On a beautiful weekend, Upper West Siders got a glimpse of some scenes we don’t often encounter — hundreds of skateboarders racing down Broadway and a bikeathon on the West Side Highway. Check out some photos below. The skateboarders were participating in the Broadway Bomb, an annual race that the city had gone to court to stop. The skateboarders defied the court order.
Photo on 103rd and Broadway by Allan Margolin.
Photo on 100th and Amsterdam by Allan Margolin.
Tame enough. But why is that monstrous wheelie popping, illegal ATV riding motorcycle gang allowed to storm down Broadway every couple of months? Who *are* those blinged out guys on $9K bikes?! It’s a total rule-of-law issue not unlike how graffiti degrades local safety.
The City is very interested in stopping a skate board parade but not buses and cabs that consistently go through red lights, cyclist that barrel down side walks– on could go on but. the City is worried about skate boards.
Saturday in our fair city saw two parallel events. One, the walk for a cure that will prevent breast cancer. Positive and peaceful. The other, the hoard of skateboarders bombing down Broadway and WEA and Amsterdam to…what end? I saw one pedestrian get hit by a skateboarder on 86th Street and Broadway while his pals hooted their approval. Civil disobedience has its place and merit- as was shown in the South in the 1950’s and ’60’s – but this? It’s – to remember a song – On the Road to Nowhere (thanks Talking Heads).
Sorry, skateboard, cycle, whatever moving vehicle that puts others at risk running amuck on the streets? No. It’s about safety, not civil liberties.
What is the whole point of this anyway? Grown-up kids saying “We can do anything we want whenever. Don’t even try to stop us.” Ugh. Grow up. City streets are not meant for masses of skateboarders.
They’re lucky THEY didn’t get hurt but apparently the same can’t be said for other citizens trying to get around.