Critical Mass planning to disrupt the Republican Convention
View Full Version : Critical Mass planning to disrupt the Republican Convention
This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate traffic
laws on purpose.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/ny-
nybike233864661jun23,0,2487081.story?coll=ny-
nycpolitics-headlines
They will claim the war was all for oil and offer plenty of
anti-Bush invective - all while balancing on two wheels.
Putting the bicycle to political use, thousands of
demonstrators plan to swarm the city during the Republican
National Convention, blocking streets and flouting traffic
laws as they spin through midtown.
"We don't necessarily follow traffic patterns," said Ludmila
Svoboda, 32, an East Village nurse who will be among the
mobile provocateurs. "The ride has a life of its own."
This summer, riders will convene a "Bike National
Convention" from Aug. 20-28, with subsequent rides during
the GOP gathering Aug. 30 through Sept.
2. For those without wheels, a bike lending library is
growing at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The message: Conventioneers "are not welcome here," said
Brandon Neubauer, 26, an East Village cinematographer who is
lead organizer of Time's UP!, an environmental group
organizing the bike protests.
The group has not applied for a permit for the rides and
doesn't plan to, he said.
One recent Friday evening, preview of what could happen in
August, more than 1,000 bicyclists pedaled from Union Square
to the South Bronx in a monthly ride called "Critical Mass."
They gathered before dusk near the Greenmarket, perched on a
motley collection of bikes, including some jury-rigged with
oversized handlebars and audio speakers. Suddenly, a stream
of bicycles gushed onto Park Avenue - the riders ignoring
changing traffic lights and cheering sporadic horn blasts.
Not many motorists appeared angry. Most seemed startled.
"It's a movement for peace," said Bronx maintenance worker
Toto Ramos when told about the ride as he idled at the
corner of Park Avenue near 16th Street.
Cabbie Al Sandresy of Astoria had a different take.
"They have to get some police around them to make the road
easy," he said.
In fact, there were no police officers in sight. Organizers
say the police once helped guide traffic, but stopped about
two years ago.
"[Police] want to let the ride run its course, and that's
the fastest, easiest way to deal with it," said Noah
Budnick, project coordinator for Transportation
Alternatives, a pedestrian and bicyclist group that used to
sponsor rides a decade ago.
The Police Department did not respond to a request for
comment. The city Department of Transportation referred
calls to the Police Department.
There are several reasons why a bike saddle makes a fine
soapbox, protesters say.
Bicycling softens protesters' image, and conveys an
environmental message without a placard. Riders also
acknowledge the tactical advantage of two wheels during
confrontations with cops.
Alex S. Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College
who studies how police respond to demonstrations, said,
"There's a greater possibility of a certain cat-and-mouse
with the police."
Heh. They'll turn the RNC into a Critical Mess. It's pretty
hard to catch cyclists violating traffic laws with limited
police deployment. They move very quickly, and can go
almost anywhere.
It's about time for pro-American pro-freedom protesters gave
the Liar in Chief and his criminal cronies the finger. Just
say "No" to Republican crimes.
@
"Elwood Blues" <notmyrealname@noemail.com> wrote in message
news:f4zHc.31241$9t6.28578@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate
> traffic laws on purpose.
>
>
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/ny-
nybike233864661jun23,0,2487081.story?coll=ny-
nycpolitics-headlines
>
> They will claim the war was all for oil and offer
> plenty of anti-Bush invective - all while balancing on
> two wheels.
>
> Putting the bicycle to political use, thousands of
> demonstrators plan to swarm the city during the Republican
> National Convention, blocking streets and flouting traffic
> laws as they spin through midtown.
>
> "We don't necessarily follow traffic patterns," said
> Ludmila Svoboda, 32,
an
> East Village nurse who will be among the mobile
> provocateurs. "The ride
has
> a life of its own."
>
> This summer, riders will convene a "Bike National
> Convention" from Aug. 20-28, with subsequent rides during
> the GOP gathering Aug. 30 through
Sept.
> 2. For those without wheels, a bike lending library is
> growing at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
>
> The message: Conventioneers "are not welcome here," said
> Brandon Neubauer, 26, an East Village cinematographer who
> is lead organizer of Time's UP!,
an
> environmental group organizing the bike protests.
>
> The group has not applied for a permit for the rides and
> doesn't plan to,
he
> said.
>
> One recent Friday evening, preview of what could happen in
> August, more
than
> 1,000 bicyclists pedaled from Union Square to the South
> Bronx in a monthly ride called "Critical Mass."
>
> They gathered before dusk near the Greenmarket, perched on
> a motley collection of bikes, including some jury-rigged
> with oversized handlebars and audio speakers. Suddenly, a
> stream of bicycles gushed onto Park
Avenue -
> the riders ignoring changing traffic lights and cheering
> sporadic horn blasts.
>
> Not many motorists appeared angry. Most seemed startled.
>
> "It's a movement for peace," said Bronx maintenance worker
> Toto Ramos when told about the ride as he idled at the
> corner of Park Avenue near 16th Street.
>
> Cabbie Al Sandresy of Astoria had a different take.
>
> "They have to get some police around them to make the road
> easy," he said.
>
> In fact, there were no police officers in sight.
> Organizers say the police once helped guide traffic, but
> stopped about two years ago.
>
> "[Police] want to let the ride run its course, and that's
> the fastest, easiest way to deal with it," said Noah
> Budnick, project coordinator for Transportation
> Alternatives, a pedestrian and bicyclist group that used
> to sponsor rides a decade ago.
>
> The Police Department did not respond to a request for
> comment. The city Department of Transportation referred
> calls to the Police Department.
>
> There are several reasons why a bike saddle makes a fine
> soapbox,
protesters
> say.
>
> Bicycling softens protesters' image, and conveys an
> environmental message without a placard. Riders also
> acknowledge the tactical advantage of two wheels during
> confrontations with cops.
>
> Alex S. Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College
> who studies how police respond to demonstrations, said,
> "There's a greater possibility of
a
> certain cat-and-mouse with the police."
"@" <@@@.com> wrote in message news:VazHc.57693$Oq2.45727@attbi_s52...
> Heh. They'll turn the RNC into a Critical Mess. It's
> pretty hard to
catch
> cyclists violating traffic laws with limited police
> deployment. They move very quickly, and can go almost
> anywhere.
>
> It's about time for pro-American pro-freedom protesters
> gave the Liar in Chief and his criminal cronies the
> finger. Just say "No" to Republican crimes.
>
Why don't they just register and vote the bad guys out?
--
When I was in politics, we would never dream of telling a
lie in order to gain an advantage over our opponent. Now,
just look at those lying rascals. <G>
Brooks Gregory
"Elwood Blues" <notmyrealname@noemail.com> wrote in message
news:f4zHc.31241$9t6.28578@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate
> traffic laws on purpose.
As opposed to insanely corrupt George Bush - a disgrace
to humanity?
a disgrace?
Have you ever been on a bike in Manhattan? If you think that
riding a Critical Mass is a disgrace, maybe you ought to
look into why they exist in the first place: bicyclists (and
pedestrians) are very endangered every day on these streets
due to terrible drivers and lack of awareness.
Besides, this is a protest. Would you say that
protesters walking down 5th avenue are a 'disgrace to
pedestrians'? lol.
Critical Mass rides have been going on for more than a
decade in NYC and are hard to miss, I suspect that the fact
that you are posting in reponse to THIS particular ride is
nothing more than politics.
On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 12:05:26 -0400, "ZenIsWhen" <ZenIsWhen@anywhere.com>
wrote:
>
>"Elwood Blues" <notmyrealname@noemail.com> wrote in message
>news:f4zHc.31241$9t6.28578@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
>> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate
>> traffic laws on purpose.
>
>As opposed to insanely corrupt George Bush - a disgrace to
>humanity?
>
How come drunk drivers don't give cars a bad name? <bfg>
-B
On 2004-07-09, Badger_South <Badger@South.net> wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Jul 2004 12:05:26 -0400, "ZenIsWhen"
> <ZenIsWhen@anywhere.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Elwood Blues" <notmyrealname@noemail.com> wrote in
>>message
>>news:f4zHc.31241$9t6.28578@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
>>> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate
>>> traffic laws on purpose.
>>
>>As opposed to insanely corrupt George Bush - a disgrace to
>>humanity?
>>
>
> How come drunk drivers don't give cars a bad name? <bfg>
Good point. Shouldn't ALL drivers be ashamed of themselves
because of drunk drivers? Critical massers don't mame and
kill people last time I checked.
Preston
> They will claim the war was all for oil and offer
> plenty of anti-Bush invective - all while balancing on
> two wheels.
>
> Putting the bicycle to political use, thousands of
> demonstrators plan to swarm the city during the Republican
> National Convention, blocking streets and flouting traffic
> laws as they spin through midtown.
>
If they want to protest, fine -- but protesting as
bicyclists is a lousy idea. That is, unless, of course, they
want to assure that any future Republican administration
(including, let's face it, GW's possible second term) goes
out of its way to stick it to the interests of cyclists.
You can advocate for cycling and also protest the war in
Iraq without doing both at the same time. Sheesh.
My guess is that none of you have ever been involved with a
protest march in NYC.
Just FYI, walking protests here are very frequently a
failure. NYC cops brutally push protesters into 'pens' made
by blocking off one side of a block between avenues. When a
pen is full them move one street down and repeat. Then they
clear the pens one at a time. Want to know how? By running
mounted police through the block. The people once forced out
the other side by the horses are then ordered to disperse or
be arrested -- and there are usually dozens of police busses
lined up to take all the people that resist.
I view this as an attack on the right of free assembly and
I'm in good company. Many lawyers and the ACLU have been
very vocal about these tactics. I've been stuck in a pen
for hours during a protest that I was not even involved
with. If the NYC cops actied differently it would be a
different story.
I will be there. I am a resident of New York City and as far
as I'm concerned I can ride my bike where I want to. Also,
please prove me wrong but I don't see biking as something
that the GOP has lifted a finger for.
"n9" <robb.monn@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ccmtlr$euv@odak26.prod.google.com...
Also, please prove me
> wrong but I don't see biking as something that the GOP has
> lifted a finger for.
>
Nor should they. Isn't the government involved in enough
aspects of your life? One of the attractions I have to
bicycling is that it doesn't require any sort of
governmental permission.
Dave
"n9" <robb.monn@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ccmtlr$euv@odak26.prod.google.com...
> My guess is that none of you have ever been involved with
> a protest march in NYC.
>
> Just FYI, walking protests here are very frequently a
> failure. NYC cops brutally push protesters into 'pens'
> made by blocking off one side of a block between avenues.
> When a pen is full them move one street down and repeat.
> Then they clear the pens one at a time. Want to know how?
> By running mounted police through the block. The people
> once forced out the other side by the horses are then
> ordered to disperse or be arrested -- and there are
> usually dozens of police busses lined up to take all the
> people that resist.
>
So the NY police can control protesters on foot but they
won't be able to control bicyclists? Why? I'm skeptical.
> Also, please prove me wrong but I don't see biking as
> something that the GOP has lifted a finger for.
>
There's a difference between indifference and outright
hostility. To date, I don't believe cycling has gotten
mixed up in the 'culture wars' -- and I'd hate to see it
get that way.
Mark
Raoul Duke <thedogswontmind@spinachparade.com> wrote:
> "n9" <robb.monn@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:ccmtlr$euv@odak26.prod.google.com... Also, please
> prove me
>> wrong but I don't see biking as something that the GOP
>> has lifted a finger for.
> Nor should they. Isn't the government involved in enough
> aspects of your life? One of the attractions I have to
> bicycling is that it doesn't require any sort of
> governmental permission.
i have often wondered about privitisation of roads &
their design.
--
david reuteler reuteler@visi.com
I think that, like the article states, bikes *may* offer a
uniquely powerful method of resisting the normal treatment
demonstrators get from the cops. Maybe not, but it looks
like the normal protests will be contained and kept distant
from the Convention --- but this bike protest has the
potential to make a bigger impact and to get press. I'm
fearful that the media will not cover the fact that
thousands of people are pissed that the GOP is meeting here.
They are not wanted and in my mind they are only here to yet
again play the 9/11 card and to do the whole be afraid -
vote for use bs.
I don't think that it is fair to decide that a protest on
the saddle has anything to do with bicyclists is my point.
Anymore than a protest enacted by motorists snafuing traffic
would have to do with automobile enthusiasts. Biking is a
thing that I do, like walking and is not politicised by what
I do when I am on my bike. That's kind of silly in my mind.
TA and Critical Mass are very political entities and it
makes perfect sense for lefty bikers in NYC to organize
through these groups.
They tried that in Florida in 2000---it doesn't work
that way...
>
>
> Why don't they just register and vote the bad guys out?
>
>
> --
> When I was in politics, we would never dream of telling a
> lie in order to gain an advantage over our opponent. Now,
> just look at those lying rascals. <G>
>
> Brooks Gregory
> There's a difference between indifference and outright
> hostility. To
date,
> I don't believe cycling has gotten mixed up in the
> 'culture wars' --
and I'd
> hate to see it get that way.
so as a biker I am expected to be apolitical? lol.
Do you somehow think that a gathering of people who wish to
protest an event is somehow 'wrong' or less important than
the even itself? I am a citizen acting on my own accord,
willing to be guilty of some misdemeanors to express my
political opinion. I am just as important and just as
protected under law an anyone in NYC that day. The RNC is no
more or less of an important organization as TransAlt or the
New York Nets and they have no more right to exclusivity of
the streets than I do.
Elwood Blues wrote:
> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate
> traffic laws on purpose.
>
>
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/ny-
nybike233864661jun23,0,2487081.story?coll=ny-
nycpolitics-headlines
>
As a right winger myself, I think the R's deserve any
punishment they get for being so damn stupid as to plan
their convention in NYC. It'd be as stupid as the D's
planning theirs in Selma, AL. I mean people this just
plan dumb deserve the worst that man and nature can dish
out to them.
I only wish I was near NYC so I could get on my bike and
join the protest. Not that I agree with the protesters, but
just to add to the punishment as sort of a Darwinian
punctuation point.
-paul
"Elwood Blues" <notmyrealname@noemail.com> wrote in message
news:f4zHc.31241$9t6.28578@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate
> traffic laws on purpose.
>
>
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/ny-
nybike233864661jun23,0,2487081.story?coll=ny-
nycpolitics-headlines
>
> They will claim the war was all for oil and offer
> plenty of anti-Bush invective - all while balancing on
> two wheels.
>
> Putting the bicycle to political use, thousands of
> demonstrators plan to swarm the city during the Republican
> National Convention, blocking streets and flouting traffic
> laws as they spin through midtown.
>
> "We don't necessarily follow traffic patterns," said
> Ludmila Svoboda, 32,
an
> East Village nurse who will be among the mobile
> provocateurs. "The ride
has
> a life of its own."
>
> This summer, riders will convene a "Bike National
> Convention" from Aug. 20-28, with subsequent rides during
> the GOP gathering Aug. 30 through
Sept.
> 2. For those without wheels, a bike lending library is
> growing at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
>
> The message: Conventioneers "are not welcome here," said
> Brandon Neubauer, 26, an East Village cinematographer who
> is lead organizer of Time's UP!,
an
> environmental group organizing the bike protests.
>
> The group has not applied for a permit for the rides and
> doesn't plan to,
he
> said.
>
> One recent Friday evening, preview of what could happen in
> August, more
than
> 1,000 bicyclists pedaled from Union Square to the South
> Bronx in a monthly ride called "Critical Mass."
>
> They gathered before dusk near the Greenmarket, perched on
> a motley collection of bikes, including some jury-rigged
> with oversized handlebars and audio speakers. Suddenly, a
> stream of bicycles gushed onto Park
Avenue -
> the riders ignoring changing traffic lights and cheering
> sporadic horn blasts.
>
> Not many motorists appeared angry. Most seemed startled.
>
> "It's a movement for peace," said Bronx maintenance worker
> Toto Ramos when told about the ride as he idled at the
> corner of Park Avenue near 16th Street.
>
> Cabbie Al Sandresy of Astoria had a different take.
>
> "They have to get some police around them to make the road
> easy," he said.
>
> In fact, there were no police officers in sight.
> Organizers say the police once helped guide traffic, but
> stopped about two years ago.
>
> "[Police] want to let the ride run its course, and that's
> the fastest, easiest way to deal with it," said Noah
> Budnick, project coordinator for Transportation
> Alternatives, a pedestrian and bicyclist group that used
> to sponsor rides a decade ago.
>
> The Police Department did not respond to a request for
> comment. The city Department of Transportation referred
> calls to the Police Department.
>
> There are several reasons why a bike saddle makes a fine
> soapbox,
protesters
> say.
>
> Bicycling softens protesters' image, and conveys an
> environmental message without a placard. Riders also
> acknowledge the tactical advantage of two wheels during
> confrontations with cops.
>
> Alex S. Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College
> who studies how police respond to demonstrations, said,
> "There's a greater possibility of
a
> certain cat-and-mouse with the police."
>
>
Have you noticed the advocators and supporters of this
thread are not regular posters to this NG, could it be some
kind of organized BS ??
>"di" di0000@cox.net
wrote:
>Have you noticed the advocators and supporters of this
>thread are not regular posters to this NG, could it be some
>kind of organized BS ?
Organized? No. BS? Yes.
"David Reuteler" <reuteler@visi.com> wrote in message news:40eeffa4$0$227
> i have often wondered about privitisation of roads &
> their design.
I have often wondered why people don't use their shift key.
Dave
> This is a disgrace to bicycling. They openly violate
> traffic laws on purpose.
Oh dear Lord, what a *terrible* disgrace!
> They will claim the war was all for oil
No! Say it ain't so!
Please just get a grip, Elwood, you dork.
--
Robots don't kill people -- people kill people.
http://www.irobotmovie.com/
vBulletin, Copyright ©2000-2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by
vBSEO 3.3.0
