NYPD Issuing Warnings to Brooklyn Bridge Cyclists

Last month we wrote about NYPD officers slowing cyclists on the Queensborough Bridge, ostensibly due to ongoing construction work. A tipster tells us that police are now setting up on the Brooklyn Bridge to instruct cyclists to dismount, under threat of receiving a summons.

I am a very conservative rider. I was wearing a helmet, had a front
light blinking during the day, have fenders, a bell, etc. I was
traveling at a slow speed to come to the end of the Brooklyn side of
the Brooklyn Bridge to make a right onto Tillary Street. When I got
to the very end of the bike route (where a car usually blocks the
crosswalk), a uniformed officer told me that I was supposed to dismount
and walk to the point where the path ends, and where we were then standing. I pointed her to the bicycle symbol painted on the ground about 10 feet
from where we were and she pointed up to a sign about 30 feet
away and explained that from that point to the end, bikers were to
dismount and that C class summonses were going to be handed out shortly
and that she was providing a warning. There is no corresponding sign
from the entry point of the bridge to the “dismount” sign for bikers to
walk toward Manhattan for 30 feet.

I ride this route every day and never noticed the sign. As you know, there is lax enforcement of all traffic laws when it comes to motor vehicles and this is infuriating to be warned that desk appearance tickets will soon be dispensed.