BIKE: NYC cops steal bikes, intimidate riders

[Roger Baker]

1010 WINS - New York's All News Station : Bike Riders Complain NYPD Took
Bicycles

http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story_087071156.html

Mar 28, 2005 7:07 am US/Eastern

NEW YORK Some people who rode in Fridays Critical Mass ride in  
Manhattan say
police confiscated their bicycles without justification. The riders say  
that
once police threatened them with arrest, they got off their bikes and  
began
to walk away from the rest of the group. But they were arrested anyway,  
they
say, and their bikes were loaded onto a truck and taken away.

Other riders say they locked their bikes but that officer cut the chains
with power saws and took them.

One protester - Jaimie Favaro - says she uses his bicycle for commuting.

About 200 riders showed up for Fridays ride, and 37 people were  
arrested.

Critical Mass organizes large rides through Manhattan on the last  
Friday of
every month to protest pollution produced by vehicle traffic. The city  
and
the group are involved in a court battle over whether permits are  
needed for
the rides.

The N-Y-P-D says it confiscated 50 bikes in connection with a law  
violation.
Police say bikes used in violation of the law will be taken regardless  
if
any connection to a protest.



Critical Mass cyclists cry foul

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc- 
crit0328,0,3457446.story?coll=nyc-homepage-breakingheadlines

BY LUIS PEREZ
STAFF WRITER

March 27, 2005

Bicycle advocates, 37 of whom were arrested Friday night during the  
latest
Critical Mass ride, vowed Sunday to fight city efforts to require  
permits
for the monthly bicycle rally.

Summonses were issued Tuesday to four alleged volunteer leaders of the
Critical Mass ride, ordering them to respond to a complaint the city has
filed seeking to require those permits, said Norman Siegel, an attorney  
for
the group.

The city has filed a complaint seeking to require permits for a monthly
bicycle rally through Manhattan that typically brings automobile  
traffic to
a standstill.

The city wants to require permits for use of city streets and of Union
Square, the rally's starting point, and to bar participants from  
publicizing
the ride. Siegel called the complaint and the arrests of 37 bicyclists
during a ride on Friday unconstitutional, and vowed to fight both in  
court.

"We cannot, in a democratic society, allow the police to take the law  
into
their own hands," said Siegel.

Last December, the city filed a lawsuit to require cyclists to obtain  
parade
permits, saying the rides threaten public safety by creating traffic  
chaos.
But a federal judge dismissed the case, saying the issue should be  
resolved
in state court.

The event, held the last Friday of each month in Manhattan, gained  
notoriety
last summer, when police made dozens of arrests at a ride held just  
before
the start of the Republican National Convention.

Since then, there have been about 250 arrests related to the event,
including those on Friday.

As during the convention, police routinely cordon off streets with  
netting
and make arrests during the bike rides. Bicycles are confiscated and  
those
arrested are given desk appearance tickets.

Of all the bicyclists arrested, only one has entered a guilty plea.

Cyclists argue that since no one claims to organize the event, the  
issuance
of permits is unnecessary. They say they do not need a formal  
organization
because they have the same rights to streets as motorists do.

The bike rides are designed to make a statement about cyclists' rights  
and
to protest urban areas' reliance on motor vehicles.

"I would hope that all of this comes to an end by at least the summer of
2005," Siegel said of the court proceedings.
Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.