It is terrible that the only routes through lower Manhattan are through clogged streets carrying trucks too big for the lanes, over uneven surfaces which are a hazard to anyone on two wheels (or two legs).
Any idea of the identity of the cyclist? I pray he is not from NYCC.

"http://transalt.org/press/releases/060626cyclistkilled.pdf

""He apparently fell from his bicycle at Houston Street and LaGuardia Place as he was attempting to ride over or around a metal street plate that protruded from an on-going City construction site. Derek Lake was a student at the School of Visual Arts. The metal street plate is in violation of the City DOT’s “Highway Rules” governing the specifications for construction plating in the street. Specifically, the plate is not “sufficiently ramped to provide smooth riding and safe condition,” nor does it have “a skid resistance surface equal to or greater than the adjacent existing street or roadway surface” (NYC Department of Transportation Highway Rules, Section 2-11 (e 10)). In addition to not having the required skid-proof surface and ramping, the 2-inch high street plate was partly covered with loose gravel and construction debris.""
"

I've had it! Authorities are nailing cyclists for riding in CP while cyclists are dying in the streets. Today I saw an NYPD traffic cop swerving down 3rd Ave. while talking on her cell phone. I'm lucky I was not riding next to her 2-ton car.

Let us know what we can do, Carol! Enough is enough.

We cyclists need to exert steady, consistent, and INSISTENT pressure as a group to get the attention of our political leaders and the public (including the motorists who are killing us). The goal is to win changes in behavior, policy and infrastructure to stop the carnage and improve transportation in the city. It's realistic and it's within reach.

Obviously, as members of a group, we still act as individuals. Anything and everything you can do to further the cause will help, whether it's writing a letter to the TLC or the mayor, or telling a cabdriver you tip for slow and safe driving, not for speeding. Joining directed actions and letter-writing campaigns matter a lot--they get the attention of our leaders and the press. Do as much of it as you can.

Talking to your neighbors and workmates makes a difference. Since I helped to get a bike parking facility set up at work and have regularly ridden to work, coworkers often tell me about how they saw a group of cyclists on the road, thought about me, and slowed down. Others are hauling their bikes out of the basement and riding again. One action leads to another.

Keep the positive energy going. And don't let more of our fellow cyclists go gentle into the night. Yell and scream like hell!

"Years ago I was hired by the NYC DoT to create ads for ""Bike Month."" One of the ads I proposed which the DoT liked a great deal had the headline ""We Bike Here."" Around it in very small, 6 pt type, was the names of hundreds and hundreds of NY cyclists along with their professions (the most interesting of which were people who worked in the bus and subway systems).

The obërfgruppenführers at the DoT pored over the names and extracted four: Robin Williams, Freddy Ferrar (then the Bronx Boro president) Ruth Messinger (former Manhattan Boro president), and John F. Kennedy, Jr.

I was instructed to remove Ferrar, Messinger, and Kennedy, and asked whether Williams donated to the Democrats.

""Why?"" I asked.

Answer: Because the ad had to be vetted by Giuliani's City Hall and it couldn't have the name of anyone who was identifiably Democrat!

This, mind you, was in a federally funded, non-partisan ad. That violated all manner of professional conduct.

Needless to say, I quit.
"

See this recent thread..

http://www.nycc.org/mb/Thread.aspx?B=1&T=6920&TP=1&C=(2)