical Mass bicyclist aids police hurt in collision
Anonymous's picture
Regina (not verified)
Critical Mass - NYC resources

Still going on???

The weekend of New Year's the same thing. That Friday night I was walking around and saw the brigade. Approx. 30 scooters, 3 paddy wagons and 4 other vehicles. They rode away - from Union Square.
then as i was walking down on Bleeker and W. Broadway the cops rode by. It was obvious that the Critical Mass group must've broke up - and so this was an off-shoot bunch of cops. I didn't see any cyclists in front of them, the cops were just trying to navigate - with the helicopter above. Yes a helicopter was used to keep track of the riders.

Great - so instead of spending it on safety, crime, anti-terrorism garbage and a host of other more important things, this is how they spend the money.

Anonymous's picture
April (not verified)
Medison Square, too

On Friday, as early as 6 o'clock. There must be 20+ cops and scooters on 23rd St. by Madison Ave., too.

I've never riden in the Critical Mass ride. But since my office is near one of their congregation point and I bike commute a lot, it makes me feel very uncomfortable that the inevitable will happen sooner or later. Frankly, I can't help to feel this is like the good old Vetnam protest again, with indifferent by-standers getting round up by the police and being turned into protest supporters.

Is there a web site where we can post where the police are waiting? With today's Blackberry and PDA, we could be the eyes for the Critical Mass.

Anonymous's picture
Gideon Oliver (not verified)
To put it in context...

"...for those who have not been following what's going on, check out FreeWheels.

I don't think scouts will help; in fact, they may hurt. I know, I know, I'm prejudiced because I'm an attorney, but I believe cyclists need broad support to win these cases in Court; the people the NYPD have been arresting are not the ""extremists"" the Commissioner has complained about in the press, and resorting to organizing to avoid the police, in my opinion, only plays into their hand.

That said, there are a hundred ways to materially support people who have been arrested in connection with previous rides, and help end the crackdown. Again, see the FreeWheels page (here) for more information.

If you all would like, I'm sure we could have some arrestees come and talk about their experiences and let you all judge for yourselves whether or not all of this makes sense."

cycling trips