This comes courtesy Carol of the NYCC:

Under the New York City Police Department’s proposed parade permit rules:

• Any group of two (yes, 2) or more cyclists or pedestrians traveling down a public street, who violate any traffic law, rule, or regulation can be arrested for parading without a permit;

• Every group of 20 or more cyclists must obtain a permit from the NYPD;

• Every group of 35 of more pedestrians must obtain a permit from the NYPD. This rule also introduces a new requirement for on-foot protests and processions that will adversely impact innumerable organizations.

Groups and activities to be affected
• Historical, cultural, environmental & neighborhood walks/tours
• Sightseeing tours
• Informal and organized group bike rides
• Training runs
• School field trips
• Walks to the park
• Spontaneous outbursts
• Family picnics
• Unions and political groups
• Funerals
• You name it, sweetheart. This is your Bill of Rights on drugs.

These rules:
• Will put all bike rides under the discretion of the NYPD
• Could be used to stop anyone in New York City from walking and biking
• Will give the New York City Police Department carte blanche to arrest any two or more persons that they want
• Will subject jaywalker, if accompanied by another person, to possible arrest
• Will be enforced at the discretion of the police.

Here’s what you can do:
1) Contact Mayor Bloomberg and City Council members to voice your opposition;
2) Tell everyone you know;
3) Write letters to the editor;
4) Attend a People's Forum Thurs., August 17, 7 pm, St. Marks Church, 10th St/ 2nd Ave.;
5) Testify at the public hearing Aug. 23 or
6) Send a letter to be included in the transcript;
7) Attend a rally/press conference/demonstration to be held simultaneously with the NYPD hearing Aug. 23.


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The NYPD DOES have authority to change administrative rules, according to the legal experts at FreeWheels. And the law will go into effect August 24. The hearing on the 23rd is a formality; they NYPD isn't obliged to act on anything anyone says. But we need to get our voices into the public record.

So as of Aug. 24, the cops can selectively enforce the rule as they wish. Is there any doubt that the brass will use it to silence individuals or groups they don't like?

Once enacted, it will be incumbent on citizens (once someone gets arrested) to challenge the rule through the courts. Though the NYPD has been very unsuccessful in its legal fight against cyclists so far, there's no telling where this could go.

Even if civil rights win out in the long run, there go another few years and hundreds of thousands of dollars that could instead be going to build community organizations and bike infrastructure.

Our only hope at this point is to contact all of our elected representatives--even though the Council is not now in session (great timing, eh?). If the City Council and the Mayor all came out against the rule, there's a chance the NYPD would drop it. Otherwise, get ready for trouble.

wow, it's great to see the bill of rights get trampled like that. it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

"Every group of 35 or more pedestrians must obtain a permit from the NYPD."

It's amusing to read this and picture the fact that nearly every sidewalk on every block of manhattan is packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people every day.

The only way you can even tell people are in a group is when they're all wearing the same color shirt and looking a little lost.

Wow, looks like foreign tourist agencies are really going to have at sh*tfit w/ this one....imagine a group lf 40 Japanese tourists getting trampled to the floor and shackled for walking in a "pack".....I can see this law becoming a personal favorite....

just remember, participating in critical mass supports international terrorism.

this really doesnt effect anyone but cyclists so if anyone is actually thinking something
differant it is all just a formality.

cyclists and protesters.

Do NYers have the right to citizen's arrest?

do nycers have rights anymore?

nycers have right of way

Amendment I:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

When will you people learn...The police ARE the law.

The optimist in me says that this bill will never pass.

The pessimist in me says that when it does I'd get the hell out of NYC

important thing to remember is that this is a proposal. it wont go through as stands. no judge will allow the first clause, as it's clearly a crock. there'll be strong opposition to the second two as well, not just from interest group, but on gp.

despite what some may claim this isn't a police state, in fact the contrary. nyc's judiciary has always had a liberal, libertarian bent.

my money says the nypd gets their ass handed to them

Yeah I agree with this here... i mean i dont know what the hell NYPD was thinking when they wrote this but even Clarence Thomas would strike this down

It will be important to show up at the public hearing August 23rd, the more people the clearer the message will be.

Of the things I miss about New York, the NYPD is most definitely not one of them.

Anyone consider finding a lawyer for a class action suit against the city?
Without organizing together, it seems like you all will continue to be
bullied by the gang in blue.

As I understand it, this does not have to be any sort of ratification for this pass, except by the NYPD signing some papers. It will eventually get thrown out, but for this to happen, a big ****ing stink has to be made or numerous law suits which will eventually lead to the law being reversed, or at very least highly modified. Since this is the NYPD's code change, it doesn't bow to the same pressures that laws from the city go through. No elected officials involved in passing the law = they do what they please.

While I agree that eventually the NYPD will get their ass handed to them, its gonna be an ugly 6-9 months before it happens.

********* Indeed!

Damn! NYPD is on the rag eh? They need some more irony in their diet, some large protests Aug 24 & after would do the trick, should this silliness get the go-ahead

exactly. it's not a law. it's a refinement of NYPD "rules." the public hearing is basically more just a way for them to revel in the frustration they're causing.

the problem with the rule ammendment is that it has an impact on things with more weight than "rules." ultimately, it'll be redacted, but they'll take full advantage of it while they can. as soon as a judge has to sit thru 20 parading without a permit hearings after the next critical mass, you can be relatively certain that frustration with the NYPD's juvenile, vindictive frivolity will prompt an official response.

your city ****ing sucks

Can you say... RECALL ELECTION??? It's worked in wisconsin.

i was talking with a cop on saturday afternoon, in a bike shop of all places, and his words on this subject were 'cops dont get to make the laws'. he also likened the whole cause of this to the 'one bad apple' example, stating that this type of thing wouldnt be necessary if the yahoos out there wouldnt hurt other people.
i asked him if the nypd wasnt making the rule change themselves, who sponsored the proposed amendments? he couldnt say. i also asked him why if an accident between a cyclist and a ped would result in the nypd being able to take more bikes off the street, then why wouldnt an accident between a car & a ped mean taking more cars off the street? again, no clear answer.
the nypd doesnt know it's f***ing ass from a hole in the ground.

edit: furthermore, the whole idea of 'selective enforcement', from a purely rights-driven perspective, is terrifying. of course the nypd isnt going to **** with tourist groups. that money pouring into the city is a huge part of the economy. of course they arent going to harass you & yr grandma for crossing the street against a light. the real fact of the matter is that when you are standing before a judge, and question exactly why the cop decided to stop YOU and let the car that just made an illegal u turn on jay street go, he can say 'because' and that's all the answer he has to give. you can demand to know exactly what the process is by which the cop decides who to ticket, but the fact of the matter is that if there is no specific criteria he can point to other than what he 'felt' like doing, you not only have diminished rights, you cant even say for sure when you are going to be singled out.