BiKLYN RiSiNG!
Please Forward!
Dear New York City Bicycling Community
There is a growing movement for safer streets taking shape in Brooklyn, involving new legislation, motorist education and a call for cycling community input by NYPD. The death of cylcist Jasmine Herron on September 11th profoundly affected those involved on the scene that night, including 77th NYPD precinct Community Council President James Caldwell. Caldwell has mobilized elected officials from Brooklyn, including Council Member Letitia James, State Senator Eric Adams, and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, with the 77th Precinct to the cause for safer streets for cyclists and pedestrians. This started several weeks ago with a prayer vigil for Jasmine, and has continued through community meetings. These politicians have all spoken eloquently, recognizing that bicycles are a viable and growing form of transportation in NYC, and that the culture of our streets desperately needs an overhaul, starting with motorists.
I would personally add that the apparent indifference, perhaps even hostility, of the NYPD towards cyclists' rights and traffic laws safeguarding bicycle infrastructure is the major obstacle in realizing safer streets for all of NYC. We as a community can not pass up this opportunity. Here is how this movement has been shaping up in recent weeks and, will in the weeks to come:
- Senator Adams is introducing legislation for more motorist education, to increase awareness of cyclists and other street users into the NY State Driver's Education program. The full text is available here: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/api/1.0/html/bill/S8487. The Senator has indicated that the community will have an opportunity to give input on what this actual education component is.
- Senator Adams and other elected officials have called on the community to organize a memorial bike ride for Jasmine which will bring attention to the legislation and the need for more respectful streets. There have been several meetings regarding this ride. On Saturday, 10/30, cyclists will gather at 11:30am at Washington and Atlantic. The ride departs at noon, lasting for ~1 hour, ending at Grand Army Plaza. Cyclist community groups including Time's Up, the Street Memorial Project, and the Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn Committee have come together to promote and support this ride. We need to broaden this coalition even further, so please spread the word. A meeting/conference call to discuss the ride is planned for this Friday at 1pm.
Please contact Senator Adams, senatorericadams@aol.com, or his Special Assistant Shanna Trotman, shannatrotman@yahoo.com, to make known your support and suggestions regarding this bill and/or the ride.
- Council Member Letitia James has accepted input from the community in composing a letter from the Brooklyn delegation to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, regarding the ongoing harassment of Critical Mass participants. This letter should be completed and sent in the near future. Cyclists appealing to the 78th precinct at it's last community council meeting appear to have succeeded in reducing the NYPD presence at last week's Brooklyn's Critical Mass, with no incidents.
- The 77th NYPD precinct under the leadership of Captain Elvio Cappoci has requested community input to form a Committee for Bicycle Safety, which will create an innovative pilot program at the precinct. This program could become the model approach to protect cyclists' rights and infrastructure for the entire NYPD. There will be a meeting of cyclists and community affairs officers on Friday, 10/15 at 10am at 127 Utica Ave, Brooklyn, to start this effort. Contact community affairs at (718) 735-0634.
What are the rights of cyclists we want legislators, law-enforcement, and motorists to understand and respect (perhaps something like this http://bikewriterscollective.com/index.html)? How can we make the Jasmine Herron Memorial Ride great for participants and all who see it? How can we reach out to other road-users to generate more respect for each other's humanity? How do we want future drivers to be educated regarding cyclists? How should the 77th Precinct best utilize its fleet of 12 bicycles? Who else can we get involved? We need to publicize the ride, the legislation, and the opportunity we have to build a solution with law-enforcement.
Please spread the word about upcoming events on blogs, listserves, facebook, etc., and participate as you can, even if only appealing to your own representatives or Police Precinct. Our lives may depend on it!
Contact me for more info or to discuss how you can help.
Ride Safe!
Mellow Yellow
Dear New York City Bicycling Community
There is a growing movement for safer streets taking shape in Brooklyn, involving new legislation, motorist education and a call for cycling community input by NYPD. The death of cylcist Jasmine Herron on September 11th profoundly affected those involved on the scene that night, including 77th NYPD precinct Community Council President James Caldwell. Caldwell has mobilized elected officials from Brooklyn, including Council Member Letitia James, State Senator Eric Adams, and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, with the 77th Precinct to the cause for safer streets for cyclists and pedestrians. This started several weeks ago with a prayer vigil for Jasmine, and has continued through community meetings. These politicians have all spoken eloquently, recognizing that bicycles are a viable and growing form of transportation in NYC, and that the culture of our streets desperately needs an overhaul, starting with motorists.
I would personally add that the apparent indifference, perhaps even hostility, of the NYPD towards cyclists' rights and traffic laws safeguarding bicycle infrastructure is the major obstacle in realizing safer streets for all of NYC. We as a community can not pass up this opportunity. Here is how this movement has been shaping up in recent weeks and, will in the weeks to come:
- Senator Adams is introducing legislation for more motorist education, to increase awareness of cyclists and other street users into the NY State Driver's Education program. The full text is available here: http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/api/1.0/html/bill/S8487. The Senator has indicated that the community will have an opportunity to give input on what this actual education component is.
- Senator Adams and other elected officials have called on the community to organize a memorial bike ride for Jasmine which will bring attention to the legislation and the need for more respectful streets. There have been several meetings regarding this ride. On Saturday, 10/30, cyclists will gather at 11:30am at Washington and Atlantic. The ride departs at noon, lasting for ~1 hour, ending at Grand Army Plaza. Cyclist community groups including Time's Up, the Street Memorial Project, and the Transportation Alternatives Brooklyn Committee have come together to promote and support this ride. We need to broaden this coalition even further, so please spread the word. A meeting/conference call to discuss the ride is planned for this Friday at 1pm.
Please contact Senator Adams, senatorericadams@aol.com, or his Special Assistant Shanna Trotman, shannatrotman@yahoo.com, to make known your support and suggestions regarding this bill and/or the ride.
- Council Member Letitia James has accepted input from the community in composing a letter from the Brooklyn delegation to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, regarding the ongoing harassment of Critical Mass participants. This letter should be completed and sent in the near future. Cyclists appealing to the 78th precinct at it's last community council meeting appear to have succeeded in reducing the NYPD presence at last week's Brooklyn's Critical Mass, with no incidents.
- The 77th NYPD precinct under the leadership of Captain Elvio Cappoci has requested community input to form a Committee for Bicycle Safety, which will create an innovative pilot program at the precinct. This program could become the model approach to protect cyclists' rights and infrastructure for the entire NYPD. There will be a meeting of cyclists and community affairs officers on Friday, 10/15 at 10am at 127 Utica Ave, Brooklyn, to start this effort. Contact community affairs at (718) 735-0634.
What are the rights of cyclists we want legislators, law-enforcement, and motorists to understand and respect (perhaps something like this http://bikewriterscollective.com/index.html)? How can we make the Jasmine Herron Memorial Ride great for participants and all who see it? How can we reach out to other road-users to generate more respect for each other's humanity? How do we want future drivers to be educated regarding cyclists? How should the 77th Precinct best utilize its fleet of 12 bicycles? Who else can we get involved? We need to publicize the ride, the legislation, and the opportunity we have to build a solution with law-enforcement.
Please spread the word about upcoming events on blogs, listserves, facebook, etc., and participate as you can, even if only appealing to your own representatives or Police Precinct. Our lives may depend on it!
Contact me for more info or to discuss how you can help.
Ride Safe!
Mellow Yellow
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