Police have ramped up their presence around the city for the tenth anniversary of 9/11, especially in light of the "specific, credible but unconfirmed threat" of a car bombing. But one tipster tells us that not all cops are focused on that terror threat. Jfluck says he was ticketed in Williamsburg last night for bike riding through a red light when there was no one around: "Cops said they had nabbed 5 people in the last hour doing the same thing. ALL THE WHILE THERE IS A TERROR ALERT going on in NYC...word to all the terrorist bicyclists in Williamsburg, watch out because NYC is coming for you." Read his full account below:
So apparently there's a huge crackdown on bike riding in Williamsburg. I got a ticket for riding through a red light at Kingsland and Meeker at 7pm last night when there were NO CARS around. Cops said they had nabbed 5 people in the last hour doing the same thing. ALL THE WHILE THERE IS A TERROR ALERT going on in NYC. It's fucking ridiculous and there's zero chance I'm paying the ticket--which they had no idea how much it was for by the way. Just so I was 100% clear, I asked what the rules were and apparently bike riding is the exact same as cars, but if I get to a red light and no one is there I can WALK my bike through the intersection, which would be the saddest, stupidest thing I have ever done in my entire life.
He reasons that a verbal warning would have been fair, but considering the enormity of this weekend, and the fact that the terror threat specified a car bomb, this felt like overkill to him: "Not sure what the threat mentioned, but it seems irrelevant, given the fact that I'm cruising around on a BIKE in an empty Brooklyn neighborhood." Police have given out a record-breaking number of summonses for bicyclists this year; just last month, a cyclist was up in arms about receiving $1,500 in fines for running red lights in different parts of Manhattan. If you've been stopped as part of this alleged crackdown, let us know at [email protected].
