Letters

Dear T.A.:
I just wrote to Elliot Sander to thank him for bike lanes getting new paint, to encourage him to make the Brooklyn Bridge safer for bikes, and to thank him for the promised lights on the Williamsburg Bridge. I also wrote to Ruben Ramirez in support of greater traffic calming, and to Glynis Berry in support of the Hudson Street bike lane. Thanks for providing the names and addresses of these guys so I can bug the shit out of them to make NYC a more sane city, at least in terms of transportation policy.

Name Witheld
New York, NY

Dear T.A.:
You all do such good work. I'm proud to be a T.A. member I am also an activist but am overextended with other political battles. It's nice to simply be a member, pay my dues, work hard in other arenas and know y'all are doing what you're doing.

Jamie Tessler
Brooklyn. NY

The following letter was sent a T.A. member to Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden.

Dear Borough President Golden:
I am writing to urge you to move forward on the closing of Prospect Park to automobiles traffic. Brooklynites need the park for relaxation, for exercise, for play, for access to other parts of Brooklyn without the threat of speeding cars and their pollution. There is absolutely no need for can in the park, but there is a tremendous need for open space free from automobiles. Please get the DOT to complete its study and get on with closing the park to cars. It would be a real accomplishment for your administration.

Cora Roelofs
Brooklyn, NY

Dear T.A.:
I believe that T.A. should pursue the battle to simply place more speed limit signs throughout the city. The lack of posted speed limit signs is an unprecedented phenomenon in any city let alone the most pedestrian-dense in America. Signs won't eliminate speeding, but the physical presence of signs, though not sacrosanct, will calm traffic, It is a fact that many motorists in this city have no idea what the speed limit is.

I propose that T.A. file a lawsuit against the City on behalf of all pedestrians, cyclists, and law-abiding motorists, over the lack of speed limit signs in New York. Environmental groups, even small Ones, have used the lawsuit tactic with great success, and I think it's high time that bicycle advocates try the same.

Philip Goff
NewYork, NY

Philip:
T.A. is pushing hard for speed limit signs, including sponsoring a contest to find signs below 60th street in Manhattan. Unfortunately, the DOT is inexplicably resisting installing the signs. Why? Money? We're not sure. And there's no law to compel the city to install the signs. We would sue if there was a chance to win-Ed.

Dear T.A.:
I read with dismay a recent article in the New York Post about the Police ticketing a cyclist for running a red light. The cyclist said, "I had my bike in the crosswalk as the light turned from yellow to red. I don't think I ran a red light." Under the law, the cyclist was correct in proceeding through the intersection.
Under the New York City Traffic Rules and Regulations, Section 4-08 [e] [4], there is no stopping in intersections or crosswalks. Sections 4-07 [b] [1] and [2] state that the operator of a bicycle or any other vehicle is not allowed to obstruct lanes of traffic nor enter an intersection or crosswalks unless the vehicle can proceed through the intersection. Thus, once in the crosswalk, the cyclist was obligated to either stop (if she could do so safely and then back up out of the crosswalk) or to proceed safely through the intersection.

Barton L. Slavin
Attorney-At- Law
New York, NY