Audrey messaged me with a heads up that there would be a critical mass ride from Union Square to City Hall in protest NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s Draconian crackdown on e-bikes in NYC. Audrey has ballet Friday evenings, so it was a perfect time for Poppy and I to get out on the bike and show our support for cyclists in NYC. We had already done four loops of Central Park that day, but we were up for the ride down to Union Square in support of the movement.
The ride was very well organized, with everyone gathering at Union Square park at 6:00 PM, and beginning the journey to City Hall at 7:00 PM. Poppy and I headed down 11th Avenue, and cut over at 38th street until we got to Broadway, and were able to head all the way down to Union Square. Upon arriving we hung out with the crowd, in which Poppy was a star of course, with people taking pictures, giving her love, and talking with me about our bike and journeys around NYC.
What an amazing group of people with passionate and caring energy. Everyone there was ready to fight for our right to be able to ride around the city without harassment from the police, and remain safe from the overwhelming number of automobiles on the streets. Things have definitely gotten better with congestion pricing, but the recent changes in the law targeting immigrant delivery riders in the age of Trump have changed the tone of being a cyclist in NYC.
Things were so well organized and communicated, with instructions given via bullhorn prior to making our way onto 14th street to make our way down to City Hall. It was interesting to be riding down the street and hear people yelling obscenities at us, but also the overwhelming support from pedestrians and people in cars. UPS drivers, trash trucks, and other workers honked and voiced their support for the critical mass, uplifting the energy as we made our way down.
The critical mass over 100+ bicycles made its way slowly down the street, but soon overtook multiple blocks, pushing out the cars. Whenever a light changed to yellow and then red, everyone in that block would hop off their bikes and walk through the intersection, avoiding getting tickets from the police. There were several motorcycle cops and one or two cars following the critical mass, but everything remained orderly until we separated from the group before getting to city hall.
It was all a little over stimulating for Poppy after a couple of hours, and she gets much more tense once things get dark, so we cut over about half way down and rode over to 8th Avenue to make our way back home. We were definitely tried from the day, but it was very grounding for me to participate in the ride, but also engage with people in my community. It is something I want to do more of, getting out and being a part of my community, meeting people, and grounding myself in the real world.
I am a big supporter of the bicycle community in NYC, and very much anti-automobile in this moment. With the success of the congestion pricing law, we need to be further regulating the automobile and investing in public transit and bike paths. This recent shift by NYC is clearly done in response to the current tone of the Trump administration and has an anti-immigrant motivation behind it, and while I am a big believer in following traffic laws while riding my bike as a white man, I will not support the targeting of black and brown people riding the streets of NYC.
