Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Civil Rights

Time’s Almost Up on New Parade Regs

By Sarah Goodyear | Jan 29, 2007 | 3 Comments

After months of debate, the NYPD’s new parade regulations aimed at pedestrian and bicycle demonstrations which critics say were designed specifically to target Critical Mass rides were quietly filed on Jan. 26, and the 30-day clock has started ticking on their implementation. The new rules require a parade permit for any "procession or race which […]

Ding Dong Bruce Smolka’s Gone

By Aaron Naparstek | Jan 24, 2007 | 13 Comments

Newsday is reporting that NYPD Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka has filed for retirement. Smolka is reknowned for his needlessly aggressive tactics in breaking up peaceful political demonstrations, his disregard of basic civil rights and his all-too-frequent abusiveness towards women. In one infamous video he was caught kicking a female demonstrator in the head at a […]

For or Against NYPD’s Public Assembly Restrictions?

By Aaron Naparstek | Jan 18, 2007 | 19 Comments

OnNYTurf maps out New York City Councilmembers who are for or against the NYPD’s proposed rules to limit public assembly. Blues are against the NYPD restrictions; red is for.

In Defense of Ghost Bikes

By Charles Komanoff | Jan 9, 2007 | 23 Comments

Aaron’s piece questioning the memorialization of bike fatalities reminds us that cycle advocacy is rife with paradoxes. Drawing attention to cycling deaths and injuries can be powerful politically and symbolically but may also scare off would-be riders. Moreover, cycling is safer for all when there are more cyclists. We’ve all wrestled with these contradictions and […]

NYPD Parking Abuse Scandal Widens

By Aaron Naparstek | Sep 7, 2006 | 67 Comments

Chinatown businessman Jan Lee was cuffed and detained for photographing police officers’ illegally parked cars in front of his shop. Despite threatening late night calls to his home phone from a Brooklyn police officer (who forgot to block his phone number from appearing on caller ID), CBS Channel 2’s Brendan Keefe continues his series of […]

Fighting the NYPD’s “Parade” Rules

By Glenn McAnanama | Aug 15, 2006 | No Comments

Starting August 24, the NYPD’s new "Parade" rules will take effect unless the Mayor or City Council take action to stop them. What would these new rules mean to everyday people? Any group of two (yes, 2) or more cyclists or pedestrians traveling down a public street, who violate any traffic law, rule or regulation […]