Critical Mass Panic

My previous, minimally-completed post reproduced an e-mail sent to a Brooklyn cyclist regarding the 78th Precinct's approach to "Operation Safe Cycle". I posted it here on this blog in the effort to comply with the request made by the Community Affairs Police Officer. Last night at the Community Board 6 meeting on the Prospect Park West Bike Lane's incredible success at making a safer street, the Community Affairs Officers of the 78th Precinct, Mitch and Jerry, approached me. They expressed frustration that I had posted their phone number online as they were now experiencing a backlog of phone messages on their shared answering machine, regarding bicycle complaints. In fact, Jerry explicit threatened me. In hopes of ensuring justice is met in the case of my untimely death, the below e-mails, reproduced in full w/o the offending contact information, tell the story: Wed, January 5, 2011 8:37:49 AM Bicycle Safety Enforcement From: "KIRSHY, MITCHELL" To: XXXX@X...

I've been struggling lately to keep up with a weekly posting to this blog. I am still feeling this blog out, and just as my patience in waiting for the subway or politicians to change my life is short, so too is my attention span. And time keeps moving forward! Damn! The mass is about diversity, spontaneity, and creativity. There are so many individuals and groups making plans for exciting rides every day. We just need to have a central and objective place to connect these rides. The only thing that prevents the normalization of mass bicycle traffic is the that we do not do it enough. Twitter may be a good tool for this, but there are many others. A diversity of tactics to connect and maintain that which is most important: community.