Anyway let's stay on topic.

I for one think that the bill would discourage people from casually cycling.

Aside from the construction of the greenway, NYC IMO has done very little to encourage cycling or make it more safe for people.

As I was saying earlier, the City even moved planters IN TO a bike lane in the heart of midtown! Thusly you are forced out of the bike lane and in to traffic. Lovely.

Many people are too initimidated by traffic to ride in the city in the first place and adding one more hurdle to the scenario would likely make a lot of people say "Forget it".

As for crime, how can anyone possible compare vehicular crimes or death to anything involving a bike? When was the last time there was a bike drive by in NYC? Or anywhere? If someone was drunk riding their bike, A) They might just do fine B) They might just fall over. It's not likely they would plow through an intersection, jump a curb and kill a family.

At best in your scenario, the city would be flooded with phone calls from people complaining about over enthusiastic bike messengers.

Cyclists have a bad enough rep because of the media's portrayals of recent events at Critical Mass rides without calling in Johnny Law.

As far as being "paranoid", the reason why it's being discussed is largely because a a group called Transportation Alternatives sent out an email about it alerting people who would and should be concerned about it. It's perfectly within reason for someone to be concerned about a bill that could be passed in to law affecting their lifestyle.