I ride on the sidewalks every once in awhile in Manhattan. My view is if the street is full of traffic and dangerous and the sidewalk is empty and safe I am not going to risk my life for a stupid rule.

I never got a ticket and the only time I ever got grief was from a lady who was hold the leash to a giant dog talking a big crap on the sidewalk. The fire department and paramedics had closed the entire street so the only place to go was the side walk. I sidewalk was basically empty and I was going as slow as humanly possible on a bike.

This lady starts yelling at me about riding my bike on the sidewalk and how it posed a "danger to the public". I explain to her the street was blocked, I was going slow a foot traffic and her deficating giant dog probably posed more of a "danger to the public" than my bike.