Commuting - So what's going on in NYC ?

I am going to ASSume that police in NY don't swell with pride giving bicyclists tickets for not having reflectors, etc.

I would think word has come from above to crack down on violations. I would guess that a large group of people, or a few really powerful(?) ones are annoyed by cyclists in some fashion and are "pushing back"

What could be causing this? Messengers? Critical Mass? accidents ? All of the above? I'm hoping my assumptions are not too far fetched.

Sorry if this has been covered before, I'm just curious.

I'm pretty quick on blaming the bozos who decided to turn CM into a political protest during the RNC last year...

I'm pretty quick on blaming the bozos who decided to turn CM into a political protest during the RNC last year...

Ummm, I think that would do it...

Uhh... Since when is CM not a political protest? At any rate, that seems to be the beginning of the trouble.

Didn't some official (Bloomberg or a high ranking cop) give the excuse recently that this is in response to all the bikers killed recently, and that it's for our own protection?

My take -- the city got beat up in court pretty bad over the way they treated cm participants. One of the key facts was that the way they treated the protesters was very much out of the ordinary. They realized that by making that treatment ordinary they would have free hand against protesters in the future.

I'm pretty quick on blaming the bozos who decided to turn CM into a political protest during the RNC last year...

far be it from me, etc, but aren't yer cops a bit slow off the mark in that case?

far be it from me, etc, but aren't yer cops a bit slow off the mark in that case?
If what they were up to was law enforcement, yes. Sadly, what they're ACTUALLY engaged in is punishment, and punishment can go on a long time.

I understood from other postings on the forums that the fine for no reflectors, lights, bells, etc. was eliminated if there was proof the situation was remedied. This to me sound like the right thing to do, get the compliance issue fixed vs. punishment with fines.
Al

I asked the guys at a shop which shall remain nameless (to protect the, umm, innocent?) and they laughed in the face of it all. Their advice, instead of having me give them money for a bell was to ride as fast as possible down a one-way street the wrong way to lose the law. Heh.