Bicycle advocates have gone to court to stop New York Waterway's plan to run amphibious sightseeing vehicles - called "ducks" - between Times Square and the Hudson River.

The advocacy group, Transportation Alternatives, claims that pedestrians and bicyclists on the West Side bike path will be endangered by having to stop to let the proposed bus-boats cross. The ducks would run as many as 18 times an hour from Times Square to 38th Street and then - kerplunk! - off the end of Pier 78.

A spokesman for New York Waterway dismissed the complaint as so much quackery.

Given the heavy traffic crossing the bike path already, "the impact of a few ducks is negligible," said spokesman Pat Smith.