Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
Well, you yourself made a big deal in your original post about police ticketing bike riders who ran a red light. Can you explain for me how that's legal in New York? That's the part that I don't understand.
My point was that the police very rarely issue tickets to cyclists in NYC for any traffic infraction (running reds, riding wrong direction on street, etc.) and almost never issue tickets for not having a helmet or a bell. UNLESS you are a cyclist that is riding in CM - in which case, they will ticket you for trivial infractions like riding without a bell, or as in my case, ticket you for something that was an impossibility, or otherwise not a traffic infraction.
Whether they should/should not ticket cyclists on a regular basis is a separate issue, but the fact that enforcement of the law happens on a very selective basis - i.e., no enforcement unless you are riding in CM (and then there is even enforcement of imaginary laws) - makes it very clear that this is a crackdown not on cyclists, but on a political protest.
Looking back at my first post, I see that I could have been more clear. Hopefully this paints a clearer picture?
I know that in most of the country, the police either ignore CM, or sometimes even help by blocking off streets to vehicular traffic while the cyclists are passing through. As slvoid pointed out, this was the case for NYC CM up until the RNC in 2004. Since then, it seems the mayor's office has declared war on CM.