I have so had it with the NYPD. Seriously. This city is safer than any other big city in the country, and for that we owe the NYPD a great amount of gratitude, but I am absolutely tired of them shitting on people’s rights. Apparently, somewhere down the line, cyclists and photographers have become their number one targets; something that bothers me immensely considering I’m both.

What a joke. We gathered in Union Square, smaller this time than the ride in March. Kind of weird for a warmer spring day. Where is everyone? There was a double wide tall bike made at Cooper Union’s design program…come on, I mean if you can ride that thing at Manhattan Critical Mass, we all should be able to come out and ride. About 150 of broke out and rode down Broadway. The cops began their usual pursuit with scooters and right away began pulling people over who ran red lights with two scooters per ticket. So the ride began to stop at every red light, thus breaking down the ride into little small groups. It seemed as if you didn’t have scooters on you, the ride could just proceed forward. The ride broke up into two major groups, one was snaking around Astor Place and the other, about 100 was cruising up 6th and then 8th Ave. Our timid group of 30-50 riders wound up at Washington Square Park and then we made a break for 6th Ave, while the other group was cutting East around the 40’s…we were on our own. Weird stuff happened on 6th Ave. A lone cop car pulled over a rider and was trying to put their bike in his trunk. Cops on foot gave a summons to a rider for not being over to the right enough? Huh? One brave fixie made a sprint through a red light and was chased by 2 scooter cops as we stopped at the light and cheered. He made a turn onto oncoming traffic at 13th St. and appeared to get away, we cheered. Then we got up there and made a closer look, he had been caught. He got stopped by plowing into a Mercedes and cracking the windshield. He only got a summons. Sure it was a thrill to see someone make a break for it, but what’s the point? I later found out. At 10th Ave and 23rd Street a mob of scooter cops cut off the ride and jumped off their scooters…the light was Green. They began yelling things like, you’d better have ID. One pig tried to grab me and I turned around and got away. I never should have got so close to them, it was sloppy. But why were we being stopped…the light was Green and we were obeying traffic laws? Oh I get it now…it doesn’t matter what you do…or what a State or Federal judge says…the NYPD doesn’t give a fuck. There orders are to harass the ride, give as many tickets as possible and make people scared

State judges have already granted the authority for people to join the Critical Mass rides in New York City without a “parade” permit. Every NYPD lawsuit otherwise has been thrown out. Why is the damned NYPD still harassing the ride? Once the riders stopped running lights, they had no right to pursue the riders the way they did. It seems like they show up at rides just to stir stuff up, then arrest people when they freak out.

I’ve really had it and I wish just once someone would put the stupid power-abusing NYPD in its place.

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