Anonymous Coward writes: The June critical mass bike ride in NYC was a huge success.
It started with the cops being more hostile then usual. One sgt. was threatening to arrest people every chance he got, but thanks to the level heads of the Times Up! folks talking to the cops, an ugly clash was avoided.
The ride then lost the cops by taking the newly opened Manhattan Bridge bike path.
As the scooter cops started to follow the ride onto the path, one of the times up! folks reminded the cops that there were a couple of flights of stairs along the way. This stopped the cops from continuing along with the ride (note: there are no stairs on the new path!)
Drunk on our own sense of power, after the ride arrived in Brooklyn with no cops in sight, we headed towards the brooklyn bridge.
As the ride got to the bridge, the lone traffic cop on duty smiled and waved us onto the roadway of the bridge and held traffic back untill all of the 200 riders had taken over the roadway.
There was an excitement in the air. Folks on the pedestrian/bike path waved, raised their fists and cheared. And the riders pondered what the police presence would be like on the Manhattan side.
Much to our amazement, there was not a cop in sight as the ride exited the bridge.
Next month, anyone attending the ride should be prepared for a very hostile police presence as a result of what we got away with this month.
