Critical Mass Panic

Okay, so I am finally posting. I was having trouble expressing myself on in 140-or-less on my Twitter account (@critmasspanic). Also my pathetic plea to my facebook "friends" to accompany an "invite" for "F*ck Ur Cliques & Ur Scenes - Lets ride!" (Critical Mass, obviously) just was not coming together right. Lastly, I promised myself I would at least drop a mass e-mail to let folks know the cool shit going down. Or potentially going down, with a little participation in creating the world we want to see, from you, dear readers. So without further ado, a brief rant, and some suggested events you might attend. The NYPD have been in the hot seat a lot lately, especially following last week's city council hearing on the utter failure to hold anyone accountable for traffic "accidents." I tried (but mostly failed) to speak eloquently on the record about the utter waste of resources, the (further) corruption of police culture, and the failure o...

You often hear disparaging remarks about Critical Mass, and indeed, NYC CM is pretty dead these days. Between the 5+ years of police repression of the ride on the last Friday of the month, the current NYPD "crackdown", and the icy, slushy, filthy, freezy streets, its no wonder you get more bodies showing up for a WNBR meeting than cyclists for a CM! But Critical Mass is not dead! If you have been paying any attention this week, you have witnessed its power. Egyptians of all walks of life have gathered together for days and days in public space, self-organized as equals to get a message out and build empowered community. Admittedly, it is not "Down with Cars!", but rather "Down with Mubarak!" Able to hold the space through the sheer power of their numbers alone, participants of this critical mass have begun to pay dearly with life, limb and liberty. I hope you all will join me in standing, sitting, walking, talking, and riding in solidarity with the people...

Friday, January 28th 7pm Union Square North Bikes or not here we come. Cyclists, pedestrians and others demanding safer streets and freedom in public spaces will gather with love, creativity, resolve and solidarity. We will beat back the hate and ignorance behind the backlash, beat back the automobile and corporate interests, we will speak to the NYPD with our words and with our actions. We will show how safe we can ride, and how the streets will be in the future! We will reveal "Operation Safe Cycle" for what it is: a farce. Don't let fear keep you from having community. Don't let fear silence the vote of your presence. I challenge to NYPD to ride bikes. Why are they afraid? I challenge City Council Members, Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes, and Borough Presidents to show up to Union Square North this Friday at 7pm. I challenge those who fear, those who believe the lies, those who have slandered us, those who are tools of the corporate media to be there, to see the tr...

Now it is personal. In October, I posted about some of the efforts made by the James Caldwell, the 77th NYPD Precinct and the cycling community here in Brooklyn in the wake of Jasmine Herron's death. I have not put too much info out here as these various efforts take shape, as it is not really within the scope or tone of this joke of a blog. However, at the moment circumstances have occurred which illustrate the nature of the battle pedestrians and cyclists are fighting here on the streets of New York City. So I am touching on this politically sensitive matter. Last night, a close personal friend of mine was hit by a reckless, speeding cab while on his bicycle. His account, with [my edits and clarifications] in brackets... So... Due to circumstances, I rode out in the middle of the night, ... left around 1 AM, making my way [on] Bedford heading south. I heard/saw a car heading east on St. Marks Ave, so I stopped in the [crosswalk] and waited. A taxi rounded the corner really sharp...

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! (RANT WARNING) Bicycles are taking over! They are getting in the way of cars! Cyclists are scaring pedestrians! It is a United Nations conspiracy! A blight on our beautiful and efficient roadways! They are killing themselves! A small sampling of fear-mongering and slander against Critical Mass can be found at these links. http://thevillager.com/villager_392/talkingpoint2.html http://www.thevillager.com/villager_387/anticritical.html http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_16390626?source=most_emailed&nclick_check=1 http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_16487931 It probably just an effect of the election season. The bike-hate has been flying in the media the last few months, both on the local and national levels. It seems pretty clear that the Tea Party and the GOP have sought to use bicycles as another spectre of terror that threatens us somehow, to divide the people from each other and distract us from what really matters. And what really matters? Well, havin...

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.

Perhaps it is an addictive personality that drives a bicyclist to ride on days with terrible weather. Meteorological chaos disrupts the overly-oiled machine of that is New York City's motor infrastructure. The snow on the streets at the massive quantities seen recently changes the whole game of riding. A sinking feeling as the swiftly falling flurries become the sediment upon which your wheel rests and spins when you give the pedal the usual push, yet traction is evasive in the front as well you soon discover through the reduced visibility in the street that now leaves both wheels flopping about like so many fish-tales, swimming through the new medium. Everyone who is not in a car has a smile as the small challenges presented to bi-pedal mobility are off-set by the beauty and the playful feelings surrounding all the potential snowballs in a softer world.