NOT ON THE CRITICAL MASS. I was with a friend going out from a show, he was walking and I was in my bike talking, I just came to the sidewalk like playing around for a sec. and the police come; stop me, ask me for identification, they call a to check my name, maybe because I am not us citizen... ask me some questions, them I had to wait for 20 minutes, and at the the end they put me a ticket for "Operating bike on the sidewalk". I am from south america, I am not familiar with the laws here, the say I have to go by 3 of June to court, somebody have any sugestions??? (sorry for my bad english)

I was standing next to my bike on the sidewalk, waiting for the officers to finish writing my boyfriend's ticket. About five minutes into this process an officer came over to me and ticketed me for failing to ride in a bike lane.

I made a legal left turn from 3rd Ave. onto E. 21st St. Just after I had completed the turn a cop riding on a motorbike on my left pulled me over for not using the bike lane that was on the other side of the street, to my left. To get to it I would have had to ride over two cops.

*THIS WAS NOT DURING A CRITICAL MASS RIDE*
I was making a left-hand turn going down Broadway (one-way street) onto 56th St (one-way street). I waited for the pedestrians to begin crossing over and made my turn behind them. I saw a car coming behind me so I moved to the left to get out of its way. It pulled very close next to me and that's when I saw it was a police SUV with a guy eating his lunch. He said pull over and asked for my license.

Overall, I feel very discriminated against. I wonder (and asked) if I was getting stopped because I am an average, young, caucasian and fairly obviously English-speaking woman. How many delivery people get stopped? How many times have I seen CARS going through intersections, blocking the box, standing in bike lanes, really putting people in danger. It's not as if I was maniacle and speeding through lights; I made a close turn behind pedestrians and this cop tells me I cut him off?! I specifically made my turn then went to the side of the street to not be in his way!

PS- he even asked me for the make of my bike! To which I told him I don't have a registration or license plate for it that maybe he wanted to give me a ticket for that too.

My son, age 16, was riding his bicycle yesterday with his 14-year old friend, and was issued an NYPD summons at 8:40 pm last night in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn 11209. The summons states that he was in violation of penal law sec 240-20 sub 5. The summons states that the officer is with 68 precinct of NYPD, Squad A/C. The summons says we have to show up in criminal court in November at 346 Broadway, on school day no less. We don't understand how this relates to my son's bike riding activity. My son did exactly what I taught him to do, and I see no fault in his actions. I don't know how he "obstructed vehicular traffic" in any way. What do we do?

Circumstances:
My son was going uphill east on Bay Ridge Ave, which is a two way road. He was riding his full size bike (equipped with rear and front safety LED lights,) on the pavement, while his 14-year old friend was riding his BMX bike on the sidewalk. My son got on the sidewalk when he heared the siren of a passing fire truck. He got off the sidewalk and back on the street in the same direction after the truck passed. A beige Ford Taurus wagon was moving very slowly ahead of him in the same direction and no other moving vehicles were nearby. Suddenly the beige Ford wagon turned on its police lights, and three officers signaled the 14-year old to stop; A female officer told my son to go on the sidewalk too and proceeded to question him and note his identity information. She handed him the summons without any explanation of what he did wrong. One of the other officers questioned the 14-year old and called him a F'ing liar because he did not believe him. When the friend told him to come see his parents, who live close by, the officer backed off. The third officer pulled over a delivery boy riding a bike on the sidewalk as well, and proceeded to question him.

I was riding in the back of a group of bikers with my video camera on and aimed at the crowd of scooter cops-- about fifteen of them-- tailing us. When I was pulled over, six or seven cops on motorbikes stopped to supervise the issuing of a ticket for not having a flashing light on my bike. I made sure to thank the ticketing officer for not punching me.

I slowed at the intersection to look both ways. There were no cars coming from any direction. So, I went through to get on the bridge to go to work. There was a cop in the park who flagged me down and asked me if I knew that bikes were supposed to follow traffic laws. He said lots of people have been hit by cars there recently. Then I asked how I was supposed to get on the bridge since it's a one way street going the wrong direction. He said that the cops turn their heads the other way for that infraction. !!!!

The guy I was biking with, who's name I can't remember, and I were being tailed by a cop on a motorcycle and we slowed to stop at the red light on 23rd and fifth avenue. The cop asked us to stop as well as two of our friends further up the block. A bunch of cop buddies showed up to ticket all of us, and try to get us to tell them the "plan from union square". They generally gave us a hard time, teasing us and that, but ultimately they were alright. They told us if we bought lights by today and brought the receipts to court with us the fine would most likely be waved. The gravity of the situation was totally underminded and the cops clearly didn't care about giving us tickets, it was just about busting up critical mass. PIGS.

Stopped at a traffic light, just to the left of Rosie Mendez in a pedicab, keeping as far right as I could, scooters came riding the wrong way down Park Ave. Cop told me to move my bike to the sidewalk and gave me the ticket.

Default judgment. I never got any notices until it was too late, because the cop got my name and address wrong, even though I wrote the correct address when I sent in my plea (within 2 weeks of the ticket). An administrative law judge ruled that that is not a sufficient excuse for defaulting. The TVB says there is no way to appeal that ruling.

from my blog:

At the time I was stopped I was riding south on 5th Avenue with 30-40 people. I guess I was toward the back of the ride, often a mistake, when a cop in a van motioned me to pull over. I eventually did, and there was some arm grabbing and "don't touch me"ing. I tried to call the National Lawyers Guild but the nice officer wanted my full attention. Another rider was being ticketed at the same time--I believe for riding on the sidewalk, which of course he hadn't done. He was on the sidewalk at the request of the cops. The other rider was from out of town, and from a place where Critical Mass is unmolested as it makes it celebratory way around the city, and so was a tad bewildered by how we were being treated. When the officer discovered I didn't have ID, he told me he was going to arrest me. I went to lock up my bike, so it wouldn't be incarcerated, as well, and he didn't like that.

While they were dealing with the other rider I had some time to call my spouse and someone from the video collective at Times-Up. Eric volunteered to go to my house and get my wallet. When I told the cop that, he decided to just take my information. I don't think he really relished the time and effort it would take to arrest my bicycle and me. I wasn't looking forward to it, but ultimately, I was prepared to be arrested. I ride in Critical Mass because it's fun, but also because I feel a duty to defend bikers' right to ride in the streets of New York and for people to assemble without a permit. If that means dealing with the occasional ticket or arrest, so be it.

Anyway, after the cop "let me off the hook" (i.e. let himself off the hook), he got a lot friendlier. This is what I mean when I say "benevolent smarm." He was all amiable and interested in where I live and what my block is like--being sure to let me know that he knows the street. In return I invited him to the Times-Up 20th Anniversary Party, advising him that if he joined Times-Up he could get in for free. His flunky wrote up my ticket (I don't even know if the other officer even witnessed my "crime.") and let me go. I hate that reflex that makes me say thank you when I'm handed a ticket or in any way let go by cops. In some cases it's like I'm thanking them for giving me a right that I already have.