From the Streetsblog tipwire:

The past two mornings there have been NYPD officers parked on the Queensborough Bridge bike/pedestrian path. They’ve been stopping
cyclists in an effort to slow them down with the construction on the
bridge. However there’s been no active construction when I’ve ridden
through.

Safety is certainly a concern but having an officer
bark at cyclists isn’t going to be effective. Barriers which would
force cyclists to swerve and slow down would be more effective without
inflaming cyclist/police antagonism.

While this doesn’t match the level of the harassment reports we saw early this spring, it does raise some interesting points. Giving NYPD the benefit of the doubt: Assume there’s a real need to slow cyclist traffic and warn riders of potential danger. Is the police presence necessary or would signage and diverters suffice? Can stationing officers be done in a way that doesn’t exacerbate tensions between police and cyclists?

If anyone else has encountered officers on the Queensborough lately, please share.

Photo: tommylane/Flickr