Police officers in the 24th precinct (above 86th street) have increased the number of tickets they give to bicyclists in the past month, although the additional tickets amount to less than one a day and bicyclist-ticketing is actually down citywide.
Police gave out 38 tickets from mid-April to mid-May, versus 17 a year before, according to the Daily News. The News made sure to note in its headline that that was a 123% gain, although that appears to have more to do with how few tickets were given out last year.
“We are experiencing an increase in bike accidents,” said Capt. James Dennedy, who oversees the precinct’s traffic enforcement.
In a follow-up story quoting bicyclists from other parts of the city who are angry about the increase on the Upper West Side, the News noted that bike tickets are down considerably citywide.
“Bike-related infractions dropped 71% during the first five months of this year, according the NYPD data. Police issued 3,269 summonses, compared to the same time frame in 2013 when 11,442 tickets were counted.”
Some bicyclists want to be allowed to stop briefly at stop lights as if they were stop signs, according to the News.
In addition, some cyclists have reported more enforcement from police in Central Park, according to Streetsblog. Last week, one bicyclist noted an increased police presence near Columbus Circle:
“This morning around 8:30 we rolled up to the light in the park loop nearest Columbus Circle, my normal exit before locking up for work, to find at least three NYPD warning and/or ticketing cyclists to stop at red lights… One of the most obnoxious things about these stings is that the cops don’t recognize when you are already slowing for a light, so you get castigated no matter what you do.”
Streetsblog is critical of this policy, but some bicyclists do have a tendency to tear through lights on the Central Park loop with little regard for pedestrians, even when those pedestrians have the light. And sometimes they hit people, with nasty consequences.
I’m in the park A LOT with my kids and the cyclists rarely stop even if we have the right of way. I hope the police ticket more ppl and maybe things will change!
Last weekend I was about to cross the West Drive with my child in stroller. I looked both ways before crossing as I know 99% of the cyclists in Central Park do not slow down or stop when they have a red (except poor John below – that situation is BS).
So after validating it was safe to cross when the next cyclist went by, I was CHASTISED by said passing cyclist for not following the light. I had self-evaluated the situation and determined it was safe for my family to cross. Causing her and the other cyclists that had gone by no impact in their efforts to vicariously participate in the Tour de France via Central Park’s Inner Drive.
Just using this space to vent in hopes she reads this! Hello pot, my name is kettle.
One day I would like to take my kid for a ride in Central Park on a bike, but I myself am scared of all the pseudo racers flying by. Hope the police ticketing efforts get us to that point in the near future.
I got plowed down by a cyclist going the wrong way on a street and I had the walk sign! I suffered with sore ribs for 3+ months! The police should ticket more!!!
I concur. I had the EXACT same experience except the idiot on the bike missed me by a hair. Sorry you weren’t as lucky.
I was among a group of three stung by bears this Memorial Day heading east on 96th toward CPW. Did we go through a red light? Yes. Did we all stop first at the light? Yes. Were there any cars or people approaching from any direction? No.
I understand people’s frustration, whether on the loop in the park or on streets, when cyclists blast through lights without seeming concern for pedestrians with the right of way. It’s very rude, dangerous, risky, idiotic, etc. But the city has generally (historically) tolerated a common sense approach, so that when people like myself are respectful and conscientious — no one is endangered. The rise in ticketing will do little to deter the average rider or the average culture.
I get that there are a lot of bad apple cyclists who need to curb behavior, and I’m sure some readers will be glad I got my ticket along with two others who passed through a red light, despite our having stopped first and proceeded once determining there was no oncoming traffic of any kind. But I still think we all bend certain rules — for example, crossing mid-block (one form of jaywalking) from time to time when there are no cars in sight or through a red light. This is what separates NY’ers from those in L.A. who are hounded by cops for the slightest infraction of jaywalking laws.
I argue a common sense approach, condone going after flagrant speedsters (especially those behind the wheel, but cyclists too), as well as warning the droves of idiotic pedestrians who cross at major intersections while on their phones, against the light, etc.
But my $270 ticket for biking through a deserted side street. F that noise.
There are bears in Central Park? Isn’t that an even bigger problem than having to stop for a red light when you really, really don’t feel like it? Maybe you should report the bears to the Parks Department? Have you checked with the Zoo?? This could be dangerous — don’t keep it to yourself!
I’m sorry, too, that you had a noise problem on your trip, especially while “biking through a deserted side street”, though you don’t even mention it until your final sentence. Perhaps the source of the noise was the F train to which you allude?
With all of that said, I second Tish’s well-said reply. Maybe the fact that you got a ticket for traveling through a red light will make you think twice next time you confront one — hey, maybe next time you’ll even respect it.
Thanks, Cato and Tish, for meeting my balanced and reasonable stance (remember: I’m against all reckless behavior — on foot, cycle, and auto) with your sanctimonious zeal. I am the first one to yell at reckless cyclists, e.g. ones speeding through red lights without regard for pedestrians and cars who have the right of way. I also frown on bicycles on the sidewalks and salmoning. How about the morons who wear all black at night and have no lights in front or back?
Remember the brief spike in ticketing of jaywalkers around 96th as another tone deaf response to our hideous intersection? How the police billy-clubbed an 80+ year-old Chinese man because he walked away from their sting operation? Do you jump for joy when all infraction-breakers get tickets? You and your lot are a bunch of hypocrites.
I’ll reiterate: in my case, there was nary a soul coming toward me on foot or car. I stopped at the light and checked, as I always do, and looked carefully. I proceeded slowly, endangering no one. I hardly call that reckless.
Josh, thanks for reminding me the ticket is $190 — that’s a bitter pill, but not as painful as $270. I haven’t actually received the financial summons yet.
And no, I will not curb my behavior because it wasn’t remotely dangerous to anyone in the first place. A cop should be able to tell the difference between safe riders such as myself and those who are truly reckless. We will never see eye to eye on this, but I ask you again to think about the times you’ve walked across deserted side streets against the light. For SHAME, you naughty, naughty rule breaker!
Before you try to dismiss my analogy — a fourth reminder: no one was near me when I stopped at the light and slowly crossed the street. I may be in my own private Idaho, but I’m not alone, and we’re not going to mow you down.
John, since you know nothing about how I walk/drive/bike the streets of nyc, your response reads as if you’re simply trying to establish a narrative that gives you a halo for parsing the law to your benefit. Not gonna happen.
First, I do not jaywalk. Nope. Not at all. Too dangerous on our streets because bikers and drivers are chaotic. I’m a coward when it comes to a fast-moving object coming at me so I stay on the curb.
Second, the rest of us — pedestrians, drivers, and other bikers — who share the streets with you aren’t in your head. Is he going to stop? Does he even see me or does he think the street is empty and so it’s okay to ignore the light?
Third, I don’t have a “lot.” But it seems my experience of being either hurt (once) or terrified (often) by reckless bikers is not unique.
Fourth, I was about 8 when I learned that two wrongs don’t make a right. It still doesn’t.
Consider the ticket a teachable moment, or at least be pragmatic because the tickets aren’t going to stop, the cop isn’t going to cut you slack no matter how you gauged the risk, and $190 is for most of us, a pricey lesson.
You are not going to get a financial summons. It took three wks for my ticket to go into the system, then I emailed, and took them another week to fix it.x
If there were cops there, why didn’t you tell them about the bears??
John,
I got a ticket at 96 & Amsterdam going through the red in late March. I turned right onto 96 from Amsterdam, against the light, but having come to a full stop, waiting for the two pedestrians in the crosswalk to finish crossing, then went.
The cop did an illegal U-turn, and then chased down the block after me, bobbing around moving cars. Riddle me this – which is more unsafe, a right on red or the cop’s reaction to catch up with me?
I agree that there are unsafe riders out there. Common sense is what is needed. I am faster to castigate a biker than I am a pedestrian, even though watching pedestrian behavior, I firmly believe that their behavior causes a large number of accidents.
Vision Zero has to be about more than tickets. It is more than just going after drivers of motor vehicles. Or even bikers. All recklace behavior must be curbed, and not just through enforcement. It is a combination of the bike riders, the drivers, and the pedestrians together that contribute to accidents and injuries.
As someone who drives, rides, and walks, I see it from all sides. And from all sides is how we must go about it.
And as for the $270 ticket, it is only $190. They are not supposed to charge the surcharge. DMV always puts the tickets in as car violations instead of bicycle. Email them so they change it. If they charge $270, they are also tacking 3 points on to your license.
You said, “…which is more unsafe, a right on red or the cop’s reaction to catch up with me?”
So let’s see if I understand your logic: the fact that you perceive the police response to your dangerous and illegal action as more dangerous than what you did exonerates you.
Perhaps the NYPD should just take down lawbreakers on bicycles with low-velocity rubber bullets. It’ll certainly stop a bicyclist, but is very unlikely to cause severe injury or property damage if they miss. Sounds like a win-win situation!
What was so dangerous about my action? There were no pedestrians for me to even potentially hit (i had waited for them to pass). There were no cars in the lane to hit me or for me to cause to change their actions. I fail to see the danger you profess. Illegal, that I’ll give you, because the motor vehicle law does say a vehicle cannot make a right-on-red in a city with a population greater than one million. But it is perfectly legal everywhere else in the state. So I guess the issue is, if it is illegal, it MUST be dangerous.
I appreciate that you think you’re being reasonable, but in fact your rationale is an excuse for being caught and ticketed. The rules for operating any vehicle, including a bike, on NYC’s streets apply to everyone. That you deemed that it was safe to proceed through a red light doesn’t make it lawful or prudent.
There is no such thing as a “slight infraction.” It either is one or not. The fact that you got ticketed is a relief because it means that the police know that a “common sense approach” is an whiny excuse for self-interest and dangerous behavior.
I don’t care if you decide to behave dangerously — go ahead, run a red light — if only you get hurt. But I do care if that decision hurts me or others and that, John, is why the rules apply to all. Yes, even to you.
I am SO very glad you got a ticket. And I’d add either ride to the rules or stay out of our neighborhood.
Have you ever jaywalked? (that includes crossing mid block, crossing against the light, and stepping off the curb when there is anything but a walk signal, including the flashing don’t walk/flashing red hand)
I am all for ticketing crazy, indifferent speeding cyclists who don’t give a damn for pedestrians.
They are the main reason I don’t ride bicycles much anymore in the city and often fear for my life, especially when walking in Central and Riverside Parks.
There many guys think they are in closed course professional bicycle races, which I love to watch on TV. Heads down, pedaling as fast as they can without looking ahead in the parks. Police should really take action against those racing types in parks.
On May 28 around 3 p.m., I almost got hit by a speeding woman bicyclist as I was nearing the sidewalk on 73 St. & Columbus Ave. I was crossing on a green Walk light. She sped through a red light.
Fortunately I saw her speeding directly towards me and I was able to take evasive action to avoid getting hit by her. I swore at her loudly as she sped by.
I noticed she didn’t have her hands near the brake levers.
Paris
Agree completely. I bike to work a few times a week down the west side greenway, and these racers are a danger to everyone there. They don’t seem to realize that SLOWING DOWN IS AN OPTION when approaching a cluster of bikers or pedestrians.
I also advocate a commonsense approach to biking. Bikes are not cars and really shouldn’t need to follow the same rules. One is to allow bikers to stop and then progress at a red light, another is to disallow “clipless” (which are really clipped) shoes/pedals, which discourages their riders to stop since they have to unclip/reclip. And the last one, which I try to respect as much as possible when I’m biking: PEDESTRIANS ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. Although it would be nice if they looked up from their cellphones occasionally while crossing the street against the light.
As a very cautious, rule-abiding cyclist, I agree with your points. In a busy city, everyone has to know and obey the traffic laws. They’re there for a reason.
But that said, for every cyclist who blows through the lights in central part, there are pedestrians who cross any old section of the loop in central park with NO thought as to what might be coming at them and whether it might be able to stop in time. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been heading downhill on a curve and some idiot (sometimes with a stroller or dog or kid in tow) is crossing at some random place where there is no light or crosswalk without paying any attention at all. That’s DANGEROUS — it’s hard to stop on a dime when you’re coming downhill or heading around a blind curve and aren’t preparing for an intersection. And let’s not forget the people who cross against the light, regardless of whether the bikes have the green light. A LOT of people, on vehicles and off them, break the rules in central park. I keep a sharp eye out, don’t ride very fast, and pay strict attention to the rules, and I’ve still had some scary near-miss accidents on Harlem Hill — and they would NOT have been my fault.
The parks are shared use roads — we all need to act that way.
Walk down Columbus in the morning and most of the cyclists will happily mow down small children. One day they are going to knock someone over and cause a fatality. TICKET MORE!
Sure bike infractions dropped 71% in the first five months of this year, the weather kept most bikers home! Nobody bikes in the snow. I’m so glad to see police enforcing the rules in Central Park. Most bikers there do not stop for red lights and crossing the street in the park is perilous. Bikers need to know the rules are made for them, too.
The infractions dropped from the same time last year, which was also winter.
i am still afraid of crossing when bikes are coming down the hills in the park, most do not stop.i am in park 6 days a week.
“When bikes are coming down the hills”. Are you crossing at the lights/intersections? The rules apply to pedestrians, too. The intersections are not generally in the middle or immediately at the bottom of hills because it’s actually rather hard to stop when gravity is pulling you down. I coast down Harlem hill without pedalling and my bike is still going damn fast.
I stop for pedestrians at intersections when I have the red light, and I keep an eye out elsewhere. And I’m with you guys that all bikes should do that, and obey the traffic laws. But if you’re crossing randomly anywhere it’s convenient for you, FYI — the bike has the right of way. And you are the one creating the danger if you ignore that.
Working with the Conservancy, I was participating in a tour of CP with many out-of-towners. We crossed with the light, requiring a bunch of cyclists to stop. One of the riders yelled, “Get the f*** out of our park!” What a horrible impression of New Yorkers. We need more courtesy and common sense, the Park is all of “ours.”
Many people ‘order in’ these days. On a number of occasions, I’ve been close to being flattened by deliverery cyclists going the wrong way down the street. Terrifying.
What are the police doing all day. Why cant we see more of them checking out the situation on foot. I’ve seen the odd police car parked three feet from the curb, the cop inside looking down at their lap? Pathetic.
On Tuesday I spotted 3 uniformed NYPD standing in front of a red light in Central Park near Columbus Circle. It was very obvious what they were doing and anyone not stopping at the light deserved to get ticketed for blatantly running through the light. I do get frustrated when I am trying to cross across a road in Central Park and cyclists ignore the light and speed by. It feels like I am in the game Frogger* .
Maybe on weekends during the summer months (peak times) there can be park officers that use the tape technique to force walkers & cyclists to stop at red lights. (they use it sometimes in midtown)
*(80’s video game reference)
And what about the “adult” recreational bicyclists RIDING ON SIDEWALKS!
In NYC it is ILLEGAL for anyone over the age of 13 to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk.
But they do so, and nothing ever seems to stop them. Considering the number of frail senior citizens on the sidewalks of the UWS, this is a serious danger.
How can these arrogant me-first bicyclists be stopped ??
I totally agree that the sidewalk bikers are a menace. Heh, though — on several occasions when biking in the streets, obeying every traffic law to the letter, I’ve had drivers yell “ride on the sidewalk where you belong!” Generally they speed away too fast for me to explain that it’s illegal and dangerous to ride a bike on the sidewalk!
Honestly, I think the “recreational” bikers are fewer and further between than the delivery bikes. Riding on sidewalks is wrong. But I can’t say that I have never done it – for example, on 76th street the delivery trucks to Lenox Hill hospital block the street constantly, with no way for anyone to pass, so at that point, I will go on the sidewalk (just around the trucks), but I propel my bike with my feet at a walking pace and both hands are on the brakes. But anyone actually riding on the sidewalk – that is a major safety issue. But like others have said, common sense makes a big difference.
Yes, I have been cursed out MANY a time when I politely say “sidewalks are for walking – please ride in the street”. Now I only give them dirty looks but it still doesn’t help – please ticket these offenders!!!
There appears to be no rules for separating bikers and pedestrians in parks and this is sure to result in an accident waiting to happen. Defining where bikes should and shouldn’t be should be a function of the Parks Department but as often as I’ve complained about this over the years nothing has been done. The Parks Department and the Department of Transportation (which appears to be as much in bed with the bike lobby as the NRA is with the gun lobby) need to be reigned in and designate exactly where bikes may operate. Between 72nd and 96th Street for instance, bikers regularly ride on the outer sidewalk on Riverside Drive which has always been a pedestrian walk (with lots of kids on it, to boot) — guaranteed one day to result in a serious if not fatal accident.
But nowhere is there a sign indicating this is a pedestrian only “walkway.” If the DOT can draw lines for bike paths on our streets why can’t it draw “no bikes allowed” lines on our sidewalks?
I am always so frustrated by the delivery guys blowing through red lights, going the wrong way down the street, and riding too fast on sidewalks as they near their destination. I’ve never been hit, but have come very close. The rules apply to them too!! Ticket them please!!
Riverside Drive is as bad as Central Park. There are all of these riders who come racing down the street, not stopping for any lights, as people are trying to cross to get into or out of the park. Just because you are resolving your mid-life crisis by dressing like Lance Armstrong doesn’t give you the right to ride your bike like him.
I’ve been dismayed by this too. When cyclists are buzzing pedestrians who are in the crosswalk with the light, it can also be helpful to get the bike color and model (“gray Cervelo”) and the rider’s jersey color, if you can, and call their restaurant if they’re delivering, or shoot an email to New York Cycle Club if they’re in Central Park. These riders ought to be named and shamed. The last time NYC had a pedestrian fatality by a cyclist was five years ago in 2009, and everyone is striving to keep this at zero.
Ever notice how in Riverside Park the bikes are more often in the “ped” lane & just veer onto the “bike” side to to swerve around walkers, dogs, kids? (Especially if they’re heading south, & thus automatically stay to the right?) And the “ped” side is much narrower!
I understand what you are saying about the pedestrian lane in Riverside (north of 104th st) but the issue here is noncompliance on both sides. As a biker, I am often forced into the pedestrian path when I am southbound because the northbound bikes are in the center because most joggers on this path do not use the pedestrian side themselves, but jog in the bike lane.
Same issue in Riverside South near Chelsea Piers where joggers run in the bike lanes instead of the pedestrian lane where they are supposed to. I saw a biker and jogger arguing about it a few weeks ago where the jogger screamed “can’t we just share?” But god help a biker riding on the pedestrian path down there. It is always a two sides thing, and few people are open minded enough to realize that there is no one type of person to blame.
This version of riders usually being “forced” into the pedestrian lane by pedestrians is blatantly untrue. If it were true, the swerving wouldn’t be so annoying; as it is, the biker-as-victims rationalization is what’s annoying here.
If you are referring to my post as biker is victim, you haven’t read the rest of my posts to see that I am in no way that guy. I advocate a holistic approach because those who pigheadedly argue that one or the other is fully to blame are parts of the problem – not saying you. The old saying of it takes two to tango.
In my experience, I am often forced to ride in the pedestrian side – especially going up the hill from 125, because of joggers on the bike side. I counted one time last fall, while riding the path, and found that there were two uptown joggers in the bike path for every uptown jogger in the jogging path. That’s not right. I agree that bikes should stay on the bike side, but for the sake of safety, it goes both ways. Joggers should stay on the pedestrian side. I have seen a lot of tourists on rental bikes in the pedestrian lane who don’t know any better, which is why I said we need better signage. No biker is victim from me. Common sense tends to be victim though, because too many people let their wants and biases skew their common sense. If they had any to begin with. And that’s on both sides.
Also, there is also the problem of the tourists and new riders who don’t know the rules because the path is not marked so well. There should be clear markings as to who goes where at every entrance to the path. This would probably make things easier on all of us.
By the way – it’s never the “serious riders” on the pedestrian side.
It’s not just the bicyclists, but motorists too. My nephew was pulled over and ticketed twice in the same day — one for a “unreasonable loud exhaust” (a bs charge) and one for “improper turn” (also a bs charge)in which he turned on a left green light but the cop saying there’s no left green light. And in case anyone asks why he needs a car, he needs to get to work in the outer boroughs. Also, maybe he got pulled ove and ticketed because he looks latino. William Bratton’s version of stop-and-frisk, and De Blasio’s way of increasing revenue, since he’s now alienated Bloomberg’s godsend billionaires.
Major citifies in Europe all require adherence, and govern as such, same rules for cars. The speeds these bikes go when you hit someone can easily cause irreparable bodily harm.
Bikers who disregard the law and ride like maniacs anywhere they want to–on city streets, sidewalks and in central park — has been one of my biggest pet peeves. After nearly getting hit by a guy plowing through a loop in Central Park I walked over to a police car (idling right there) and asked why this is allowed. They blew me off. And this was not an isolated incident. I have been dodging bikers– recreational and delivery guys–for years. And what about the electric bikes. It’s my understanding that the city council approved a law last year banning them from city streets. (Hmmm, I saw two last week on W. 70th Street and West End Ave.) Yet the NYPD looks the other way.
It is my understanding that these electric bikes are against state law, with or without the city council banning them.
Just this afternoon, three bikers went through the red light at 73rd and amsterdam, weaving their way through a crowd of pedestrians who had the light. It was obnoxious and dangerous to pedestrians. i am glad they are ticketing bicyclists more.
To all those who think that bicycles are terrifying check out this report of 100 people killed by automobiles this year.
https://project.wnyc.org/traffic-deaths/
I didn’t see anyone killed by a bicycle.
I, for one think the number of accidents and tickets and maybe the over ticketing of bicyclists ison the rise because of the Citibikes. You have many more people riding bikes now because of the program and you also have people who aren’t accustom to the streets, pedestrians and traffic of the city. I’m talking about tourists and people who are accustom to driving rather than riding on city streets.
Last weekend, a car pulled up beside me in what looked like an old 1990 Chevy and said they were police as I was cruising around 18 mph on my Trek Madone road cycle. They said that I rolled through a light on an east side hill inside Central Park around 7:30 PM and they could ticket me if they wanted to. At first, I thought they were kidding. After my jaw dropped, I asked if they were kidding. They said no you are supposed to stop for red lights in the park. I asked them why they weren’t in the exact location the night before when a skateboarder going the wrong way slashed across the street taking out the bike in front of me and then me. They said “that wasn’t there concern.’ Cyclist (99.9%) are more safety conscious than anyone because people are constantly crossing wherever they like on the mobile or worse with headphones on. Central Park is one of the great places to train whether on foot or cycle. What is the world coming to when plain clothes detectives are harassing safety conscious citizens because they aren’t stopping for a red light on “Harlem Hill.”