Northeast - Po Po in Pro Park

I just feel like having a rant so here goes.

Last night I was pleasantly cycling round Prospect Park for a few laps, minding my own business at about 6.55pm. At this time I was in the right hand car lane (pretty unoccupied but still, before 7pm so still open to traffic) when from behind me booms "Get out of the car lane. Move left, use the bike lane, that's what it's there for". I look round to see a cop car flashing at me and moved over as instructed.

I don't have any particular objection to this, I was technically in the wrong, but, not 300 yards further down the road was a massive group of runners taking up not just the pedestrian lane, not just the bike lane, but the cross hatching and into the car lane as well. I had to swerve round them. Did they get instructed to move out of my lane, like hell, of course not!!

Hence my conclusion is that it is much safer, especially at dusk and turning to night, to ride in the car lanes with some nice rear lights flashing away than to risk causing mayhem and injury by crashing right into angry packs of runners whilst cruising down the hill at near 30mph.

Rant over, I feel better.

You should've been there the previous winter when they went on a ticketing blitz for anyone as much as facing the wrong way. Bear in mind, this would only happen when it was ~30 degrees out with NO ONE ELSE in the park, save for barely a runner or two.

I always see that pack of runners. They're in some training program. I think the group meets up by the GAP entrance. I normally see them stretching by the grass there.

This reinforces my opinion that NYC Cops are complete and utter ********, everyone of them.

Well, maybe not the horse cops at the Junction in Brooklyn, but that's a rare exception

And whatever happened to the bike patrol ?. I used to see them in the neighborhood where I work (Brooklyn College), but even a few years back it was the typical numbnuts with helmets securely fastened to the handlebar. Recently (the past 2-3 years) they've been non-existent. I wonder what happened to the bikes ?.

SB

cyclists have the same rules and rights as cars, which is why we are issued the same tickets as vehicles, so in short you have full legal right to (1) one whole vehicle lane and are not required to ride in any bike lane. but if you are instructed by a cop to do something , do it, or risk arrest. if they issue you a bogus ticket take it and fight it, as a messenger i have gotten dozens, more than 40, tickets and have only ever had to pay 2, and i was at technically at fault for both of those. (unlocking from a street sign and pushing off the curb literally 12 inches of sidewalk, and the other a cab pushed me up on the side walk to get a fair cop saw the whole thing and still gave me a ticket and said nothing at all to the cabbie, great now i am aggravated. but any-who know the laws know your rights.