Ever wonder how the NYPD treats cyclists on Bizarro world? Instead of locking horns with Critical Mass, or writing ridiculous tickets, or ignoring drivers who turn bike lanes into double-parking lots, or parking in bike lanes themselves, perhaps they'd take a less adversarial approach to pedaling commuters who brave this car-clogged city. Well, as a contrast to last year's infamous cop vs. bike bodyslam video, here's a look at the kind of treatment cyclists get from the police in the Bizarro world that is Denmark: free helmets and hugs. Awww.
To be sure, many NYPD officers are a paradigm of professionalism, courtesy and respect toward cyclists, and the department periodically sets up stations in parks to register bicycles with an identification number. Also, "hugging it out" probably isn't such an effective tactic when it comes to policing NYC, and we're not sure we'd be so comfortable with that, either. For the record, last year the city distributed 1,000 free helmets to cyclists, and more freebies are expected this year when Bike Month NYC kicks off in May.
And this just in: Tomorrow morning the Netherlands will give NYC 200 bright orange Dutch-manufactured Batavus bikes as a gift to celebrate "400 years of friendship" between Amsterdam and old New Amsterdam. (That's one wheel for every unforgettable year.) According to the press release, "The arrival of the bikes occurs on the Dutch national Queens Day holiday, which will be celebrated with a Queen’s Day Biking Tour starting at 9:30 a.m. at Hudson River Park’s Pier 84 at 42nd Street. More than 100 of the bikes will participate in the tour, ridden by cyclists clad in bright-orange t-shirts, who will take off up the Hudson towards Grants Monument where they will stop to enjoy a picnic and listen to the Dutch Queen’s Day Carillon Concert at the Riverside Church attended by Lou Reed." Guess David Byrne was unavailable?
After the concert, the riders will make their way to the Museum of the City of New York to visit the exhibition Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson. The ride is open to the public, but we're told they only have a limited amount of the free bikes and all will be used. Later, the bikes will be available for a variety of specific events and programming throughout the summer, to be detailed at a press conference tomorrow morning.
