April 29th, 2019: Saddle Up and Be Counted

Take advantage of the weather today...

Monday Increasing clouds, with a high near 60. North wind 8 to 13 mph becoming south in the afternoon.

Monday Night Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. East wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Sunrise: 5:58am

Sunset: 7:50pm

...because there's not much sun in the forecast going forward:

The Manhattan Bridge bike counter has been repaired, so you matter again:

And the DOT wants to make sure you're familiar with the law:

They should do another one for stuff that's legal but that the NYPD will ticket you for anyway.

But yes, always, always, always yield to pedestrians, because this should never, ever happen:

This is a shame, and of course CBS New York could barely contain their glee:

CBS2’s cameras captured numerous cyclists going through the red light, one after another.

The NYPD tried to play catch-up on Thursday, cracking down on the out-of-control bikers going through lights, and also going the wrong way in traffic.

You've got to wonder what it would take for CBS New York to notice all the drivers in the crosswalks.  There's absolutely no question the cyclist should have stopped, but the reason this sort of thing happens in the first place is that everyone who's not in a car in Midtown is in survival mode...though the victim's employer thinks the problem is that bicycles don't have license plates:

“All of us who live or work in New York City do so at our peril because of bike riders speeding through intersections and often going against traffic on one-way streets. Bicycles should have a license plate to create accountability for the riders. We pray that Donna will fully recover from this tragedy.”--Ward Landrigan, CEO Verduna

Why do people think cyclists aren't accountable because their bikes don't have license plates?  If you break the law on your bike you get in trouble, it's not complicated.  By his logic pedestrians should also wear license plates so they're accountable if they rob a bank.  Anyway, as a food delivery cyclist the rider was already required to wear a visible ID number--and yet Midtown's still a mess, go figure.

Meanwhile, one year ago, a hit-and-run driver killed Lito Vasquez in the Bronx.  The NYPD have not yet found the driver, but they did recently arrest five people who showed up at a 1-year anniversary vigil:

All of us who live or work in New York City do so at our peril because of cars and trucks.  Motor vehicles really should have license plates to create accountability for the drivers.

As it is, even when a driver hits a cyclist, they just say the cyclist hit the driver instead:

A Citi Bike rider suffered severe leg injuries when he collided with a truck on 11th Ave. near Hudson Yards on Saturday night, police said.

The 74-year-old man was riding south on 11th Ave. near 30th St. about 6:37 p.m. when he collided with the eight-wheel cab of a UPS semitruck, said cops.

As terrible as that Midtown collision was, at least nobody tried to say that the pedestrian collided with the bike.

Finally, Astoria's just got a little bit safer from bike thieves:

Just stopped a bike theft in progress in Astoria. Cops took him in right away. If you got your bike back let me know from r/NYCbike

Always good to see the NYPD pointed in the right direction.