Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Critical Mass

Police using their bicycles as weapons against protesters in Union Square last year. File photo

Opinion: The Fraught History of Cops and Bikes

By Eric Schewe | Jul 19, 2020 | No Comments

It's a fine idea to get NYPD officers out of their SUV cruisers, onto bikes and into the community — but recent events show that our militarized police have used bikes as an instrument of oppression.

Three bikes awaiting their owners next to Borough Hall, after police cleared out Cadman Plaza. Photo: Ben Feibleman

‘It’s Not Your Bike Anymore’: Police Swipe Bikes at Black Lives Matter March

By Julianne Cuba and Dave Colon | Jun 4, 2020 | No Comments

Cops aggressively swiped protestors’ and reporters’ bikes during a peaceful protest Wednesday night in Brooklyn — which is illegal.

NYPD Sends Law-Abiding Vietnam Vet Cyclist to the Tombs

By Noah Kazis | Apr 4, 2012 | 18 Comments

What is it about riding a bike that makes someone such a tempting target for police harassment? The scene last Friday night, as reported in Gothamist, was the perfect magnet for NYPD misconduct: a Critical Mass ride headed to Union Square to participate in an Occupy Wall Street action. The department’s public safety priorities were […]

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Critical Mass Is Alive and Well at Guadalajara’s Paseo de Todos

By Clarence Eckerson Jr. | Nov 29, 2011 | No Comments

Walking and bicycling in Guadalajara, Mexico can be dangerous in many parts of the city, but there’s a movement afoot among many citizens to change that. GDL en Bici is a group of local advocates who have been organizing regular bike rides for years, and nothing is more impressive than their ride on the first […]

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Crazed Driver Plows Through Critical Mass in Brazil

By Damien Newton | Feb 28, 2011 | No Comments

(There’s a graphic video of the actual attack available here.) A lot of critics of group bicycle rides, especially Critical Mass, like to claim that they’d like nothing more than to drive through it in their SUVs. Apparently one maniac in Brazil decided to give that a try. At last Friday’s Porto Alegre Critical Mass, […]

Records From Critical Mass Court Case Spell Out NYPD Overkill

By Ben Fried | Oct 20, 2010 | 2 Comments

David Goodman at the Times’ City Room blog has an excellent piece up this afternoon about the resources NYPD spent to police Critical Mass bike rides in the two-year wake of the 2004 Republican National Convention. A federal lawsuit stemming from those police actions reached its conclusion this week, with the city paying out nearly […]

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