Ticket? But I hardly even know it!
FYI, I got another ticket at Critical Mass last night. There is an important difference this time, however, as last month I commited an actual violation (making a left turn at a signed "no left turn" intersection), whereas this month they nabbed me for the made up violation "Failure to keep right". Last month's ticket was turning left from Park Ave onto 34th Street; this month it was heading west on 17th Street right near Union Square Park, at the very beginning of the ride.
This is roughly how it went down:
Some Guy: RED LIGHT!!! (Meaning everybody should slow down and stop so nobody gets ticketed for running a red light.)
Daniel stops at the crosswalk, like a good, law abiding citizen.
Officer Cancilla, NYPD: You - get off the bike and step aside.
Daniel does as told.
Officer: Identification, please.
Daniel: (handing ID to officer) OK, but would you mind telling me what I've done wrong?
Officer: You're not in the bike lane.
Daniel: (looking back and pointing) There's no bike lane on this street.
Officer: Exactly; you're not allowed to be on this street.
Daniel: That's ridiculous.
Officer: Well, I don't make up the rules.
Police Captain: (To all the scooter cops writing tickets) OK, everybody; this is "Failure to keep right" 4-12(p)(3). That's 4-12, P as in "Paul", 3. This is the 13th Precinct. 4-12, P as in "Paul", 3.
Officer writes "412 B3" on ticket and hands it to Daniel.
Officer: Here you go.
Daniel: Alright, but FYI this is not a violation. New York City law says that bicyclists don't have to keep right. (I later found out that the very law I was supposedly violating, 34 RCNY 4-12(p)(3), says that cyclists can ride on either side of the road, which is exactly the right I was exercising by riding on the left side.)
Officer: Hey, nothing personal; if you want to take it to court, you can take it to court. I'm not the judge, and I don't make up the rules.
Daniel: Nothing personal against you either; just letting you know that I did not violate any law, and that you're writing a fake ticket.
Officer: OK, have a good night.
Daniel: Good night to you too; just don't give me another one.
I headed down 5th Ave and found a couple of other scattered riders. We rode around the West Village a little bit, and amusingly had a squad car tailing the five of us around every crazy turn that we had to make in that crazy neighborhood for about ten minutes. We found a pretty large group over on 2nd Ave at 10th Street and stuck with them until the cops broke up the ride again at around 1st Ave and the upper 30s. (We were heading towards Grand Central Station, where there were allegedly some free vegan donuts, which I unfortunately missed out on.) I stuck with a small group that had splintered off from the latest split-up, with Jacob and Jesse Singer, but when it became apparent that they were heading back to Brooklyn, I turned around and headed home.
Today: my first real down time in a while, and a brief attempt at housekeeping. I had been toying with the idea of coming up to Boston to work on the Columbia, but need to spend some time with bingsding tomorrow before she goes back, ironically, to Boston.
This is roughly how it went down:
Some Guy: RED LIGHT!!! (Meaning everybody should slow down and stop so nobody gets ticketed for running a red light.)
Daniel stops at the crosswalk, like a good, law abiding citizen.
Officer Cancilla, NYPD: You - get off the bike and step aside.
Daniel does as told.
Officer: Identification, please.
Daniel: (handing ID to officer) OK, but would you mind telling me what I've done wrong?
Officer: You're not in the bike lane.
Daniel: (looking back and pointing) There's no bike lane on this street.
Officer: Exactly; you're not allowed to be on this street.
Daniel: That's ridiculous.
Officer: Well, I don't make up the rules.
Police Captain: (To all the scooter cops writing tickets) OK, everybody; this is "Failure to keep right" 4-12(p)(3). That's 4-12, P as in "Paul", 3. This is the 13th Precinct. 4-12, P as in "Paul", 3.
Officer writes "412 B3" on ticket and hands it to Daniel.
Officer: Here you go.
Daniel: Alright, but FYI this is not a violation. New York City law says that bicyclists don't have to keep right. (I later found out that the very law I was supposedly violating, 34 RCNY 4-12(p)(3), says that cyclists can ride on either side of the road, which is exactly the right I was exercising by riding on the left side.)
Officer: Hey, nothing personal; if you want to take it to court, you can take it to court. I'm not the judge, and I don't make up the rules.
Daniel: Nothing personal against you either; just letting you know that I did not violate any law, and that you're writing a fake ticket.
Officer: OK, have a good night.
Daniel: Good night to you too; just don't give me another one.
I headed down 5th Ave and found a couple of other scattered riders. We rode around the West Village a little bit, and amusingly had a squad car tailing the five of us around every crazy turn that we had to make in that crazy neighborhood for about ten minutes. We found a pretty large group over on 2nd Ave at 10th Street and stuck with them until the cops broke up the ride again at around 1st Ave and the upper 30s. (We were heading towards Grand Central Station, where there were allegedly some free vegan donuts, which I unfortunately missed out on.) I stuck with a small group that had splintered off from the latest split-up, with Jacob and Jesse Singer, but when it became apparent that they were heading back to Brooklyn, I turned around and headed home.
Today: my first real down time in a while, and a brief attempt at housekeeping. I had been toying with the idea of coming up to Boston to work on the Columbia, but need to spend some time with bingsding tomorrow before she goes back, ironically, to Boston.