does anyone else remember a post by someone who got out of a ticket for riding on the sidewalk (on flatbush ave. near grand army plaza) because the law said something about that regulation being enforced by the DEP (not the NYPD) or something like that?

maybe I read it in a different forum - i've been searching on and off all afternoon for this but can't find anything.

a friend got a similar ticket from the NYPD (he was riding on the sidewalk - but real slow - and no one was even on the block) and I was hoping to help him save a few bucks.

anyone else have any experience getting out of bike tickets in NYC (which seems to be the NYPD's favorite new hobby)?

man I got one on graham ave in Bushwick a couple weeks ago. Riding super slow next to my girlfriend while she was walking. I have to go to court. So please give us some info on how to beat this.

I've tried searching for every possible combination of ticket, nyc, sidewalk, flatbush, brooklyn, grand army plaza, DEP, judge ect. that I can think of - and can't find the thread -
maybe i dreamt it. which would be sad.

Man I got a ticket last year for not having a bell. I came off the Queensborough Bridge and the cops actually had a checkpoint set up at the end so there was nowhere to go. I had to go buy a bell and send in the receipt. I'm not sure how to get out of a riding on the sidewalk ticket since the police officer will act as the witness in the case. Hopefully he beats it.

find out when the ticketing officer is on vacation and schedule your court date for then.

one of my friends was ticketed in bushwick last year. there was a shooting on his block and the officer actually told him to get out of the street. he rolled up on the sidewalk (right in front of his house) and stopped a few feet later where another officer wrote him a ticket. $40 fine, i think.

pretty disappointing behavior by the nypd, ticketing cyclists at the scene of a shooting.

you can usually beat those bell tickets by bringing a receipt for a bell to court.

Don't you guys know that NYC sidewalks are only for bums and dog****?

i remember reading it as well so you're not crazy
Do you read dailyheights.com
maybe it was on there?

i recently got a ticket for "not keeping to the left or right" around times sq., mailed it in today.
chances are, if you go to your court date, the ticketing officer will not show up, because they give out these tickets to fill quotas. chances are, he gave 5 more of similar crap summonses that night and isnt actually planning to go to court for all of them. if he doesnt show up, you automatically win.

good. we probably just saw it in the view new posts from one of the other forums - commuters or general or something.
it seems like really useful information - I think she (I don't know why I assume it was a she) even included the numbers of the statute (or law or whatever it's properly called).

a few years ago i pulled up on the sidewalk to avoid being crushed by a bus pulling into a bus stop. cops told me to just explain it to the judge and he'd probably let me off. i explained that yes, i was on the sidewalk, but these were the circumstances, the cops said this and that, etc....
and i had to pay a $100 fine.

the guy next to me was riding in my neighborhood under the bqe and a cop car was blocking the exit, so he went up on the sidewalk to get around him. he got a ticket, they told him to explain to the judge, etc. he did, and he got off with no fine.

so i have no real advice here except see if you get lucky. also, it's not cool to ride on the sidewalk.

be prepared for a long line of people in front of you in court caught with open containers. it's kind of funny becuase they say what brand of booze you were drinking.

Why do you guys stop for cops? I learned not to do that when I was 12...

During this alleycat two of my friends were flagged down by a cop. One biked away while the other stopped. The cop chased after the guy who ran and caught him. He ended up spending a few hours in a holding cell. The guy who stopped got away.

Your friend must've been a pretty crappy cyclist to get caught by a donut eating cop.

12 years of skateboarding taught me if you EVER make a cop run-you better get away.cause theyre gonna pissed when they catch you.

man, that's rough. in general riding on secondwalks is a pete peeve of mine, second only to riding the wrong way, but i definitely ride slowly beside michele sometimes coming home from an evening out if she doesn't have her bike.

hey! nice to see you here!

what exactly does not keeping to the left or right entail, taking a lane?

hey!
This was during critical mass, so the cops were just grabbing people, and pulling random offences out of their asses, because I was actually on the far left of the lane.
Are you going to the bike film fest this week?

Part of the Critical Mass/TimesUp lawsuit revealed that there's no such law/regulation as keeping to one side or another of the street. Bikes are vehicles in this regard, and about the only special reg is being allowed to ride two abreast just like motorcycles. The city is appealing the outcome (i.e. they lost) so I don't know where that ruling might stand in terms of citing it in Court.

NYC law clearly states that sidewalk riding can be legally done by children up to the age of 14 using a bike with a maximum of 26" wheel diameter. No, I have no idea where they got this stuff from, it's just what's written there, so I think you sidewalk warriors are screwed. I sometimes coast up the curb cut, but always with at least one foot unclipped, so I'm obviously 'not riding'. I've never been accosted by the Heat, so I don't know if that will work.

You mean like this? https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/153630-ran-law-twice-avoided-2-tickets-new-york.html

The OP is probably in regards to Eastern Parkway at Grand Army Plaza. It is actually illegal to ride on Eastern Parkway, so you have to ride on the side walk, my roommate saw a cop yell at a rider to ride on the sidewalk there.

i got a ticket while drinkin in a VW convertible which was parked, that wasnt mine ....

My past two tickets both dismissed: one blocking traffic, another one’s redlight. Both incidents I didn’t show drivers license but my green card. That might be helped getting the attention on my case at the court. Besides you will get 2nd, 3rd offence from the license record. imo best to avoid carrying drivers license. Credit card with your picture on plus your utility bill showing address should be good enough.

man, ask for an "affadavit in leiu of appearance"... in other words, you're "out of town" and can't make the court date. you'll have to spend $30 to get a notary public to legitimize your paperwork, but i swear it will get you out of any bike related ticket. too much trouble for the man...