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Video: Extremist Anti-Bike Share Columnist Doubles Down On Crazy Rhetoric
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 8, 2013
Modified Jun 9, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 8, 2013
Modified Jun 9, 2013
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Last week, an out-of-touch reactionary conservative claiming to "represent the majority of citizens" preached about how Citi Bike has destroyed everything good and beautiful about NYC in an inflammatory piece titled, "Death By Bicycle"—a piece in which Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Dorothy Rabinowitz came across as smug, paranoid, and a little bit insane. We along with lots of other sites were disturbed by her extremism, while The Daily Show thought her alarmism was hilarious. This week, she doubled down on her rhetoric in the follow-up video below—because what, she was actually going to take some of the criticisms against her into consideration? Ha ha.
Rabinowitz dismisses every potential criticism that is given to her: the fact that there were hundreds of community meetings about the subject before the city went ahead with the program ("Whom are they asking, who are they talking to?"), any positive polls ("It's really quite laughable"), the argument that biking is healthier for NYers ("I doubt it"), and any mention of obstructed bike lanes ("This is a question that can only be answered by the therapist we hope this biker is consulting for a question like that").
She claims that the New Yorkers who were polled and who attended those community meetings aren't actually important—the only people you should be talking to are policemen, because "they know the torrent of complaints and helpless screams." But policemen, like city council people and community leaders, have their hands tied by the "all-powerful bike lobby." Or as she hilariously puts it, they are all "terrorized by this thing that really exists." Whenever you have to say that something "really exists," it doesn't inspire much confidence that the thing really exists. Unless you're talking about the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, which really do exist in theory, really, we swear.
Her contempt for bike share again seems to extend to a much large contempt for a number of disparate targets: Bloomberg, environmentalists, do-gooders, the kinds of people who attend community meetings, health enthusiasts, etc. Her misdirected, vitriolic hatred toward cyclists is set in stone, and no amount of raised middle fingers is going to change her mind:
You would know if you walked in the streets of the city and occasionally asked a bike rider, who was careening down the sidewalk in all of his splendid self-affirming environmental helpist mood, to please not ride on the sidewalk. The answer is invariably an upraised third finger...and I thought that the blogosphere response beautifully captured the general sense of, 'We dont owe you anything. We are the virtuous of the world.'
At least she's learned her lesson that trolling can bring in the pageviews—she made sure to get her hair and makeup done this time, because you always want to look your best when you're playing the role of Lady Hunger Games.
Tagged
bike share
bikes
butthurt
citi bike
cycling
dorothy rabinowitz
extremists
rich old ladies
so butthurt
the all-powerful bike lobby
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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