https://www.bayridgeconservative.com/...bikers_beware/

Thinking about taking advantage of this glorious summer day and biking across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan? Thinking of taking a stop at the top to enjoy the panoramic view of the most beautiful scenery this city has to offer? What may seem like a great idea to the average Brooklynite may need some dramatic reconsideration—or it may end up costing you 60.00 cold cash.

“I am ****ing pissed off,” said Matthew Lysiak, who bikes into the city about three times a week and is also author of this article. “With gas prices what they are and all I read about is this obesity epidemic you would think that biking into the city would be encouraged, not fined.”

The city of New York, in apparent response to an injury that occurred recently when a biker hit a pedestrian on the Brooklyn Bridge, has turned up the heat on bikers in effort to have each and every biker dismount their bike at the base of the bridge where the accident occurred.

“We are just trying to keep things safe around here,” said one officer who was handing out tickets at the Brooklyn side opening of the bridge path. “The camera picks up your image as you are coming down and we have to sit here waiting to hand out the tickets.”

The officer said the tickets, which have no amount on them, should end up being about 60.00.

Lysiak, who publishes the popular and trend setting monthly Bay Ridge Conservative, said he was biking into the city to meet his wife Bridget at Gobo at 6th Avenue and 7th Street. On his way there as he went over the Brooklyn Bridge he noticed a line of people all pulled off of their bikes at the bottom of the bridge path as officers were writing tickets. “I didn’t think much of it,” Lysiak said. “I thought maybe there was an accident and somebody got hurt or something.”

On the way back Lysiak found out that it was a much different story. “Four cops were standing on the bottom of the bridge. They were waving down every biker..and I mean every biker. The cops informed us that we were being ticketed for not dismounting our bikes at the part of the bridge where the path goes off into two different directions near the base.”

While the markers saying stop can clearly be seen from a walking person’s vantage point, it seems difficult to view while riding on a bike.

Lysiak said the cops even thought it was silly: “Now I have biked down the Brooklyn Bridge over 100 times and I have never seen someone dismount their bike here. Ever”. The cop admitted that the signs were not very clear but that they would be out there at least every other day from this point forward. He also said that cameras were now positioned there in the event that anyone tried to contest the ticket.”

Lysiak said the ticket didn’t have an amount on it but demanded that he appear in court.

For those who use the bicycle as their primary mode of transportation around the city such as Mr. Lysiak it can be quite a trying experience.

Where there are paths marked for bicycles many drivers see this lane as an area for double-parking. In addition to famous tempers of Brooklyn drivers, cyclers must also compete for room on the road with unruly bus drivers.

“And don’t think about biking on the sidewalk,” Lysiak was quick to add. “Because I was ticketed for that one time too.”

With all of these obstacles, some still choose to bike on. As far as paying the ticket goes..Lysiak has other plans. “I am going to burn the ticket and post the photo of the burning ticket on this blog. If they want to arrest me they can put me in jail for not dismounting my bike and if imprisoned I plan on going on a hunger strike.”

“This way the state can aid my death sentence for not following their biking guidelines.”

I wish the city had this much energy to take care of illegal construction plates on the ground and making sure double parked cars are out of the bike lane. Was it 3 cyclist killed last month? What about fixing that problem.

haha that dude is intense!

oh! haha just saw his blog and the burning ticket! funny stuff.

i like how he wrote the article in third person and tried to make his blog seem very influential. almost got me!

also, what kinda conservative rides a bike for transportation and eats at gobo?

this plus a "pipebomb" sticker could make for fun!

We really need to shift his focus from the BB thing to

getting that bike path on the Verrazano (promised, if I'm not mistaken, with the inital proposal for the bridge).

seriously.
**** the police and **** the nyc government. they dont do **** when a cyclist gets killed but they look for every excuse to harass people into not riding or severely changing their habits.
i think we should start taking photos of every single time a car or truck parks in the bike lane and dump them on the steps of city hall, along with the bags of **** that keep turning up on the manhattan bridge.

cause WAY more people would be riding over the verrazano than the brooklyn, if only there were a path!

seriously though, let the tourists have the brooklyn and we'll take the manhattan. regardless, such enforcement is ridiculous.

from his site:

"Matthew Lysiak is Bay Ridge Conservative-- One man trying to pull NYC out of this trainwreck welfare state and into the enlightenment of the free market."

well there ya go chump. you just got free-marketed, to the tune of $60

haha yeah, i wonder how this event fits in with his ideology

Bearpaw, where were you when the damn mini-van followed me this morning after they cut me off and my bag grazed their side mirror

i rode the manhattan last night on my way to pp. saw some bicycle cops and some tuk-tuk cops on the north path, but they weren't bothering nobody. rode back on the south and not a soul

bizzare.

some of those people walking on b bridge should be fined too then. I'm constantly yelling at people to move and it's just a dangerous bridge to go across because you never know when a tourist will decide to walk across for a photo op, right into your path.

I was there yesterday but didn't get pulled off. guess I'm not going into the city today.

man, let me tell you, i was never that hardcore about cycling. i only started riding in the city about 2 years ago [lived here for 12] when i lived in p slope and worked in dumbo. back then i was riding an old peugot mtb that my folks had from the mid 80's. last year, i threw a fixed hub on an old nishiki road bike that was laying in my garage. i didnt even bother to upgrade the chainring [hell, the dual ring is still on there] or cranks. i was never much for form, so long as the damn thing worked. i just enjoyed riding for the sake of riding. i had never even ridden over any bridges until last summer, when i started working around union square. i never considered myself to be a part of the bike culture, i guess, b/c i wasnt really friends with other people who were.
in the last few months my anger towards the city's/nypd's policies has been coming to a slow steady boil. i cant stand the fact that these sob's are spending MY TAX MONEY to pay the cops to harass people, who like me, dont pollute, stay fit, and most of all are just going to work.
seriously, when is this going to end? and more importantly, how?

Eddie, where you hanging out at top of PP around 7:20ish?

Hilarious.... Bearpaw, my girl wants to build up a site where you can send camera phone pics of illegally parked cop cars (and other vehicles) to a website where it'll be uploaded and displayed for everyone to see. This was in response to my ranting about seeing more cops parked in the 2nd ave bike lane all the time. I just gotta figure who's the best person to report this too. I have picture proof too, goddamn car 1269.

um, i rode around then. came up from flatbush ave, did three laps then rode back down union.

Hi guys, This is Matthew Lysiak..I am the guy who wrote the bay ridge conservative post about the tickets they are spilling all over the brooklyn bridge. Just to clarify a few things..I am a free-market advocate--it was asked how getting this ticket fits into my ideology--well...it fits into my ideology to burn that ticket and post it on the web because as a free-market libertarian it is my belief that the laws governing such things are overbearing and oppressive. Being a free-market conservative (or a classical liberal) is a denomination of libertarianism. Someone asked what kind of conservative bikes for transportation and eats at GOBO---well, right here you go. I am also for the legalization of drugs and the elimination of all taxpayer funded programs that do not preserve rights as narrowly defined by the constitution.

I know this isn't a political thread...just needed to get the word out. I love biking and this site looks great...get the word out about the bridge..the cops said they would be out there at least every other day for the near-future.

Next time I'll have to say hi, think I rode right past you.

what were you riding?

Orange track bike...with Brooklyn (Chris) on the Fuji pro.

Well at least you got your answer. How is the ankle?

Cops have taken to parking their personal cars on 6th ave in the bike lane around the corner from the precinct on 30th. Good times.