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Cops Ticketing for <em>Walking</em> Bike on Sidewalk?
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 14, 2010
Modified Dec 14, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 14, 2010
Modified Dec 14, 2010
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Adults who ride their bikes on the sidewalk are a menace, and children on two wheels can be hazardous, too. In NYC, cyclists above the age of 12 are required by law to dismount their bikes and walk, not ride. For well over a year, the NYPD has been stepping up enforcement, even issuing summonses to annoying unicycle riders. But now it seems some cops want to rid the sidewalk of bikes completely, regardless of whether any butts are on the seats.
An unidentified woman walking her bike east along Houston Street claims she was pulled over by a cop car and issued a summons while obeying the law. "Near Ludlow Street, a police car pulled over," reports EV Grieve. "The officers demanded to see her ID. She handed over her license, and was made to wait for nearly 30 minutes while the officers sat inside the car. (A detail worth noting — both officers were smoking cigars...)" The bike walker says, "They issued me a court summons for riding my bike on the sidewalk, which I wasn't doing. [I never] put my feet to the pedals. The officers completely refused to offer any explanation whatsoever." But obviously this story seems a little fishy, because who ever heard of police officers being so uncommunicative?
Tagged
bicycle
bike
nypd
sidewalk
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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