July 3rd, 2019: A Ticket Is Only Worth The Paper It's Printed On

***The Bike Forecast will be off for the Independence Day weekend.  See you back here on Monday, July 8th!***

Mostly hot today, with just a chance of rain:

Wednesday Weather

Wednesday A 20 percent chance of showers before noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable in the morning.

Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. Light east wind.

Sunrise 5:30am

Sunset 8:31pm

As of now, July 4th looks like more sun, but we could get thunderstorms by the weekend:

Weekend Weather

And the Brooklyn Brewery Weekend Beer Forecast calls for...

Brooklyn Brewery Logo

...Brooklyn Summer Ale!

Summer Ale

Fourth of July weekend is a summer landmark, so we’re recommending Summer Ale for all your festivities. Don’t forget to stock up on grilling supplies and sunscreen while you’re at it, and be sure you have enough of everything—especially beer—to share.

Keep in mind of course that if you're making a last-minute trans-East River beer run tomorrow night you can expect full bridge closures:

And for next week, note that you may have to dismount if you're riding over the Queensboro Bridge after 10pm:

Also, 5th Avenue is finally getting some paint:

Meanwhile, another day brings yet another vigil for a lost New York City cyclist, this time for Devra Freelander:

On Monday, mourners gathered in honor of Ernest Askew:

In a neighborhood in transit crisis that needs an "emergency-like response:"

State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who represents Brownsville, called Askew's death "a grave tragedy that compounds the built-in racism and classism that is our transportation system as it exists right now."

"In Brownsville we have subway stations that don’t have elevators, we have buses that are still using diesel fuel. We do not have the public transportation options that we deserve and when we encourage people to utilize bicycles and alternative forms of transportation, they are taking their life into their own hands every time they get on that seat," Myrie said.

"We are facing an emergency, and it needs an emergency-like response. You cannot drive a 2,000 pound piece of metal with impunity in this city," he added.

On Monday Mayor de Blasio pledged just such a response, and yesterday we learned that it will involve the NYPD doing what it does best: crackdowns!

According to a memo released by the department on Tuesday, NYPD personnel have been ordered to pay special attention to parking and moving violations between now and July 21st. Those offenses include speeding, red light violations, failure to yield, distracted driving, and illegal parking.

Additionally, auxiliary officers will be dispatched to provide New Yorkers with "safer bicycle, vehicle and pedestrian tips to reduce injuries and fatalities." After 20-year-old Robyn Hightman was killed by a hit-and-run truck driver last week, Officer Carlos Negron offered the following tip: "Maybe if she had been on the bike lane, maybe she'd still be alive."

How this initiative differes from the innumerable crackdowns before it remains to be seen, though it does have a catchy name:

Even so, it's fairly safe to say that a crackdown with a build-in end date will, in and of itself, not be transformative:

Certainly credit is due to the NYPD precincts who are already with the program:

Nevertheless, so far it's business as usual for United Transit Mix:

Who are clearly doing their part to solve what they see as the problem of "too many bikes on the road:"

“Too many bikes, too many bikes on the road,” said Mastronardi.

Mastronardi said it was the company’s first fatal crash in 45 years. But locals said the company’s trucks regularly speed through the neighborhood.

“These trucks think it’s a f-----g race track. They speed here all the time,” said Matt La Rosa, 25, who works nearby. “I rode my bike right over where she was killed this morning. I’m selling my bike.”

Yes, the problem with New York City is definitely that there are too many bikes on the road, and not enough cement trucks.

Finally, in happier news, the new Shirley Chisholm State Park in East New York will feature a "Bike Library:"

Under the initial $20 million phase, the park was set up with ten miles of biking and hiking trails; a bayside pier for picnicking and fishing along the park’s Pennsylvania Avenue side; and water access. Environmental educators and partnerships with groups such as Audubon New York will offer programs for children who visit the park.

In addition, Bike New York, a nonprofit that promotes bicycling and bicycle safety, will create the Shirley Chisholm State Park Bike Library, offering free loaner bikes to ride the crushed stone trails of the park.

Crushed stone trails?!?  Those better be gravel bikes!