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Dear Streetsblog Readers: How Do You Handle a Sidewalk Riding Ticket?

10:57 AM EDT on July 17, 2009

A reader sends along this question about how to deal with the legal aftermath of riding a few feet on an empty sidewalk:

I was wondering if anyone could help me out with a little advice for my court date. I got a ticket for riding my bike on the sidewalk last month and am wondering whether to plead guilty or innocent. The other problem is that I can't read the court date on the ticket. I am going to call the court building and see if they can look it up as I already talked to an officer in the precinct I got the ticket, and he advised me to just show up at the court which seems stupid to me. (I got the ticket out in an industrial section of Bushwick and simply rode up on the sidewalk when I got to my destination to lock up my bike.)

I'm not a lawyer, nor have I ever had to contest a ticket, let alone a silly one like this. If you've got some advice, pass it along in the comments. If you don't have any advice but simply wish to comment on the NYPD traffic enforcement priorities on display here, feel free.

Ben Fried
Ben Fried started as a Streetsblog reporter in 2008 and led the site as editor-in-chief from 2010 to 2018. He lives in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, with his wife.

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