Brock fought the law and the..Brock won!

Bike ticket #2 has been successfully dismissed.  At a February 18th appearance at the MTA Transit Adjudication Bureau hearing in Brooklyn, my January 19th ticket for riding my bike on the Atlantic Ave 4/5 subway platform was ruled invalid because the officer had omitted the time of the offense on the ticket when originally written, then added it later, making my ticket not an exact copy of what was on file.

The hearing consisted of a 1-on-1 in a small room with an MTA judicial official who discovered the error upon reading the case background information into the tape recorder. She promptly stated the ticked was dismissed and then ended the recording without me saying a word. Afterwards, when asked if I had questions, I brought up the arguments I was planning to use, such as that the code of conduct section 1050.6a was the wrong offense, and also that the ticket said I was riding my bike on the train when it was actually the platform. The judge indicated those were also valid arguments, but the bottom line is you should probably fight any ticket you ever get because you never know.

Current Score
Brock: 2
Cops who like to give bike tickets to Brock: 0

Here are the MTA subway rules.

Here is some interesting insight on the TAB hearings.

Another interesting aspect of the experience was seeing a Rasta-like character in the waiting room who had coincidentally picked a relevant ticket number...

Who you callin' a parade?

Thanks to Mavro for passing this article along.

Click here for article

I hope Judge Kaplan realizes he just put himself in the category of people that blatently misunderstand the society of people who use the city streets. Forcing a group of 50 or more cyclists to file for a parade permit is ludicrous however you look at it. As long as nobody is obstructing traffic, this ruling is obscene. How about we direct our police force to real crimes like theft and assault. Even littering deserves more attention than this. Am I wrong?

Dog Parking?

It's risky enough that people leave their dogs tied up to poles while they run into the store. It's even riskier to tie it to my bike.

Do people really assume that I'm perfectly content untying the stupid thing and retying it back up? Who do they think I am? Why not just tie it to the pole? What is the thought process here? Is their any?

And what are those sorry excuses for legs. This dog belongs on http://www.fupenguin.com/...

Caution Note

I had just heard another moving lecture by the wonderful Majora Carter at a Macaulay event at the CUNY grad center on 5th Ave between 34th and 35th (thanks to SAS for hookin it up). As I was walking out, I saw something bothersome on my bike. At first I thought I got a ticket of some sort, or at least an angry note. But when I got closer and pulled off the yellow slip of paper, I realized it was an informative letter of caution. I found it a bit peculiar, but entertaining at least. I like the part where they encourage people to ride ugly bikes...

My Second Bike Ticket

I guess #2 was bound to happen. My second bike ticket was issue to me by a police officer who disagreed with my assessment that it was OK to ride my bike on a small portion of the Altantic Ave 4/5 subway platform. I honestly didn't ride more than 100 feet, but apparently that warrants a $100 fine. Well, we'll see on February 18th when I plead my case in a U.S. court of law using the amazingly effective, Peter Griffin-inspired, "C'mooon! C'mooooooooon!!"

To see the outcome of the ticket, click here.

Bedford Ave Discussion

On Monday night, a discussion was held at Pete's Candy Store in Greenpoint to address the ongoing debate of the Bedford Ave bike lane, or lack thereof. Moderated by James Hook, who hosts a biweekly discussion at the venue, the panel was comprised of local Jewish bike store owner and promoter Baruch Herzfeld, Hassidic Jew and city council candidate Isaac Abraham, Transportation Alternatives bike advocate Caroline Samponaro, local bike advocate Lyla Durden, and loudmouth bike messenger/ringleader Heather Loop.

The overall message was that everybody agrees the debate really isn't a cultural issue as it is often described, but rather a safety issue (according to Abraham) or a crooked power brokered move (according to Baruch) the later with which I agree most. The debate continued as to the biggest of the current and real dangers on the street and whether or not the lane should be reinstalled. Although the risks to both bikers and pedestrians were cited to be substantial, a single resolution couldn't be met by all. Abraham seemed to be arguing alone that removal of the lane was the right decision, because adding it in the first place was a mistake. All others agreed that the bike lane was not only a necessary component of a viable bicycle transportation network, but something that promotes a positive practice in so many facets. In facing strong opposition, Abraham stated at one point, "I'm supposed to go to the people and say it's your way or the hi way?" to which Hook cleverly responded "Their way IS the hi way..."

My logic is that if you truly want to discourage cyclists, the only option is to not allow them at all. Removing a bike lane but acknowledging that bikers are still on the road is hypocritical. Furthermore, allowing them should require a lane on any street they use. That leaves two options: bikes or no bikes; lane or no lane; no middle ground. The middle ground is obviously more dangerous than having a lane, as proved by statistics stated by Caroline. Since bikes should always be allowed then they should be protected with a lane, and this is the obvious better choice compared to prohibiting them altogether. Furthermore, a protected lane is even better than a marked one.

One day the right people will either wake up or be pressured to revert Bedford Ave to its obvious safer condition. In the meantime the danger will continue to loom.

Byrne @ CNU

CNU (Congress for the New Urbanism) is an organization that, among many other positive endeavors, is a strong advocate for bicycling as a form of transportation. So is famed musician David Byrne, who will be present at this year's congress in Atlanta on May 19th.