Wednesday, May 7, 2008

LA Times covers the Anarchy in NYC streets


Great article that really gets to the heart of the matter.

Still, Manhattan's jam-packed streets often resemble a battleground between bike messengers, car commuters, delivery boys, jaywalkers, limousine chauffeurs and taxi drivers. A few years ago, New York Post columnist Steve Dunleavy described a "civil war" on the streets, referring to bicyclists as "pedal punks" and "kamikaze bike bullies."

"This is a moment when everything can happen," he said, referring to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's willingness to work with the cyclists and the increasing number of cyclists on the streets. "But," he added, "there are some serious cultural structures that have to be dismantled."

As the second quote demonstrates, we are not going to get very far if there is not a cultural shift towards cyclists in NYC.

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